The liquidity heatmap
A heatmap makes the resting liquidity in the order book visible. In the community we read it with DeepDom. Here are the concepts to master.
How do you read a liquidity heatmap?
You read three things: dense zones, where liquidity piles up and slows price; walls that keep refilling, a sign of genuine absorption; and walls that vanish as price approaches, a sign of spoofing. Colour encodes size, the horizontal axis encodes time.
Our link opens DeepCharts with code OFF already filled in at the Payment step. Arriving without it? Enter OFF in the promo code field yourself.
Illustrative demo: simulated data. DeepDom™ is software published by deepcharts.com; we feature it for information only.
Read a heatmap, step by step
Scrub the time cursor and click a highlighted level to understand what's happening there.
Each column = a moment, each row = a price. The hotter (orange/red), the more resting orders. Click a highlighted level.
Educational demo: simulated data, not a trading signal.
What to read on a heatmap
Reading the heatmap
Colors reflect the size of resting liquidity in the book: hot zones = large orders, cold zones = empty.
Liquidity walls
Clusters of limit orders that slow price down. Knowing whether they hold or pull changes the read.
Icebergs
Hidden orders that reload as they get consumed: the footprint of someone accumulating.
Spoofing
Decoys that vanish as price approaches. The heatmap helps tell them apart from real liquidity.
Absorption
When a large limit takes the aggression without giving way: often the sign of a brewing reversal.
Stop runs
Stop hunts below/above a level: liquidity lights up then empties all at once.
Frequently asked questions about the heatmap
What is a liquidity heatmap?+
A map that shows, over time, the size of resting orders at each price level. Hot zones mean lots of liquidity, cold zones mean emptiness.
How do you tell a real order wall from a spoof?+
A real wall holds or refills (iceberg) as price approaches. A spoof disappears just before being hit: it's a decoy.
Which platform should I use for the heatmap?+
The community uses DeepDom (by DeepCharts). Our page explains how to read the heatmap step by step, with an interactive demo.