Bollinger Bands Width (BBW)

Bollinger Bands Width is a volatility-based indicator that quantifies the relative width between the upper and lower Bollinger Bands. It is derived from standard Bollinger Bands, which are plotted a certain number of standard deviations (typically 2) above and below a moving average.

BBW helps traders spot squeeze setups, where the bands contract during low-volatility periods and suggest an upcoming price breakout. Conversely, wide bands may signal a period of high volatility, often following a strong move.

How to Use Bollinger Bands Width

  • Low BBW values indicate that the Bollinger Bands are tight and the market is in a low-volatility phase. This often precedes a breakout in price.
  • High BBW values suggest that the bands have expanded due to recent volatility. This can signal that a large move has already occurred, and a consolidation may follow.
  • BBW can be used across different timeframes and asset classes, including crypto, stocks, forex, and commodities.

Get BBW values via API

We provide API access to the BBW values for all of the most popular assets like stocks, crypto (try one of the popular exchanges like Binance) and forex, on all commonly used timeframes – from the weekly and daily all the way down to one minute intervals. You can also calculate the values on your own data using our manual method.

Why Use BBW?

The BBW indicator is essential for volatility-based strategies. Many traders use it in conjunction with other indicators to confirm breakouts or identify periods to avoid trading. Whether you’re building a bot or analyzing charts manually, tracking bbw provides valuable insight into market conditions.

Get started with the bbw

Simply make an HTTPS [GET] request or call in your browser:

			[GET] https://api.taapi.io/bbw?secret=MY_SECRET&exchange=binance&symbol=BTC/USDT&interval=1h

API response

The bbw endpoint returns a JSON response like this:

			{
	"value": [
		3.9203
	],
	"upperBand": [
		110465.3888
	],
	"lowerBand": [
		106218.0612
	],
	"middleBand": [
		108341.725
	]
}
Example response from TAAPI.IO when querying bbw endpoint.

API parameters

secret
Required String
The secret which is emailed to you when you request an API key.
exchange
Required String
The exchange you want to calculate the indicator from: binance, binancefutures or one of our supported exchanges. For other crypto / stock exchanges, please refer to our Client or Manual integration methods.
symbol
Required String
Symbol names are always uppercase, with the coin separated by a forward slash and the market: COIN/MARKET. For example: BTC/USDT Bitcoin to Tether, or LTC/BTC Litecoin to Bitcoin...
interval
Required String
Interval or time frame: We support the following time frames: 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 2h, 4h, 12h, 1d, 1w. So if you're interested in values on hourly candles, use interval=1h, for daily values use interval=1d, etc.
backtrack
Optional Integer
The backtrack parameter removes candles from the data set and calculates the bbw value X amount of candles back. So, if you are fetching the bbw on the hourly and you want to know what the bbw was 5 hours ago, set backtrack=5. The default is 0.
chart
Optional String
The chart parameter accepts one of two values: candles or heikinashi. candles is the default, but if you set this to heikinashi, the indicator values will be calculated using Heikin Ashi candles. Note: Pro & Expert Plans only.
addResultTimestamp
Optional Boolean
true or false. Defaults to false. By setting to true the API will return a timestamp with every result (real-time and backtracked) to which candle the value corresponds. This is especially helpful when requesting a series of historical values using the results parameter.
fromTimestamp
New Optional String
The start of the time range in Unix epoch time. For example: 1685577600
toTimestamp
New Optional String
The end of the time range in Unix epoch time. For example: 1731456000 If you only use fromTimestamp, the API will return all results from that time until present.
gaps
Optional Boolean
true or false. Defaults to true. By setting to false, the API will ensure that there are no candles missing. This often happens on lower timeframes in thin markets. Gaps will be filled by a new candle with 0 volume, and OHLC set the the close price of the latest candle with volume.
results
New Optional String
number or max. Use this parameter to access historical values on the past X candles until the most recent candle. Use max to return all available historical values. Returns an array with the oldest value on top and most recent value returned the last.
length
Optional Integer

The period for calculating Bollinger Bands.

Default: 20

multiplier
Optional Float

The standard deviation multiplier for Bollinger Bands calculation.

Default: 2.0

More examples

Let's say you want to know the bbw value on the last closed candle on the 30m timeframe. You are not interest in the real-time value, so you use the backtrack=1 optional parameter to go back 1 candle in history to the last closed candle.

				[GET] https://api.taapi.io/bbw?secret=MY_SECRET&exchange=binance&symbol=BTC/USDT&interval=30m&backtrack=1
Get bbw values on each of the past X candles in one call

Let's say you want to know what the bbw daily value was each day for the previous 10 days. You can get this returned by our API easily and efficiently in one call using the results=10 parameter:

				[GET] https://api.taapi.io/bbw?secret=MY_SECRET&exchange=binance&symbol=BTC/USDT&interval=1d&results=10

Looking for even more integration examples in different languages like NodeJS, PHP, Python, Curl or Ruby? Continue to [GET] REST - Direct documentation.