What is Volatility?
The magnitude of price variation over time. Bitcoin's is high by the standards of every traditional asset class.
Volatility is symmetric: the same property that produces large gains produces large losses, and no framing changes that. It is the primary reason position sizing matters more than entry timing.
Bitcoin's realised volatility has trended down over its history as the market has deepened, but "lower than before" is not "low", and it can spike at any time.
Related terms
Drawdown
The decline from a peak to a subsequent trough, usually expressed as a percentage.
MarketsPosition sizing
Deciding how much to commit to a position based on how much you are prepared to lose if it goes against you.
MarketsRisk management
Deciding in advance how much can be lost, and structuring positions so that no single outcome is ruinous.
This definition is part of the Bitcoin Logical glossary. For the fuller explanation, start with Learn, or see the live numbers on The Bitcoin Signal.