Percentage Volume Oscillator (PVO) on Bitcoin

What it shows

Under the bitcoin candles, the PVO line and its slower signal curve around zero, with columns for the gap between them. Green columns sit above zero (darker while they grow), red ones below it (paler while they shrink back up).

How Pravex works it out

1. Work out a fast average and a slow average of each candle’s volume. Both are EMAs unless you switch the average type for the two lines to SMA.
2. PVO = 100 × (fast − slow) ÷ slow.
3. The PVO then gets its own 9-candle average, EMA unless you pick SMA, and that is the signal.
4. Histogram = PVO − Signal line.
5. Invented volumes make it plain: if the fast volume average is 150 and the slow one is 100, the PVO is 100 × 50 ÷ 100 = +50.

Settings

Setting	Default	What changing it does
Quick average length	12	Candles in the fast volume average. A smaller number reacts sooner to a burst of trading.
Slow average length	26	Candles in the slow volume average. A larger number sets a calmer baseline to compare against.
Signal average length	9	Candles in the average that makes the Signal line. A shorter signal crosses the PVO more often. The largest value is 50.
Average type for the two lines	EMA	Choose EMA or SMA for the fast and slow averages. The SMA weighs every candle in the window the same; the EMA weighs recent ones more.
Average type for the signal	EMA	Choose EMA or SMA for the Signal line.

How traders read it

The PVO says nothing about direction. A high reading means trading is busier than usual, and that can come with a rally or a drop. Read it next to the price candles.

Breakouts are where it earns its place. A break of a bitcoin range with the PVO climbing above zero has real trading behind it; one with the PVO under zero happened on thin volume.

A cross of the PVO under its Signal line says the burst of trading is fading. The histogram shows it first, because it shrinks toward zero before the lines cross.

When it misleads

Volume can jump around scheduled events, so the PVO spikes then without any change in the trend. On a short timeframe one large trade can inflate a single candle and push the fast average up. Bitcoin trades all day and all week, so the line has no weekend gap, but quiet hours still pull it below zero. The volume here is Hyperliquid’s, not the whole market’s.

Questions and answers

Does a high PVO mean price will rise?

No. It says recent volume is above its longer average, as a percent. It tells you how busy trading is, not which way price will go.

PVO vs PPO: what is the difference?

The formula is the same. The PPO runs on price and the PVO runs on volume, so the PVO has no Source setting.

Why does the PVO spike every day at the same hour?

Volume rises at the US open and around scheduled data, so the fast average jumps away from the slow one. That is the session rhythm, not a change of trend.

How do I make the PVO compare against a full day?

On hourly candles, raise the slow average from 26 to 24 or 48 so it spans one or two days, and leave the quick one at 12. The zero line then means a normal day’s trading.

Related: Percentage Price Oscillator, Klinger Oscillator, Positive Volume Index, every indicator.