--- title: "What Is an Order Block in Crypto Charts?" term: "Order block" type: glossary_term canonical: https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/order-block.html --- # What Is an Order Block in Crypto Charts? > A price zone where trading concentrated just before a sharp move away, which price has not yet traded back through. Bullish blocks sit below price, bearish blocks above. An **order block** is a zone on a price chart that marks where buying or selling appears to have concentrated immediately before a strong move. The idea comes from "smart money" chart reading: if a large participant built a position there, price may react when it comes back to the same area. ## How a block is identified Definitions vary between chart-readers, so it helps to be exact about the one our technical reads use. A **bullish order block** is the last down-candle before an upward burst that breaks the prior swing high; the zone is that candle's full range, wicks included. A **bearish order block** is the mirror image: the last up-candle before a downward burst that breaks the prior swing low. ## The three attributes worth reading - **Mitigated or unmitigated.** A block is *unmitigated* while price has not traded back into it since it formed. Once price trades into the zone it is *mitigated* and normally drops off the map. Our reads list unmitigated zones only. - **Age in bars.** Zones are dated in candles, not days. Seven bars on a 3-day chart is about three weeks; seven bars on a monthly chart is more than half a year. - **Width as a share of price.** A zone spanning 2% of price is a specific reference; one spanning 20% is a loose one. ## What an order block is not It is not a forecast. A block describes where orders concentrated in the past. Whether price reacts on a return is exactly the uncertain part, and zones are frequently traded straight through. That is why we report the distance from price to each zone and its age, rather than treating a zone as a level that "should" hold. ## In MoonWire analysis Every weekly [multi-timeframe read](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/multi-timeframe-analysis.md) lists the nearest unmitigated bullish and bearish blocks per timeframe, with age and distance to price. For a worked history of real zones followed week by week, including one that was mitigated, see our explainer [What Is an Order Block in Crypto?](/insights/what-is-an-order-block-in-crypto.html) ## Further reading - [MoonWire: What Is an Order Block in Crypto? Five weeks of real ones](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/what-is-an-order-block-in-crypto.html) - [Wikipedia: Support and resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_and_resistance) ## Where this appears in MoonWire analysis - [Solana: the 3D floor retreated to a nine-touch level 27% below price as the weekly ceiling closed to 9.44%](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sol-technical-read-2026-09-10.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Ethereum: the monthly trend has turned up for the first time in this stream's record, taking alignment to aligned_up](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/eth-technical-read-2026-09-10.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Bitcoin: all three timeframe scans now name the same resistance shelf, 82,575 to 82,850](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/btc-technical-read-2026-09-10.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Solana: a new 3D pivot at 110.60 has filled part of the 45% stretch that was empty a week ago](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sol-technical-read-2026-09-03.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Ethereum: the weekly scan has compressed to a 2.85% band - 0.30 of one ATR, the tightest cell on the board](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/eth-technical-read-2026-09-03.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Bitcoin: the converged 80,600 floor has left both the 3D and weekly ledgers as price gives back 4.54%](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/btc-technical-read-2026-09-03.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [What Is an Order Block in Crypto? A Definition and Five Weeks of Real Ones](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/what-is-an-order-block-in-crypto.md) — Sep 11, 2026 - [Solana: four resistances left the 3D ledger at once - nothing is listed now until 147.825](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sol-technical-read-2026-08-25.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Ethereum: RSI 74.27 on the 3D is the highest reading in this week's nine-cell board](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/eth-technical-read-2026-08-25.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Bitcoin: the 3D and weekly scans have resolved to the same 2.79%-wide band, with price 0.20% off its floor](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/btc-technical-read-2026-08-25.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Solana: the 76.165 shelf that anchored both the 3D and weekly ledgers has left them](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sol-technical-read-2026-08-18.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Ethereum: the 3D and weekly resistance readings that converged last week have separated again](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/eth-technical-read-2026-08-18.md) — Aug 29, 2026 --- *MoonWire surfaces and summarizes public crypto news.* **General information only — not financial advice.** MoonWire Ltd. is not licensed by ASIC and holds no AFSL. This content does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs, and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. *This analysis is generated by artificial intelligence and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or fabricated. Independently verify before acting.* © 2026 MoonWire Ltd. · [Terms](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/TOS) · [Risk Disclosure](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/RISK_DISCLOSURE) · [Privacy Policy](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/PRIVACY_POLICY)