Coins behaving unlike themselves. Trading far above their own two-week volume, or sitting right at the top or bottom of their own range.
Every coin is measured against its own recent history, not against the market. This is the part that matters. Compare against a global average and you get the largest coins back every time, because Bitcoin trades more in a minute than a small-cap does in a week. Scored against itself, a coin that normally turns over $40,000 an hour and suddenly does $2m is the outlier, however small it is.
Two weeks is long enough that one busy afternoon does not become the new normal, and short enough that a coin which has genuinely changed character stops being flagged for it.
None of this predicts direction. Unusual volume shows up ahead of moves both ways, and a coin can sit at the top of its range for a week without breaking out of it.
Volume well above that coin's own two-week average, or a price sitting at the extreme of its own two-week range. The threshold is per coin, so a small-cap can rank above Bitcoin.
Because comparing against the market only ever surfaces the biggest coins. A $2m hour is nothing for a major and remarkable for a micro-cap. Only a per-coin baseline can tell those apart.
No. Volume expands ahead of moves in both directions, and plenty of spikes resolve into nothing. It is a place to start looking. It is not advice.
Yes. Unusual activity is one of the paid features. The free plan shows five coins on the board and no unusual list.