How to Read Liquidity Distribution Charts
A liquidity distribution chart shows you where buy and sell orders are concentrated at different price levels. The horizontal bars represent dollar amounts of liquidity waiting at each price. Gray bars below current price are support (buy walls). Orange bars above are resistance (sell walls). Gaps indicate price levels where movement will be fast.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer
Look at bar length. Longer bars = more liquidity = harder for price to push through. Short bars or gaps = thin liquidity = price can move fast. Gray bars below price support you on the way down. Orange bars above resist you on the way up.
What the chart is actually showing
A liquidity depth chart maps out all the capital waiting to be traded at various price levels. Unlike a price chart that shows what already happened, this shows what's set up to happen.
Each horizontal bar represents the total USD value of liquidity sitting in that 1% price bucket. The data comes from:
- Concentrated liquidity positions (Meteora DLMM, Orca Whirlpools, Raydium CLMM)
- Jupiter limit orders
- Jupiter DCA orders (pro-rated to their 24-hour impact)
- Traditional AMM pools
CLOBr aggregates all of these into one view so you don't have to check multiple platforms.
The Y-axis: price levels
Prices are shown as percentage changes from current price. The current price sits at 0%. Everything above is positive (price going up), everything below is negative (price going down).
Common ranges to view:
- +/- 20%: Good for swing trading
- +/- 50%: Good for position planning
- +/- 100%+: Good for seeing the full structure
The X-axis: dollar amounts
Bar length shows how much money sits at that price level. A $500K bar is visually longer than a $50K bar. This lets you quickly scan for where the big liquidity is.
Note: These are current amounts that can change. Liquidity providers can add or remove positions at any time. What you see is a snapshot.
Support vs resistance
Gray bars (below current price): These are your support levels. When someone sells, these buy orders absorb that selling pressure. Think of it as a cushion. More cushion = softer landing.
Orange bars (above current price): These are your resistance levels. When someone buys, these sell orders absorb that buying pressure. More resistance = harder to break through.
The physics: Price moves when there's imbalance. If buying pressure exceeds the resistance at a level, price pushes through. If selling pressure exceeds support, price drops through. Large liquidity walls slow price movement; thin liquidity allows fast movement.
Reading depth: what to look for
Concentrated walls
When you see a single bar that's 3-5x longer than surrounding bars, that's a liquidity wall. These form because:
- Psychological round numbers ($100, $1, $0.01)
- Technical analysis levels where many traders expect action
- Coordinated LP positions from DAOs or whale groups
- Default range suggestions from DEX interfaces
Trading implication: Price often bounces off these walls. Breaking through takes heavy volume or the wall getting pulled.
Thin zones
When bars are short or missing, that's a liquidity gap. Price can move quickly through these zones because there's nothing substantial to slow it down.
Trading implication: If you see support at -10% but the zone between current price and -10% is thin, a moderate sell could drop price quickly to that support level.
Symmetry vs asymmetry
Compare support and resistance totals. If there's $2M of support below price but only $200K of resistance above, the path of least resistance is up. The opposite skew suggests downward pressure.
Caution: This isn't a prediction. Other factors like market sentiment, news, and off-chain activity also affect price. It's one signal among many.
Practical example: memecoin analysis
Let's say you're researching a memecoin before buying. You pull up the liquidity chart and see:
- Current price: $0.001
- -5% to -10%: Thin liquidity ($20K total)
- -10% to -15%: Large wall ($150K concentrated)
- +5% to +10%: Moderate resistance ($50K)
- +15% to +20%: Very thin ($10K)
Reading: If you buy and it immediately dips, expect a quick drop to -10% where that $150K support should slow things. If it pumps, the $50K resistance will need to be absorbed, but after that, thin liquidity means fast movement to +20%.
Not a guarantee: This is probabilistic thinking. Liquidity can change, market makers can pull their positions, and new orders can appear.
How constant product liquidity appears
Traditional AMM pools (x*y=k) spread liquidity across all prices. On a depth chart, they appear as gradually increasing bars that extend all the way out. They don't create sharp walls like concentrated positions.
You'll see these as the "baseline" liquidity under the concentrated spikes. They provide some support/resistance at every level, but the concentrated positions create the notable walls.
DCA pressure: a special case
Jupiter DCA orders execute over time, not all at once. CLOBr calculates their expected price impact across different time windows (5min, 30min, 1hr, 6hr, 24hr).
If you see heavy DCA buy pressure at current price, it means there's consistent buying scheduled. This creates ongoing demand that can absorb selling or push price higher over time.
Displayed as: DCA data is shown separately from spot liquidity because it represents future scheduled trades, not instantly available liquidity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do support and resistance change so often?
Liquidity providers can move their positions at any time. When price approaches a wall, some LPs pull their liquidity to avoid impermanent loss. Others add more. It's dynamic.
Should I only trade when I see clear support below?
Support is one factor. It helps if things go wrong, but you should also have conviction in your trade thesis. Don't use liquidity charts as your only decision tool.
How often should I check liquidity before trading?
For memecoins and volatile tokens, check right before executing. Liquidity can shift in minutes. For larger tokens like SOL or ETH, positions are more stable and daily checks suffice.
Quick Reference
- Gray bars below price = support, orange bars above = resistance
- Long bars slow price movement, gaps let it rip
- Compare total support vs total resistance for directional bias
- Re-check liquidity right before executing on volatile tokens
Analyze Liquidity for Any Solana Token
CLOBr aggregates liquidity data from Meteora, Orca, Raydium, and Jupiter into a single depth chart. See support and resistance before you trade.
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