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Bearish patternreversal

Double Top pattern

Price tests the same high twice and fails both times — an 'M' shape that marks supply sitting on the market.

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How a double top must look

The anatomy that has to be present before the label applies — structure, the trigger line, and where the measured-move target comes from.

Double top — two rejections, neckline break & measured move
Same supply zoneNecklineTop 1Top 2BreakHeightHeight projectedbelow necklineTarget

Coins printing a double top now

Detected live by our screener across the top-100, with a confidence score per coin. No tracked coin is currently flagged — patterns are rarer than indicator states, so check back or open the screener.

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What is a double top?

A double top forms when price rallies to a high, pulls back, rallies to roughly the same high again — and gets rejected a second time. The two peaks with a trough between them draw an 'M' on the chart. The trough's low is the neckline; a close below it completes the pattern.

Two rejections at the same level is direct evidence of supply: somebody is willing to sell size there, and buyers failed to absorb it twice. The second failure matters most — momentum traders who bought the retest of the high are now trapped, and their stops sit below the neckline.

Double tops are among the most common reversal structures in crypto because round numbers and prior all-time highs act as natural sell zones where the pattern repeatedly forms.

How it forms, phase by phase

  1. 1

    First peak

    An uptrend pushes to a new high, then retreats on profit-taking. So far this is a normal pullback in a healthy trend.

  2. 2

    The trough

    The pullback finds support — this low becomes the neckline. A bounce from here is expected; the question is how high it gets.

  3. 3

    Second peak

    Price returns to the first peak's zone (the two highs rarely match to the dollar — within a few percent counts) and is rejected again, usually on weaker volume than the first peak.

  4. 4

    Neckline break

    Price closes below the trough low. The 'M' is complete, and the trapped buyers from the second peak start selling into every bounce.

How traders trade it

  • 1The pattern triggers on the neckline break, not at the second peak. Shorting the second touch of the high is a counter-trend guess; the completed pattern is a structure.
  • 2Compare volume between the two peaks. A second peak on noticeably weaker volume is the textbook warning that the retest lacked conviction.
  • 3Use the measured move down from the neckline as the objective, and a stop above the second peak — or tighter, above the most recent lower high.
  • 4A retest of the broken neckline from below is common and offers a defined-risk second entry, with the stop just above the reclaimed level.

The target calculation

Target = neckline − (peak − neckline). Measure the height from the peaks to the trough, then project it below the breakdown.

Worked example

  1. 1.Ethereum prints two peaks at $3,400 with the trough (neckline) at $3,000.
  2. 2.Pattern height: $3,400 − $3,000 = $400.
  3. 3.On a close below $3,000, the measured target is $3,000 − $400 = $2,600.
  4. 4.A stop above the second peak's rejection zone at $3,250 risks $250 to make $400 — about 1 : 1.6.

Double Top: key facts

  • The two peaks don't need to be identical — within roughly 2-3% of each other on a daily chart is the conventional tolerance.
  • Time between peaks matters: peaks separated by weeks carry more weight than two spikes a few hours apart.
  • A second peak on lower volume than the first is the classic sign that demand is thinning.
  • The deeper the trough between the peaks, the larger the measured move — and the more meaningful the pattern.
  • Triple tops (a third rejection) are rarer but read the same way, with the same neckline logic.

What it doesn't tell you

Until the neckline breaks, a double top is indistinguishable from a bullish consolidation under resistance — and resistance levels in strong uptrends break upward all the time. The pattern also says nothing about how fast the move resolves; price can chop above the neckline for weeks after the second rejection.

Double Top FAQ

What does a double top pattern indicate?
It indicates that an uptrend ran into the same supply twice and failed to break through — a sign of distribution. Once price closes below the neckline (the trough between the peaks), the pattern projects further downside roughly equal to the pattern's height.
Do the two tops have to be at exactly the same price?
No. In practice the second peak lands within a few percent of the first — sometimes slightly above it (a stop-hunt overshoot) or below it. What matters is the second clear rejection from the same supply zone and the subsequent neckline break.
What is the difference between a double top and a double bottom?
They are mirror images. A double top is two failed tests of a high ('M' shape, bearish); a double bottom is two successful defenses of a low ('W' shape, bullish). Both confirm only on the neckline break.

Test yourself

0/3 answered

  1. 1. What information do two rejections at the same high actually convey?

  2. 2. Peaks at $3,400, trough at $3,000. Price closes below $3,000 — what's the target?

  3. 3. Do the two tops need to print at exactly the same price?

Keep learning

Patterns that trade alongside the double top — same discipline, different shape.

bullishreversal

Double Bottom

Price defends the same low twice — a 'W' shape showing demand stepping in where sellers ran dry.

Read the pattern
bearishreversal

Head and Shoulders

Three peaks — the middle one highest — warning that an uptrend is running out of buyers. One of the most-watched reversal patterns in any market.

Read the pattern
bearishcontinuation

Bear Flag

A sharp drop, then a weak upward drift — sellers reloading before the next leg down.

Read the pattern
All 13 chart patternsDiagrams, target calculations & live detectionThe chart patterns guideHow trigger, volume, measured move & invalidation fit together

Disclaimer: This page is educational and does not constitute financial advice. Chart patterns describe historical tendencies, not certainties. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile — always do your own research and never invest more than you can afford to lose.