Technical analysis (TA) is a valuable skill that has been utilised by traders that seek to predict the price movements of financial assets. Mastering the basics of TA gives you the opportunity to make decisions off of your own research, through studying price history and action. The best part is, you can do it all from your Digital Surge page!

TradingView, a charting and technical analysis platform, serves as a powerful tool for all crypto traders, no matter the level of experience. Integrated into our Digital Surge UI, traders have the opportunity to go beyond the stock-standard line chart and analyse price action themselves. By the end of this quick guide, you’ll have a solid foundation to build your TA skills upon.

TradingView offers real-time charts for thousands of stocks and cryptocurrencies. Within each chart, there are opportunities to utilise various charting tools and apply a range of technical indicators that you can use to your own advantage.

You might have already noticed that Digital Surge has TradingView integrated into each of our charts. At first glance, these graphs may seem intimidating. Rest assured, each chart is backed with tools to assist both beginners and experts in making an informed trade.

Digital Surge has TradingView built-in to its UI, allowing traders to create charts on the cryptocurrencies they love most. Digital Surge’s TradingView charts have an abundance of tools and additional functions to explore, so let’s walk through some of the features.

First and foremost, you can find this chart by simply clicking on any cryptocurrency from the buy & sell page. Once you have selected the cryptocurrency of your liking, click on the three candles situated on the top right of the line chart (see below).

To help you navigate your graph easier, we recommend that you expand your TradingView chart (see below).

Now that you have your TradingView chart open, let's help you understand it.

The TradingView chart by default displays a candlestick chart that represents price action over a period of time. You are able to alter the timeframe of your chart anywhere between 24 hours and all-time.

You’ll find that each candlestick on your chart will present an open, high, low, and closing price (OHLC). Each candlestick illustrates movement over one unit of time. For example, your chart by default will present a daily candlestick. In your display options, you can change this from anywhere between 1 minute to 1 week candlesticks.

Additionally, you’ll find options to change the appearance of your chart. If you’re not a fan of the default candles, you can use bars, hollow candles or even a standard line graph.

Next to this, you’ll find the option to insert pre-made technical indicators. While there are dozens of indicators that traders use to analyse price action, it is important to use the indicators that best suit your trading style. Relative strength index (RSI), moving average indicator (MA) and the Fibonacci retracement indicator are all examples of indicators which are commonly used by traders.

Pro tip: Research each indicator and see which ones you like most!

The chart drawing tools, which you will find on the left of your screen, allow you to draw anything from simple lines to long and short positions. Similar to the technical indicators, some tools are more advanced than others - we recommend that you find what helps your trading best.

When it comes to your own chart, you should personalise it to your liking. Customising your chart’s symbols, colours, and lines allows you to read and understand your graphs instantly. You’ll find this option at the bottom right of your graph:

Once you have clicked on your settings, the chart settings window will appear:

You'll find that the chart settings are divided into four categories:

Personalising your TradingView chart on Digital Surge further solidifies your foundations in TA.

Once you figure out exactly how you like your chart to look, you’ll probably want the same layout for each chart. The good thing is, you can save a template which you can then apply to any cryptocurrency!

Please note: Your templates will only include the technical indicators you have added.

Saving your chart template is easy! See below:

Did you know, you can integrate your trigger orders into your TradingView charts? After creating a trigger order for the cryptocurrency of your choice, all you will have to do is click the icon highlighted in the image below:

Noticeable in the above graph, the trigger order will appear in your chart. The purple line represents the price of which the asset must meet for the order to be triggered.

Now that you’re comfortable with your chart, let’s get into some basic drawing tools. Drawing a trendline is a great place to start; it’s easy to understand and draw, all the while helping you identify price movements.

Select the trendline tool from your toolbar on the left of your graph:

To track an upward trend, you will need to begin the trendline below the price. Once you have set the initial point, click once more at the top of the trend. The lows in an uptrend will determine a trendline and the opposite for a downtrend.

For reference: The more times the price touches the trendline, the more valid the trendline is. When drawing a trendline, try to look for at least 3 instances where the price touches the line. Traders then use these valid lines as support and resistance levels.

The above graph shows a clear upward trend. You can see that the trendline hits the candle body and the wick more than three times.

Slightly more advanced than trendlines, pitchforks are a useful tool that helps traders identify support and resistance levels.

First, select the pitchfork icon from the left toolbar:

To draw a pitchfork, you will need to first identify three key points. These three points will be consecutive highs and lows - the first point will mark the beginning of the trend.

Take the example below as reference:

In this graph, you will be able to clearly identify each high and low. Furthermore, the pitchfork displays a valid support and resistance levels as well as an upward trendline which was eventually broken after the support level failed.

Becoming familiar with the TradingView charts on your Digital Surge account solidifies your foundations in technical analysis. The easy-to-use chart functionality on TradingView allows beginner traders to develop their TA skills, all the while providing a relevant source of information. Digital Surge has over 300 different cryptocurrencies to offer, with an inbuilt TradingView chart for each asset.

Happy trading!