Best Times To Trade Meme Coins 

Navigating the 24/7 nature of the crypto markets as a meme coin trader is a unique challenge.

Timing is everything when faced with volatility and unpredictability.

So, lock in and learn as we teach you the fundamentals of timing crypto trades and more importantly WHEN to trade for optimal results. 

When Is The Best Time for Trading Crypto?

The short answer: The best times to trade crypto or meme coins are during peak U.S. stock exchange trading hours as you’ll be exposed to higher liquidity and trading volume.

9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET)

This is the regular trading session for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ and when it's peak time for trading crypto and meme coins.

Here’s what that means in other time zones:

U.S. Market Hours and Liquidity

The U.S. stock market is the biggest trading ecosystem in the world, though many stock traders have now diversified their portfolios into cryptocurrency and digital assets.

This goes some way towards explaining why crypto trading volume peaks during U.S. stock market hours.

Though, it’s not just Americans causing this trend, it would appear that whether traders are in Asia, Africa, Europe, or the Americas, they’re willing to trade early in the morning or late at night to catch the best volume and liquidity. 

When the opening bells of the U.S. stock market chimes at 09:30 AM Eastern time, crypto trading almost immediately trends upwards. It wasn’t always this way. Asia used to be the center of trading activity, but it has moved West in recent years.

This could be due to the impressive growth of institutional trading in the US, with substantial capital, increased liquidity, and tighter bid-ask spreads brought about by professional traders.

Traders, both pros and retail, know that stable movements and reduced friction make trading smoother, so a global alignment towards one timezone was almost an inevitability.

Another explanation for U.S. trading hours becoming the optimal time to execute your deals is the increase in regulatory clarity, the rise of sophisticated trading infrastructure and platforms, and the recent mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the United States.

Crypto is no longer niche and obscure, but part of most traders’ portfolios. 

Weekend Trading in Crypto: Volatility and Liquidity Drops

While crypto trading can be done 24/7, unlike stocks, that doesn’t mean that there’s around-the-clock activity.

At the weekend, things take a notable dip in the crypto markets, and that’s not because of a lack of interest from retail traders, but because most institutional investors and professional traders simply aren’t in front of their terminals.

Now, while you’d think institutional investors aren’t interested in meme coins, you’d be quite wrong.

Weekend liquidity lulls as people step back, rest, and wait for the next week ahead.

This reduced volume means lower liquidity, and also less predictable price movements, making it even more challenging to make trades.

So, the key takeaway here, if you’re not looking to expose yourself to unnecessary risk, is to be conservative at the weekends and consider that the market is more distorted at this time. 

Best Time to Trade DeFi Tokens: Gas Fees and Network Congestion

When trading DeFi tokens, timing isn't just about market moves, it's also about Ethereum gas fees and network congestion.

Gas fees tend to spike during U.S. trading hours (especially 12 PM – 6 PM ET) when global activity is high.

If you're concerned about fees, consider trading during off-peak hours, like late night UTC (1 AM – 6 AM), when the network is quieter.

There are gas tracker tools available that can help you plan your trades and avoid paying a premium just to swap a token.

Top Trading Tips:

• For low congestion, the best time to trade crypto in US states is outside of US trading hours

  
  

• Use L2s for reduced fees and processing times

  
  

• Explore blockchains with cheaper transaction costs

  
  

• Monitor gas fee trackers to time your trades

Why Timing Matters in Crypto Trading

Profitable meme coin trading comes down to three crucial factors in tokenomics: liquidity, trading volume, and transaction costs. All of these factors tie back into timing. 

• Liquidity is a measure of how easily you can make your buys and sells without impacting the market price (which is already extremely volatile in the meme coin market). Timing your buys and sells when liquidity is high can help get the best price for your coin. Low liquidity will make trades harder to execute.

  
  

• Trading Volume indicates market interest and potential price movements, so if you make trades when there’s a higher volume of trades happening, you can leverage more stable trading conditions.

  
  

• Transaction Costs can be a huge pain for traders, especially when they lose big chunks of their profits to poorly-timed transactions (we’ll cover this in the gas fees and congestion section). Fortunately, Telegram trading bots have solved this issue, offering predictable and fixed transaction fees for greater cost transparency.

  
  

Further Reading: BONKbot’s fee structure is outlined here.

Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchange Activity: Similar Time Patterns

You’d be surprised how similar CEXs and DEXs are, when their whole existence is defined by being different. Ultimately, they’re both homes for traders, and when it comes to trading dynamics, peak trading times, institutional influence, and standardization, they’re moving closer towards each other. 

As DEXs and CEXs have unintentionally synchronized, institutional traders and large-scale investors have been able to establish a unified trading rhythm along U.S. trading hours.

These trading patterns see centralized and decentralized markets and traders align, suggesting that meme coin traders can apply similar timing strategies to trading crypto as they would stocks. 

Try BONKbot

With fixed transaction fees, seamless usability, and pro-level features, BONKbot gives both casual and seasoned traders the control and confidence to ride crypto’s volatility, no matter the time of day.