---
title: 'Basics: Comparand Blog guides'
url: https://comparand.xyz/blog/topic/basics
description: Every Comparand Blog guide about basics.
updated: '2026-10-21'
---

# Basics

- [Crypto base rates: how often does Bitcoin go up?](https://comparand.xyz/blog/past-crypto-returns-not-forecasts.md): Binance Bitcoin rose in 51.88% of 24-hour periods, and 10 big coins ranged from 48.39% to 53.84%. Why a base rate comes before any pattern claim.
- [How does liquidation work in crypto? Margin, price, cascades](https://comparand.xyz/blog/how-liquidation-works-crypto.md): Liquidation closes a leveraged trade when margin runs out. How to work out your liquidation price, what maintenance margin is, and how cascades start.
- [How to read a candlestick chart, with real Bitcoin candles](https://comparand.xyz/blog/how-to-read-candlestick-chart.md): How to read a candlestick: open, high, low, close, body, wicks and colors, using real Bitcoin candles. Green and red were close to even: 50.61% green.
- [What is a Sharpe ratio? Explained with real crypto tests](https://comparand.xyz/blog/sharpe-ratio-explained-crypto.md): A Sharpe ratio is return per unit of swing. How to annualize it for a market that never closes, and real Bitcoin numbers: just holding BTC scored 0.78.
- [What is a chart analog? A guide with real Bitcoin data](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-is-a-crypto-chart-analog.md): A chart analog is a past chart shaped like today's. What bars, windows and shapes mean, how matches are picked, and how a Bitcoin analog rule did.
- [What is a funding rate? A plain guide with real numbers](https://comparand.xyz/blog/crypto-funding-rate-explained.md): A funding rate is a payment between longs and shorts on a perp. Who pays whom, hourly vs 8-hour rates, and what a BTC long cost per day, week and month.
- [What is a perpetual future? Perps explained simply](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-is-a-perpetual-future.md): A perp is a futures contract with no end date. How funding keeps it near spot, what margin means, and how close Bitcoin's perp stayed to spot each year.
- [What is crypto volatility and how do you measure it?](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-is-crypto-volatility.md): Volatility is how much price moves. Six ways to measure it, how to work it out, and why Bitcoin's middle day (1.38%) and average day (2.10%) differ.
- [What is max drawdown? Formula and real Bitcoin examples](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-is-max-drawdown.md): Max drawdown is the biggest fall from a high to a later low. How to calculate it step by step, and Bitcoin's drawdown inside each year from 2020 to 2026.
- [What is open interest in crypto? Explained with Hyperliquid data](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-is-open-interest-crypto.md): Open interest is the total size of trades still open. How it differs from volume, the four price and open interest mixes, and how often each happened.
- [What time does the crypto daily candle close? UTC and local](https://comparand.xyz/blog/what-time-does-crypto-daily-candle-close.md): Binance and Coinbase daily candles close at 00:00 UTC, 8 pm in New York in summer. The next hour moved Bitcoin 0.44% on average. Local times inside.
- [Why is Bitcoin price different on exchanges?](https://comparand.xyz/blog/why-bitcoin-price-differs-between-exchanges.md): Coinbase Bitcoin was a median 0.03% above Binance over 62,342 hours since 2019. See the gap by year and why currency and contract type matter.