CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta)

Glossary · Market Structure

CVD (cumulative volume delta) is a running total of aggressive buy volume minus aggressive sell volume — market orders lifting the ask versus hitting the bid. Rising CVD means buyers are attacking; falling means sellers are. Its real power is divergence: when price and CVD disagree, someone's orders are being absorbed.

"Price shows the scoreboard, CVD shows who's actually throwing punches."

Every trade has a passive and an aggressive side; CVD keeps a running sum where market buys add and market sells subtract. Read it against price: price up with CVD up is honest demand; price up with CVD down means shorts covering or a move running on thin aggression. Anchor the count to a session open or a level break — that tells you who's been in control since the moment that mattered.

The money-making read is divergence at extremes. Price grinds to a new high but CVD prints a lower high: aggressive buyers are drying up and passive sellers are absorbing what's left — that rally is running on fumes. The trap is using CVD from one venue alone: perp CVD and spot CVD often disagree, and it's usually the spot side that knows something. Confirm across venues before you fade anything.

Taker buy and sell flow, per coin

Related jargon

Questions

What is CVD in crypto trading?

CVD (cumulative volume delta) is a running total of aggressive buy volume minus aggressive sell volume — market orders lifting the ask versus hitting the bid. Rising CVD means buyers are attacking; falling means sellers are. Its real power is divergence: when price and CVD disagree, someone's orders are being absorbed.

How would a trader say it?

Price shows the scoreboard, CVD shows who's actually throwing punches.

Part of the Crypto Jargon glossary — every term, decoded the way a trader would say it.

Crypto Jargon

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