Ether’s strong performance against bitcoin during the third quarter came with a downside: reduced liquidity.
- Ether’s value increased more than bitcoin in the third quarter.
- However, the cryptocurrency’s liquidity decreased relative to bitcoin, as reported by Coingecko.
- XRP’s liquidity showed a bullish bias, according to Coingecko.
Ethereum’s primary cryptocurrency, ether, experienced a significant surge of 70% during the quarter, surpassing bitcoin’s 42% increase. Despite this growth, data from CoinGecko indicates that between July 6 and September 30, ether’s median daily market depth amounted to only 35% to 45% of bitcoin’s, compared to at least 60% during the same timeframe last year.
CoinGecko described this as «a stark drop from last year’s figures.»
Market depth serves as the standard benchmark for assessing liquidity, representing the total dollar value of buy and sell orders placed on exchanges within a specific proximity to the current price. A deeper market requires more capital to influence the price, whereas in a shallow market, substantial orders can quickly deplete available listings and drive prices further.
Within 0.15% of its market price, ether maintained between $13 million and $14 million in depth. Simplified, this reflects the approximate amount of funds positioned close enough to the price to cause a mere 0.15% shift in ether’s value. Depth near the current price is particularly relevant for routine transactions and sizable trades that investors aim to execute without impacting the market.
This data challenges the conventional market belief that rising prices draw in more participants, which in turn deepens order books. This phenomenon did not occur with ether.
Nevertheless, ether remains relatively accessible for trading.
«ETH continues to be quite liquid at this level [within 0.15% of the market price], with the majority of exchanges preserving over $1 million in depth on both sides,» noted CoinGecko.
Beyond ether, other major cryptocurrencies are experiencing similar liquidity declines.
Similarly, liquidity for solana’s SOL—ether’s primary competitor—has also contracted, albeit measured across a broader spectrum. «The total liquidity for SOL has declined significantly since 2025,» stated the firm.
Depth within 2% of the market price for SOL dropped from approximately $28 million on each side of the order book last year to roughly $20 million this year.
Depth at 2% illustrates the volume of funds located further from the current price, serving as an indicator of the market’s capacity to absorb substantial buying or selling pressure before triggering more pronounced price movements, such as those observed during rapid rallies or steep declines.
Thus, while ether’s reduced liquidity manifests near the current price, SOL’s reflects diminished resilience to larger price swings.
XRP, a cryptocurrency designed for payments, maintained consistent depth at approximately $30 million overall. However, its order books tilted in favor of buyers during the analysis period, with nearly $18 million in bids versus $14 million in asks.
Despite having a market capitalization about 40% greater than SOL’s, XRP exhibits less depth within 2% of its price, primarily because SOL still records 25% higher trading volume on a daily basis, according to CoinGecko.
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