Cryptocurrencies, analysed around the clock

What cryptocurrencies are

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that people can own and trade. They live on a blockchain, a record kept in sync by many computers, so no single bank or company controls it. You hold an asset through a wallet or an exchange account, and you move it by authorising a transaction with a private key.

Like any asset, the price depends on supply and demand. A rise in demand pushes the price up, and a wave of selling pushes it down. Because the market is open all day and every day, moves can happen at any hour, and they can be large.

Why people are interested

The market is open 24 hours a day, which suits people with unusual schedules. Trading volume is high for the largest assets, so entering and leaving a position is generally straightforward. Some investors use digital assets to spread exposure across something other than shares and property, and others like having an AI tool to handle the monitoring.

Interest is not a reason to invest. Each of these points comes with a caution: a 24/7 market gives you no rest from risk, high volume does not prevent a sharp fall, and variety does not guarantee that assets behave independently.

Why a 24/7 market needs a different tool

Shares trade in set hours, and the gap overnight gives investors a natural pause. Digital assets have no such pause. A price can move sharply at three in the morning on a Sunday, and a person who is asleep has no way of reacting. Software does not sleep, which is the main practical reason that automation is popular in this market.

The engine keeps watching every asset on the list. If volatility climbs beyond the range a strategy was designed for, protective rules can reduce activity or pause it. This is meant to limit exposure when conditions are unusual, though a sudden move can still occur faster than any rule can respond.

The trade-off is that a continuous system also continues to act when you are not looking. That is why limits matter more here than almost anywhere else, and why we ask you to set them before you start.

A day in the life of a strategy

At the start of a day, the strategy has a balance it may use, a list of assets and a set of rules. Over the morning, one asset trends upward on rising volume, and the strategy opens a small position inside its allowance. By the afternoon the move fades, and the position is closed with a modest gain. In the evening volatility spikes across the whole market, so the strategy stands aside and waits.

You receive a summary of that day with each decision and its reason. Another day might look quite different, with several small losses and no gains. Over time the aim is for the rules to keep losses small, but there is no assurance that a given week or month will be positive.

Things worth knowing first

Digital assets are among the more volatile things you can hold. Moves of ten percent in a day are not unusual, and some assets have lost most of their value in a short period. Exchanges also differ in their rules and protections, and assets held at an exchange are not covered by the guarantees that apply to Australian bank deposits.

Tax also applies. In Australia, disposing of digital assets can create a capital gains tax event. Keep your records, which the monthly statements help with, and ask a registered tax agent if you are unsure.

Fees vary by exchange and by method, so check the cost of each transaction on screen before you confirm it. Read the risk disclosure before you begin, and take your time over the crypto basics page if any of this is new.