How to set TA alerts

You can view, create or customize TA alerts on any market by opening the Alerts panel in the Utility Belt, found on the right-hand side of any Cryptowatch page. TA alerts are dynamic, and not set to any fixed value like price and volume alerts. They instead rely on the same calculations as the indicators they are derived from, triggering an alert when the asset price interacts with the output of that calculation.

To create a new TA alert from the Alerts panel, click the Create Alert button at the bottom of the panel or the + button at the top. Select TA from the options listed below the current market to create a TA alert:

TA Alerts Tip

TA alerts require you to input the parameters for the calculations that underlie the indicator type. If you're unsure of the parameters you would like to include, open the Analysis menu and select the Inputs tab of your chosen indicator. You can reference the indicator's inputs here and copy them into the Alerts panel.

SMA & EMA alerts

SMA (Simple Moving Average) and EMA (Exponential Moving Average) alerts will trigger when the price of the asset crosses above or below (determined by your selection) the SMA/EMA line calculated using the Interval and Periods inputs.

Both SMA and EMA alert types use the same input criteria. The difference is in the underlying calculation of the moving average lines — EMA lines give more weight to current price data, while SMA lines are a basic averaging of prices across the same range.

SMA Alert Example

For example, below is a Kraken BTC/USD hourly chart with a single SMA 50 line:

The price of BTC/USD in the image above is currently below the SMA 50 line.

You can choose how many SMA lines appear on your chart & the number of look-back periods for each one in the Analysis menu.

We can set an SMA alert to fire to when the price of BTC/USD crosses above the SMA 50 line:

The alert programmed in the example image above will trigger when the Kraken BTC/USD price crosses above the SMA 50 line on a 1-hour (1H) chart. Here's a quick step-by-step guide for setting the above alert:

1. Open the Alerts panel in the Utility Belt

2. Click either the Create Alert button at the bottom or the + button at the top

3. Select TA from the list of conditions

4. For values, select Cross Above , an Interval of 1H (1 hour), and 50 Periods

5. Choose the type of triggers you want (Browser, SMS, Email)

EMA alerts use the same input criteria as SMA alerts — if you would rather use an EMA alert, you can follow the instructions above, substituting EMA when you select the TA indicator type.

Bollinger Band Alerts

Bollinger band alerts can be set to fire when the price of an asset (in a single market) crosses above or below the Upper band, Lower band, or SMA line.

The Upper and Lower bands measure Standard Deviations based around a Simple Moving Average in order to illustrate expected market extremes.

Bollinger Band TA alerts can be selected from the Indicator menu when creating a new TA alert.

Bollinger Bands Alert Example

The image above shows the Bollinger Bands overlay on Kraken: BTC/USD in October-to-November, 12-hour periods. Currently the price of Bitcoin is closest to the Upper band. The alert parameters in the panel on the right have been set to trigger an alert when the price of BTC/USD crosses below the SMA line.

You can also trigger alerts to fire when the price crosses above the SMA, or above/below either of the Standard Deviation bands.

Here's a quick step-by-step for setting the above alert:

1. Open the Alerts panel in the Utility Belt

2. Click either the Create Alert button at the bottom or the + button at the top

3. Select TA from the list of conditions

4. For values: select an Interval of 12H (12 hours), the Bollinger Bands indicator, 20 Periods, 2 Standard Deviations (Std Dev), Close as the source, and Cross Below the SMA.

5. Choose the type of triggers you want (Browser, SMS, Email)