How to set a price alert
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 4 min
In short
A price alert notifies you when a coin reaches a level you set. You generally pick the coin, the price and the notification method, and save it. The value is that you stop staring at charts, which takes some emotion out of trading. But notifications can be delayed or fail to arrive, so never build a plan that depends on one.
Key points
- You normally specify the coin, the price, whether it is a rise or a fall, and how to be notified
- Delivery is usually a push notification or email, and depends on your device's own settings too
- An alert only tells you; it does not place an order
- Delays and failures happen, so do not let an alert be your only trigger for an important decision
Definition
A feature that sends you a notification when a chosen coin reaches a level you set. Exchange apps offer it, and so do price-tracking services.
Setting one up generally means choosing the coin, typing the price you care about, and choosing whether to be told when it rises above or falls below that level. Push notification, email, or both are the usual delivery options, and alerts either clear themselves once triggered or repeat. Because that behaviour changes how usable they are, follow your first alert all the way through to an actual notification.
The easy way to test it is to set one just beside the current price. It should trigger within minutes or hours, which tells you whether notifications really arrive and which screen tapping one takes you to. If nothing comes, work through the obvious causes: notifications disabled for that app, a focus or do-not-disturb mode suppressing them, or the email landing in spam.
This article does not suggest what level to set, because that would mean taking a view on the market. What is worth saying is practical: set too many alerts and you stop reacting to them, so you will ignore the one that mattered. Restricting alerts to levels where you would genuinely do something works far better.
Keep in mind that an alert is not an order. It tells you and nothing else — no buying or selling happens when it triggers. If you want an order placed automatically at a price, that is what stop and other conditional order types are for. Those move real money, so understand them first and test with a small size.
Besides exchange apps, price-tracking services and portal watchlists often offer alerts too. Registering the same condition in several places just produces duplicate noise, so pick one place to receive them and keep it there.
Watch out for
- · Delays and failures happen through connectivity or maintenance. The absence of an alert is not evidence that the price has not moved
- · Never follow a link in an email or message that claims to be a price alert. Check prices by opening the official app yourself
- · This article offers no view on what price levels to target. Trading decisions are your own
Frequently asked questions
Are price alerts free?
Most exchange apps and price services include them at no charge, though there is often a cap on how many you can register. Terms differ by operator, so check their own documentation.