Trading volume and liquidity
Trading volume is the value of a coin traded in a period, usually 24 hours, in dollars. Liquidity is how easily you can buy or sell without moving the price. They're related but not the same: a coin can trade a lot in a burst and still be hard to sell in size.
Liquidity in practice
- The spread is the gap between the best price to buy and the best price to sell. Narrow is better.
- The depth is how much is waiting to be bought or sold near the current price. Shallow books mean a big order moves the price.
- Thinly traded coins can jump on small orders, in both directions.
One market, or all of them
A coin trades on many exchanges and against many pairs. Data providers add them up for a market-wide 24-hour volume; one exchange's pair shows only its own. Some reported volume is inflated by trades that don't change hands for real, so treat very high volume on small exchanges with care.
Volume against its usual day
A coin's volume means more next to its own history. CheckACoin compares yesterday's volume on the coin's exchange with its typical day: the middle of its 30 days before. “3.2× its usual day” means three times busier than normal for that coin. Busy trading says that something is happening, not which way the price will go.
Every coin page shows its usual range, typical moves, market cap and supply, rebuilt daily.
Explore the market