I just realized that quite a few people in the crypto community still don’t know what ATH is, even though it’s a term that shows up everywhere online. Today, I’m going to explain this concept clearly to you.

ATH is short for All-Time-High, meaning the highest price that an asset has ever reached—since the time it was listed. That’s all there is to it. But the way people use ATH varies depending on the context. On financial news websites, they use ATH to talk about the highest price an asset has ever touched. But on crypto forums and social media, you’ll often see people predicting that a certain coin is about to reach a new ATH, or you’ll see “what is ATH” become a common question when the market heats up.

You could say ATH is the goal for most crypto investors. The reason is that if a coin you own breaks through its previous ATH, it almost certainly means your profit has exceeded the initial level. For example, Bitcoin’s current ATH is 126.08K USD, meaning that if you buy BTC at any price below this level, you’re in profit.

But ATH isn’t only seen in crypto. It’s also used widely in traditional stock markets. You can see it on forums like r/WallStreetBets. Remember the GameStop event in 2020? When retail investors pushed GME’s price higher, many people said that GME had reached ATH. Besides price, ATH can also refer to an asset’s market capitalization, calculated by multiplying the price per unit by the total available supply.

The concept of what ATH is has existed for a long time in the world of stock investing. But it became much more popular when cryptocurrencies took off. Since crypto is considered a speculative investment, people pay close attention to the value of their portfolios. In the past few years, as capital poured into the blockchain increased sharply, more and more tokens reached new ATHs.

However, it’s important to remember that ATH is not a sure indicator of the future. A coin that hits ATH in its first week after listing might never repeat that level again. On the contrary, some coins break through their previous ATH and continue to go even higher.

Besides ATH, there’s also ATL (All-Time-Low), meaning the lowest price of all time. ATL is discussed less often, but when a coin “collapses,” it can reach a new ATL—possibly even lower than the original listing price. This can be a warning sign for potential buyers.

When using ATH in trading, you need to understand that it’s only a reference tool, not a complete strategy. If an asset keeps hitting new ATHs, you may be able to recognize an upward trend. But you still need strong technical and fundamental analysis to determine when the price will hit resistance and start to decline. What is ATH is only part of the bigger picture.