In this article, I’ll walk you through the #bitcoin Pi Cycle Top Risk Indicator — a tool based on the well-known Pi Cycle Top Indicator.
By the end, we’ll have a new lens to analyze $BTC market cycles. 👇
First, a quick recap of the original Pi Cycle Top Indicator. It uses two moving averages:
— 111-day MA (111DMA)
— 350-day MA × 2 (350DMA x 2)
A bullish crossover (111DMA crossing above 350DMA×2) historically predicted BTC tops within 3 days.
However, one sould know that in 2021 the signal occurred in April (the first peak). The higher November peak didn’t trigger the indicator.
Now let’s take the ratio: 111DMA / (350DMA × 2) → this gives us the Pi Cycle Top Ratio (orange line in Pic. 3). When the ratio crosses 1 from below, that’s equivalent to the original Pi Cycle Top signal.
As you can see: each new major peak is lower than the previous. In 2021, the ratio barely touched 1. This implies that in this cycle, the moving averages may not cross — and Pi Cycle Top Indicator may not generate a signal.
Can we forecast the next peak of the Ratio? (Keep in mind: Ratio peaks ≠ BTC price peaks but we'll get back to it later.)
Turns out the Ratio peaks fit nicely along a logarithmic curve — let’s plot it. And the lows sit on a straight line. We add both bounds, plus a midline.
Now we have a band within which the Ratio tends to move — useful for anticipating turning points (Pic. 4).
Next, let’s normalize the Ratio within this band:
— bottom bound = 0
— top bound = 1
This gives us the Pi Cycle Top Risk indicator — a clean, scaled version of market risk (Pic. 5).
Currently, it sits at 0.48, right around the mid-range.
Now let’s compare Pi Cycle Top Risk to past BTC tops and bottoms (using daily closes).
We’ll treat April 2021 as the last cycle top.
The chart (Pic. 6) shows:
— BTC tops occurred when Risk ≥ 0.79
— Bottoms occurred when Risk ≤ 0.24 (or ≤ 0.10 excluding 2011)
Summary:
1. Right now, Pi Cycle Top Risk ≈ 0.48 and has been hovering near 0.5 for the past year.
This reflects a relatively low volatility during this market cycle — BTC has been rising steadily, with pauses for consolidation, no mania phase and blow-off top.
2. How can we use this going forward?
I can’t say whether the Risk will rise or fall — and there’s no guarantee it’ll hit the boundaries.
But if it's ever:
— Above 0.9 (bright-red zone) → strong signal to consider selling
— Below 0.1 (bright-green zone) → potentially good buy opportunities (Pic.7)
Not financial advice
We’ll keep tracking it.
