The RSI indicator is a momentum indicator. It works by dividing the initial percentage gain by percentage loss over the period used by the indicator, typically fourteen days, and then smoothing the results. The point is, the RSI, like all the other momentum based indicators, is based on the price of the underlying market and a moving average to smooth the results.

What’s more likely to act as a catalyst for a market — an RSI reading or a real-world exogenous or endogenous event?

The 5% wait patiently for a market to set up. As cryptocurrencies trade through time, prices are driven above and below zones where entry can not only provide a quantified amount of risk but also market feedback if the position is unprofitable.

In contrast the 95%, the inconsistent majority, buy highs and sell lows. Yes, sometimes this can work, and yes, it is a strategy at one specific point during the price cycle, that allows good risk management and market feedback, but most of the time buying the high and selling the low is highest risk lowest reward strategy a speculator can deploy.