What Is an "All-Time High"?

An all-time high (ATH) refers to the highest price a cryptocurrency hit during its trading history. All-time highs are the opposite of all-time lows, the lowest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached. 

All-time highs are easy to spot since a coin's upward trajectory is easy to quantify. For example, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $67,000 in the fall of 2021. 

Cryptocurrency investors often use all-time highs as a measuring stick for the potential market capitalization of a coin. Enthusiastic investors tend to extrapolate the all-time high of a coin linearly into the future. This leads them to believe that a cryptocurrency can hit much higher valuations much sooner than is actually the case. This was true during the last Bitcoin bull run, which saw many analysts call for new all-time highs of over $100,000. These never materialized. 

What Was the All-Time High of Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Bitcoin and Ethereum traded at an all-time high of $67,549 and $4,810  on November 9, 2021, respectively. 

What Happens During an All-Time High?

Cryptocurrencies hit all-time highs during bull runs. When a cryptocurrency hits an all-time high, investors are generally euphoric and predict even more gains to come in the near future. During extended bullish periods, a coin (or token) can hit several all-time highs as it keeps appreciating. In technical analysis, this is known as “forming higher highs.” Eventually, the coin exhausts its upward trajectory and experiences a correction. 

During bear markets, the correction of a cryptocurrency is measured in how much value it has lost from its all-time high. In crypto bear markets, corrections of more than 70% are considered normal. Altcoins can even correct up to 90% or 99%. Some cryptocurrencies never recover from a bear market, leaving investors that did not sell around their all-time high chasing losses.