Best day of the week to buy Bitcoin? 11 years of data
No weekday stood out in 11 years of Coinbase Bitcoin data. Monday led on average (+0.42%), but its median was +0.09% and the top day kept changing.
No weekday stood out. On Coinbase BTC-USD (4,109 days, from July 2015 to October 19, 2026), Monday had the highest average daily return, +0.42%, and Thursday the lowest, −0.01%. But Monday's test score of 1.52 is below the 2 that people usually look for, and the best weekday changed from year to year. Across 12 markets we ran 84 weekday tests, and only 1 passed that bar, fewer than luck alone would give.
This article measures what price did on each weekday. It is not advice about when to buy.
These are past cases, not a forecast.
For how big moves were on weekends vs weekdays, see Is crypto more volatile on weekends?.
What did we measure?
For each day we took the change from the previous day's closing price to that day's close. Then we sorted the days by weekday. A day means a UTC day, midnight to midnight on the world clock. In New York, the UTC Monday starts on Sunday evening.
We report four things for each weekday. The mean is the average return. The median is the middle return, which a few huge days cannot pull around. The up share is the share of days that closed higher. The test score (a t-stat) asks how far a weekday's average sits from the average of the other six days, measured in margins of error. A score beyond about 2 in either direction is the usual bar for calling a difference real.
Which weekday had the best average?
This is Coinbase BTC-USD, a spot market, meaning the coin itself priced in US dollars. Each weekday has 587 days.
| Weekday | Mean | Median | Up share | Margin of error | Test score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | +0.42% | +0.09% | 51.45% | 0.16 | 1.52 |
| Tuesday | +0.09% | +0.05% | 50.77% | 0.14 | −0.85 |
| Wednesday | +0.34% | +0.18% | 52.30% | 0.15 | 0.98 |
| Thursday | −0.01% | −0.07% | 48.89% | 0.17 | −1.31 |
| Friday | +0.24% | +0.27% | 55.03% | 0.15 | 0.32 |
| Saturday | +0.25% | +0.15% | 56.90% | 0.11 | 0.47 |
| Sunday | +0.07% | +0.03% | 50.77% | 0.11 | −1.20 |
Monday's mean is pulled up by a few big days. Its median is only +0.09%. Saturday had the most up days, and Friday had the highest median.
No row reaches a score of 2. The margins of error run from 0.11 to 0.17 points. Monday's mean and Thursday's are 0.43 points apart. Even after combining the two margins, that gap is still under twice the combined margin.
The same coin on another exchange gave another answer. For Binance BTCUSDT, a perp (a futures contract that never expires), we had about 371 days per weekday from September 2019. Wednesday had the highest mean, +0.43% (score 1.87), and Thursday the lowest, −0.20% (score −1.80). Neither passed 2. Coinbase's list starts four years earlier, which is one reason the answers differ.
Does the best weekday stay the same each year?
No. This table shows the weekday with the highest and the lowest mean in each complete year for Coinbase BTC-USD. Each weekday has 52 or 53 days in a year.
| Year | Highest mean | Lowest mean |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Saturday +0.82% | Tuesday −0.20% |
| 2017 | Monday +1.78% | Friday −0.36% |
| 2018 | Saturday +0.42% | Wednesday −0.74% |
| 2019 | Friday +1.20% | Thursday −0.90% |
| 2020 | Monday +1.34% | Sunday −0.40% |
| 2021 | Wednesday +0.82% | Tuesday −0.18% |
| 2022 | Monday +0.01% | Friday −0.68% |
| 2023 | Tuesday +0.79% | Thursday −0.41% |
| 2024 | Monday +0.92% | Tuesday −0.38% |
| 2025 | Wednesday +0.58% | Thursday −0.34% |
Across these 10 years, Monday was best 4 times, Saturday and Wednesday 2 times each, and Friday and Tuesday once each. Thursday was the lowest in 3 years and Tuesday in 3.
The best day in 2022 was Monday at +0.01%, because every other weekday had a negative mean. A "best" weekday can still be flat. And each year's average rests on about 52 days, so single years are mostly noise. In 2022, Monday's margin of error was 0.62 points, far larger than its +0.01% average.
This is also why answers you find online disagree. A study of other years, another coin or another exchange can name a different day.
How small is the gap next to a normal day?
Small. Monday's mean (+0.42%) and Thursday's (−0.01%) are 0.43 points apart. A typical Bitcoin day moves more than 1% in either direction, as the daily move study shows. A gap of 0.43 points between two averages is small compared with what one day can do.
Fees are also a yardstick. A round trip at 0.10% costs more than gaps of a few hundredths of a percent, such as Tuesday's +0.09% against Sunday's +0.07%. If you buy a set amount every week, our weekly buying vs lump sum test compares that plan with buying all at once.
We tested 7 weekdays in 12 markets, which makes 84 tests. Only 1 had a score beyond 2: XRPUSDT on Sunday, at −2.09. By chance alone, about 4 of 84 would pass 2. So the data shows fewer unusual weekdays than luck would. Wednesday had the highest mean in 6 of the 12 markets and Thursday the lowest in 8, but these coins move together, so those are not 12 separate tests.
Which weekday holds the week's lowest close?
We also looked at each Monday-to-Sunday UTC week for Coinbase BTC-USD (587 weeks) and asked which weekday had the lowest close. Then we asked the same question of weeks rebuilt from the same daily returns drawn in random order.
| Weekday | Lowest close in real weeks | Same in randomly rebuilt weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 27.94% | 25.83% |
| Tuesday | 14.65% | 13.28% |
| Wednesday | 11.07% | 10.67% |
| Thursday | 11.58% | 9.66% |
| Friday | 10.73% | 9.66% |
| Saturday | 9.20% | 11.36% |
| Sunday | 14.82% | 19.54% |
Monday comes first, but its lead is within chance. Even randomly rebuilt weeks put the lowest close on Monday 25.83% of the time, because the first and last days of a week are more likely to be its lowest point. Monday's real 27.94% is only about 1.2 margins of error above that. So Monday was not a reliably cheaper day.
Does a green Sunday mean a red Monday?
Not in a way that works as a rule. After 298 up Sundays on Coinbase BTC-USD, Monday closed down 54.03% of the time. For all 587 Mondays it was 48.55%.
But part of that is a general habit. On all days, a day after an up day closed down 50.26% of the time, against 47.69% for all days. It is not a Sunday-only rule. The pattern points the same way in all 12 markets, but those markets move together, so that is not 12 separate confirmations. We look at this more closely in Sunday pump, Monday dump.
What does this data not show?
It does not show returns after fees or what a buyer would have earned. A day's close-to-close change is not a trade. It also does not show direction for any future weekday.
Daily bars hide what happens inside the day. The Sunday-to-Monday split is at UTC midnight, not New York midnight. We also did not correct our tests for the many comparisons made, so some unusual-looking cells are expected.
Coinbase's all-years numbers include 2015 to 2018, which Binance does not have. And 2026 is a partial year.
How we measured this
We used public daily price bars for Coinbase BTC-USD (July 20, 2015 to October 19, 2026) and for Binance BTCUSDT and 9 other Binance perps from their starts to October 19, 2026. For each day we computed the percent change from the previous close and grouped it by UTC weekday. Then we found the count, mean, median, up share and margin of error for each weekday, and a test score against the other six days. For weekly lows, we took each full Monday-to-Sunday UTC week and found the weekday of its lowest close. Days across a missing bar were dropped. We tested no trading rule.
Try this in Comparand
Ask your connected AI agent: "Get daily bars for Coinbase BTC-USD over my chosen dates. Group each day's close-to-close return by UTC weekday. Show the count, mean, median and share of up days for each weekday, year by year."
- venue_bars returns open, high, low and close prices plus volume for completed bars only. Use the 1d interval. It is free on every key.
- Your agent does the grouping. The tool returns bars, not a weekday report.
- Ask venue_coverage (also free) which exchanges and bar sizes are served before you compare with our numbers.
To see how noisy one particular day was, ask: "Show Bitcoin's realized volatility and volatility regime on my chosen day."
- hl_stats returns realized volatility, a volatility regime and a correlation matrix for up to 20 coins on one day. It uses the Hyperliquid archive, so call hl_coverage first to see which days it has. It costs $0.01 per call on pay-as-you-go.
- It describes the past, and it does not tell you whether a weekday is better.
See the docs for setup, or try 3 coins free. These are past cases, not a forecast.
The short version
- On Coinbase BTC-USD, Monday had the highest average daily return (+0.42%) and Thursday the lowest (−0.01%).
- No weekday reached a test score of 2, and the best weekday changed from year to year.
- On Binance BTCUSDT, Wednesday had the highest average (+0.43%), so even the same coin gives a different answer.
- Only 1 of 84 weekday tests passed a score of 2, fewer than luck alone would give.
- A weekday gap is small next to a normal day, and this is not a reason to buy on any day.
Questions people ask
What is the best day of the week to buy Bitcoin?
The data does not name one. On Coinbase BTC-USD (4,109 days, July 2015 to October 19, 2026) Monday had the highest average daily return, +0.42%, but its test score was 1.52, below the usual bar of 2. The best day also changed from year to year. This measures past price moves and is not advice to buy.
Is Bitcoin cheaper on weekends?
Not in a way we can show. This study measures daily returns, not price levels. On Coinbase BTC-USD, Saturday had the highest share of up days (56.90%), but the test scores for Saturday (0.47) and Sunday (−1.20) were both well below the usual bar of 2.
Which weekday usually has the lowest Bitcoin close of the week?
Monday, in 27.94% of 587 Coinbase BTC-USD weeks. But weeks rebuilt from random draws of daily returns also put the lowest close on Monday 25.83% of the time, so the gap is within chance. The first and last days of a week are simply more likely to hold the lowest close.
Does a green Sunday mean a red Monday for Bitcoin?
Monday closed down after 54.03% of the 298 up Sundays on Coinbase BTC-USD, against 48.55% of all 587 Mondays. Part of this is a general habit of a day following an up day with a down day: on all days it was 50.26% against 47.69%.