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.
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.