Realized Volatility (2W)

Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over the past 14 days — bridges instant noise and short-term trend volatility

Property	Value
Category	Market Data
Unit	Dimensionless
Resolution	1d
Assets	BTC
Tier	Basic
API Endpoint	GET /v1/prices
Field	realized_vol_2w

Overview

Realized Volatility (2W) measures Bitcoin's annualized price volatility over a trailing 14-day rolling window of daily log-returns. Sitting between the ultra-reactive 1W and the more smoothed 1M, the 2W window provides a balanced view: it still reflects very recent market stress but is less susceptible to single-day outliers distorting the picture.

Traders and analysts who need a volatility measure that is responsive but not jumpy often prefer the 2W window as a practical short-term benchmark. It captures the full cycle of a typical weekly price event (a weekend dump followed by a recovery, for instance) within a single observation.

All values are annualized by multiplying the daily standard deviation by $\sqrt{365}$, making them directly comparable across all windows and to traditional finance conventions.

Formula

$$\sigma_{2W} = \sqrt{365} \times \sqrt{ \frac{1}{N-1} \sum_{i=1}^{N} \left( r_i - \bar{r} \right)^2 }$$

where:

• $r_i = \ln\!\left(\frac{P_i}{P_{i-1}}\right)$ — daily log-return
• $\bar{r}$ — mean of the $N$ log-returns in the window
• $N = 14$ — rolling window size
• The $\sqrt{365}$ factor annualizes the daily standard deviation
• Result is expressed as a percentage

Interpretation

• Low (< 30%): The market has been unusually quiet for two weeks. Often precedes an expansion in volatility.
• Moderate (30–60%): Standard BTC environment. Consistent directional moves or sideways chop.
• High (60–100%): Two consecutive weeks of turbulence. Usually means a trend change or macro shock is still ongoing.
• Extreme (> 100%): Sustained crisis-level volatility over two weeks. Rare — seen during multi-day cascading liquidations.

The 2W measure is particularly useful as a smoothing bridge: when 1W spikes but 2W stays flat, the shock was a single-day event. When both 1W and 2W are elevated, the volatility regime has persisted and demands more caution.

Use Cases

• Options bi-weekly expiry pricing: Two-week options use near-term realized vol as an anchor. Comparing 2W realized to 2W implied vol informs whether premium is fair.
• Regime confirmation: A rising 2W vol confirms that the single-day shock visible in 1W has legs. A flat 2W with a spiked 1W suggests the event is already fading.
• Position sizing: Risk managers scale position sizes inversely with realized vol. The 2W window is short enough to be current but stable enough to avoid overreacting to outliers.
• Cross-asset comparison: BTC's 2W realized vol can be compared to gold or equity index volatility (also quoted annualized) to contextualize Bitcoin's risk profile in a multi-asset portfolio.

API Usage

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.blocklens.co/v1/prices?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-12-31&limit=365"

Related Metrics

• Realized Volatility (1W) — Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over the past 7 days — a real-time gauge of short-term BTC price turbulence
• Realized Volatility (1M) — Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over the past 30 days — the industry-standard short-term BTC volatility benchmark
• Realized Volatility (3M) — Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over the past 90 days — tracks medium-term volatility across a full market phase
• Realized Volatility (6M) — Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over the past 180 days — a slow-moving anchor for long-term volatility trend analysis
• Realized Volatility (1Y) — Annualized standard deviation of daily log-returns over a trailing 365-day window — measures how volatile BTC price has been over the past year
• Price — BTC market price