Knowledge base

How to read the order book and liquidation maps — in plain language

Order bookHow to Read Order Book Walls: Spotting and Understanding Market WallsLearn what an order book wall is, how to spot real liquidity, and why prices gravitate toward big limit orders. Master reading crypto order books like a pro.3 min read DerivativesLiquidity Heatmaps vs. Liquidation Maps: What’s the Difference in Crypto?Liquidity heatmaps and liquidation maps are two totally different crypto trading tools. Here’s how each works, what they show, and when you actually need them.2 min read Order bookSpoofing in Crypto: How to Spot Fake Walls on the Order BookLearn how to identify spoofing and fake walls on crypto order book heatmaps. Spot the telltale signs and protect yourself from market manipulation.2 min read BasicsHow to Read a Crypto Order Book Heatmap: A Step-by-Step GuideMaster order book heatmaps: what the axes, colors, and bands mean, how to set filters, and which takeaways actually matter for crypto traders.2 min read DerivativesWhy Crypto Liquidation Cascades Crash the Market FastHow liquidation cascades trigger sharp crypto price drops, why breakouts accelerate, and how to spot key liquidation zones before they nuke your position.2 min read IndicatorsUSDT Dominance (USDT.D): What It Means and How Crypto Traders Use ItUSDT.D tracks Tether's share of total crypto market cap. Find out why rising USDT dominance often signals Bitcoin dips, how to read the chart, and where to check it.2 min read IndicatorsHow to Read the Crypto Fear & Greed Index Without Getting BurnedWhat is the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, how does it work, what do its values mean, and why you shouldn’t use it as a standalone trading signal.2 min read Order bookOrder Book 101: How Crypto Order Books Work and What You Can SeeA deep dive into crypto order books: bids, asks, spread, depth, slippage, and why heatmaps need this foundation. Learn to read the market like a pro.2 min read DerivativesWhat Is the Funding Rate in Crypto and How to Read ItFunding is the payment between longs and shorts on perpetual futures. How it is calculated, when it is paid, and what high or negative funding tells you.2 min read DerivativesOpen Interest in Crypto: What It Is and How to Read It With PriceOpen interest shows how much money sits in open futures positions. The four combinations of price and open interest and what each one tells you.2 min read DerivativesLong/Short Ratio Explained: Accounts, Positions and Top TradersWhat the long/short ratio on Binance, OKX and other exchanges shows, why the account and position ratios diverge, and why a crowded long is not a bullish signal.2 min read DerivativesBitcoin Options Max Pain: What It Is and Does It WorkMax pain is the strike where option buyers lose the most at expiry. How it is calculated, why price sometimes drifts toward it, and why it is not a forecast.2 min read DerivativesHow to Track Hyperliquid Whales: Positions, Liquidations and AlertsWhy Hyperliquid positions are public, how to find big traders, read their positions and liquidation prices, and get alerts when a specific wallet trades.2 min read DerivativesBitcoin ETF Flows Explained: How to Read Daily Inflows and OutflowsWhat spot bitcoin ETF inflows and outflows are, when the data comes out, why GBTC saw years of outflows, and how to use ETF flows in market analysis.2 min read Technical analysisRSI Indicator: How to Read It and Use It in TradingRSI measures the strength of price moves on a 0–100 scale. What the 70 and 30 levels mean, how to spot divergences and why overbought is not a sell signal.2 min read Technical analysisMACD Indicator: How to Read the Histogram and CrossoversMACD shows trend and momentum through the gap between two moving averages. How to read the lines, the histogram and divergences, and where MACD fails.2 min read Technical analysisDivergence in Trading: What It Is and How to Spot ItDivergence is a disagreement between price and an indicator. Bullish and bearish, regular and hidden divergence on RSI and MACD, with examples and common mistakes.2 min read Technical analysisSupport and Resistance Levels: How to Draw and Confirm ThemHow to find support and resistance, why levels work, when a breakout is real, and how the order book and liquidation map help tell a strong level from a weak one.2 min read Technical analysisOrder Book Scalping: Trading Off Large Limit OrdersWhat order book scalping is, how to find large orders, tell real walls from spoofing and where to place the stop.2 min read Technical analysisSmart Money Concept (SMC): Liquidity, Order Blocks and ImbalancesSmart Money Concept explained simply: liquidity sweeps, order blocks, imbalances and breaks of structure, and how to test these ideas against real data.2 min read

Where to start

If you are new here, read them in order: how the order book works → what a wall is → how to read the heatmap. Next — the difference between liquidity and liquidations.

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Why read about the order book at all

Most charts show the past: the price at which trades have already happened. That is enough to describe a move, but not enough to understand why it stopped exactly here. The answer usually lies in the exchange order book — the queue of limit orders resting before any trade occurs.

Three things worth learning before anything else. First: price moves towards resting orders and stalls where there are many of them. Second: an order can be placed and pulled, so a “wall” is a declared intention, not a guarantee. Third: the spot book and the futures book work differently, and confusing them is the most expensive beginner's mistake.

How liquidity differs from liquidations. The words look alike; the meanings are opposite. Liquidity is orders someone placed voluntarily. Liquidations are positions the exchange closes by force. The first slows price down, the second speeds it up.

Why we write about limitations in such detail. Order book data is easy to sell as “insider information”: the picture looks convincing and is hard to verify. We go the other way — we say what is measured and what is modelled, and where our numbers end. A tool whose limits you understand is more useful than one that promises everything.

Each article below takes a few minutes and assumes no background. After them it makes sense to open the live BTC map — it will read as meaningful. How the data is collected is described on the methodology page.

Trading glossary: terms explained simply →