Quarter-Hour Trading Pulse Revealed in Bitcoin Perpetual Futures
Researchers Chan Kim and Peter Reinhard Hansen discovered a recurring pattern in Bitcoin perpetual futures trading. At specific time intervals, including every hour and every quarter-hour, there is a surge in trading activity.
The researchers analyzed records from six Binance futures markets for Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, and Cardano from January 1, 2021, through October 31, 2024. They found that the top of each hour saw the strongest burst of trading activity.
The pattern is attributed to the way trading apps display data in intervals, such as 15-minute candles, which create a standard block of data for software and technical indicators to process. This shared chart interval creates a rush in trading activity every quarter-hour, much like a traditional market opening bell.