Live crypto order flow: OBI × CVD quadrant for perpetual futures
A live order-flow read on who is in control of BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP and DOGE perpetual futures. We plot two microstructure signals against each other: order-book imbalance (OBI) on the x-axis, cumulative volume delta (CVD) on the y-axis. Together they describe order flow at the tape level. The chart trails the last 30 minutes, 4 hours or 24 hours. Quadrant tells you where pressure is. Trail tells you how it got there.
Streamed over WebSocket from a 30-second daemon, aggregated across Binance, Bybit, OKX and Hyperliquid. No predictions. No signals. Just the plumbing visible.
How to read the quadrant
Every dot is one symbol at one tick. Its position carries two facts:
- X-axis, Order-Book Imbalance (OBI). Net pressure from resting limit orders within ±N basis points of mid. Positive means more passive bids than asks; buyers are waiting in line. Negative means more asks; sellers are stacked. OBI is what the book wants to do.
- Y-axis, Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD). Net of taker-buy minus taker-sell volume over the trail window. Positive: aggressive buyers are paying through the spread. Negative: aggressive sellers. CVD is what the book did.
The four quadrants
- Top-right, buyers in control. Passive bid stacking and aggressive buying. Cleanest long-side read; trend continuation is the base case.
- Bottom-left, sellers in control. Mirror image. Aggressive selling into a heavy ask stack.
- Top-left, absorption or squeeze setup. Aggressive buying against a heavy ask stack. Often precedes a short squeeze, or a clean rejection if asks win.
- Bottom-right, distribution or bull trap. Aggressive selling while bids look stacked. Either bids absorb (reversal) or get pulled and price falls fast.
What the trail tells you
A short, tight cluster near origin: low conviction, range-bound microstructure. A long sweep into one quadrant: directional flow building. A trail that crosses quadrants in the last 30 minutes is a regime change; look closer before sizing the next trade.
New to these concepts? Read the deep-dives: What is cumulative volume delta (CVD)?, What is order-book imbalance (OBI)?, or Long/short ratio vs OBI vs CVD.
Sources & methodology
Every dot on the chart is computed from public exchange feeds. Nothing is inferred, nothing is interpolated.
- OBI is computed from the top-of-book aggregated across Binance USDⓈ-M, Bybit USDT perps and OKX swaps, normalised by mid-price depth.
- CVD sums signed taker volume from the same three venues over the selected trail window (30m / 4h / 24h).
- A 30-second daemon snapshots each feed; the browser receives updates over WebSocket as ticks land.
Full methodology, including basis-point windows, exchange weights and known edge cases, is documented at /methodology/market-positioning.
FAQ
What is order-book imbalance (OBI)?
Order-book imbalance is the difference between resting bid and ask liquidity within a defined band around mid-price. Positive OBI means passive buyers outnumber passive sellers; negative OBI means the opposite. It measures intent, not execution. Orders haven't filled yet; they're just waiting.
What is cumulative volume delta (CVD)?
CVD is the running sum of taker-buy volume minus taker-sell volume. It tracks aggressive flow: trades that crossed the spread. Where OBI shows what the book wants, CVD shows what it did.
What is a CVD divergence?
A CVD divergence happens when price and cumulative volume delta stop telling the same story. Price makes a new high, but CVD makes a lower high: buyers are not pressing as hard as the price suggests. The reverse on lows. It is not a signal, it is a question: who is on the other side of this move?
How is this different from the long/short ratio?
The long/short ratio counts open positions or accounts on one exchange. It is sentiment, slow and rough. OBI × CVD measures liquidity and flow at the tape level, in seconds. They can disagree, and often do. Crowded longs with negative CVD is exactly the setup that precedes a flush.
Which exchanges and symbols are covered?
Six symbols (BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP, DOGE) aggregated from Binance, Bybit and OKX perpetuals. The 30-second daemon snapshots all three venues simultaneously, then publishes one fused tick.
Can I use this as a trading signal?
No. MarketTrace publishes microstructure data, not predictions or signals. Use it as one input alongside your own framework, risk model and timeframe. Informational data feed only. Not financial guidance.