For Customers Log in
Contact Us

Overbought Meaning

Overbought is a technical market condition indicating that an asset has experienced a consistent and significant upward price movement without a meaningful correction. In quantitative analysis, an asset is typically labeled overbought when momentum oscillators, such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI), cross above the 70 threshold.

This suggests that the current buying pressure may be overextended and that the price is trading significantly above its moving average or intrinsic value.In the cryptocurrency sector, overbought conditions are often fueled by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and speculative retail interest. During a parabolic run, an asset can stay in an overbought state for a surprisingly long duration as new capital continues to enter the ecosystem.

However, from a technical perspective, the further an asset pushes into overbought territory, the higher the probability of a "mean reversion," where the price eventually snaps back to a more sustainable level.Traders utilize overbought signals to manage risk rather than as an absolute signal to sell short. For instance, a high RSI accompanied by a "divergence"-where the price makes a new high but the RSI makes a lower high-is a strong technical warning that the trend is losing steam.

Conversely, in a strong bull market, an overbought reading might simply be a sign of extreme strength, requiring a consolidation phase rather than a full reversal.Understanding overbought levels is crucial for avoiding "buying the top." Sophisticated market participants look at multiple timeframes (e.g., daily and weekly charts) to determine the severity of the condition. If an asset is overbought on the weekly scale, it suggests a systemic exhaustion of buyers, often leading to a multi-week cooling-off period or a sharp correction as "profit-taking" becomes the dominant market activity.

← Back to Glossary

Explore our services
Providing liquidity in the cryptocurrency market?
Authorize on our platform and do it smarter with FM Pulse.
pic

FM Marketplace

A reliable and high-performance crypto liquidity marketplace for institutions and businesses.

Learn more
pic

FM White Label

Launch your fully branded B2B crypto trading platform in under one week.

Learn more
pic

FM Liquidity Match

Crypto OTC-as-a-Service infrastructure for enhanced monetization and trade control.

Learn more

Scale your business, leave the hard work of your trading needs to us

Reduce your integration costs and operational risk across multiple access points with our platform

Get started