Ether's bitcoin-beating Q3 rally came with a catch. Liquidity thinned. — SkimNews
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- Ether surged 70% in Q3, beating bitcoin's 42% gain, yet its median daily market depth fell to just 35–45% of bitcoin's between July 6 and Sept. 30, down from at least 60% in the same stretch last year, per CoinGecko.
- Ether had $13–14 million in depth within 0.15% of its market price, the dollar value of orders sitting close enough to the current price that clearing them would move ETH by just 0.15%.
- CoinGecko said the data undercuts the popular market idea that rising prices pull in more traders and deeper order books — which did not happen with ether.
- CoinGecko still called ETH "fairly liquid," noting most exchanges maintained over $1 million in depth on each side within 0.15% of the market price.
- Solana's SOL depth within 2% of its market price fell from roughly $28 million on each side of the order book last year to about $20 million this year, a drop CoinGecko described as "considerable."
- XRP held total depth steady at around $30 million, but its order book skewed bullish with roughly $18 million in bids against $14 million in asks, despite XRP's market cap running about 40% larger than SOL's.
Why it matters: Large ETH traders now have far thinner order books to work with — only $13–14 million sits within 0.15% of the price, versus depth that was at least 60% of bitcoin's a year ago — meaning a single sizable trade can move ether more sharply than the rally's momentum would suggest. SOL faces a parallel squeeze, with $20 million in depth on each side within 2% of price, down from $28 million.
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