Author: Omkar Godbole
Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow
DeepChain Overview: Ethereum rose 70% in Q3, yet this did not translate into a deeper order book—today, the same large order causes greater price volatility on ETH than it did last year. A strong price increase does not equate to strong demand absorption; even SOL’s depth is shrinking. The “thin order book” risk across major cryptocurrencies deserves consideration in position sizing and stop-loss strategies.
Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH, currently $2,714.83), outperformed Bitcoin (BTC, currently $85,966.73) in the third quarter. However, it has also become harder to trade: liquidity—the ease with which a token can be bought or sold without significantly moving its price—is thinning.
Ether surged 70% this quarter, outperforming Bitcoin’s 42% gain. However, according to a CoinGecko report, the median daily market depth of Ether between July 6 and September 30 was only 35% to 45% of Bitcoin’s, compared to at least 60% during the same period last year. CoinGecko described this as a “significant decline” from last year’s data.
Market depth is a standard measure of liquidity, representing the total dollar value of buy and sell orders within a certain range of the current price. The deeper the market, the more capital is required to move the price; in a thin market, a large order can quickly consume existing orders and push the price significantly further.
The depth of Ethereum within 0.15% of the current market price ranges from $13 million to $14 million. In simple terms, this represents the amount of capital queued close enough to the price that, if fully filled, would move the Ethereum price by no more than 0.15%. Such tight depth near the price is crucial for everyday trading and equally important for large orders seeking smooth execution without significantly moving the market.
A common market belief holds that price increases attract more traders, and more traders lead to deeper order books. However, this data contradicts that view—Ethereum has not exhibited this pattern.
Nevertheless, Ethereum remains fairly easy to trade.
CoinGecko stated: "Within this range (within 0.15% of the market price), ETH liquidity remains fairly robust, with order book depth on both sides of most exchanges staying above $1 million."
Moreover, Ethereum is not the only major token with a thinning market.
Solana, Ethereum’s primary competitor, has also seen a contraction in liquidity for its token SOL, though CoinGecko measured it over a broader price range. The company stated, “Since 2025, SOL’s overall liquidity has significantly shrunk.”
The depth of SOL within a 2% range of the current market price has decreased from approximately $28 million on each side of the order book last year to about $20 million this year. Depth within 2% reflects the volume of orders placed farther away from the current price, measuring how much selling or buying pressure the market can absorb before experiencing significant price movements—such as sharp rallies or declines. Thus, while Ethereum’s thinning is evident closer to the price, SOL’s thinning reflects its reduced capacity to withstand larger price swings.
XRP, a cryptocurrency positioned for payments, has a total depth consistently around $30 million. However, during the study period, its order book favored buyers: buy orders totaled approximately $18 million, while sell orders amounted to about $14 million.
XRP’s market cap is approximately 40% higher than SOL’s, but its depth within a 2% range of the current price is lower than SOL’s. According to CoinGecko, this is because SOL’s average daily trading volume remains 25% higher than XRP’s.