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BTC 
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XRP Ethereum performed well in the third quarter, but the depth of its order book fell significantly behind Bitcoin
Although Ethereum (ETH) rose by about 70% in the third quarter, far exceeding Bitcoin (BTC)'s 42%, the depth of its exchange order book is less than half that of Bitcoin. This data reveals subtle changes in the structure of market liquidity.
Key Points
- The ETH order book depth near current market prices is only 35% to 45% of Bitcoin's, compared with at least 60% a year ago.
- Bitcoin's orderbook depth has increased by nearly 50% compared to 2025, while Solana (SOL)'s depth has shrunk and XRP has remained stable.
- The above in-depth data coverage period is 60 days ending September 3, so the last weeks of the quarter are not included.
The depth gap between Ethereum and Bitcoin
The difference came after data company CoinGecko released its 2026 report on centralized exchange liquidity, a follow-up to its first study in the second quarter of 2025. Researchers took daily orderbook snapshots of eight trading platforms, including Binance and Coinbase, during a 60-day window from July 6 to September 3. It is worth noting that this data window ended nearly four weeks earlier than the end of the quarter. During this period, ETH prices rose from US$1,783 to US$2,391, an increase of 34.1%.
Within the 0.15% range of market prices (i.e., within the range of approximately US$3 for ETH and approximately US$100 for Bitcoin), the median depth of ETH is approximately US$13 million to US$14 million, which is only equivalent to 35% to 45% of Bitcoin. By comparison, the proportion was at least 60% a year ago.
Bitcoin's trend is completely opposite. Its order book has an average buy value of US$29 million and sell order value of US$37 million across eight exchanges, nearly 50% higher than in 2025, with Binance accounting for about a quarter of the total depth. CoinGecko pointed out that liquidity in the remaining four assets it studied was generally lower than the same period last year.
CoinGecko analyst opinion
Traders usually expect higher prices to drive an increase in order book depth. Depth is a standard measure of liquidity and measures the dollar value of pending orders near the current price. If the order book is thin, a single large order may cause prices to fluctuate beyond the trader's expectations.
Analysts at CoinGecko said ETH remains fairly liquid when it approaches market prices, with seven of the eight exchanges holding more than $1 million in each direction, but they described the decline in this ratio from last year to this year as a "sharp decline."
They added that even on the most liquid platforms, at least $500,000 of pending orders were maintained on the thinnest days. They believe this level is healthy for retail traders, but may be less attractive for institutional investors. Within the 2% price range, Solana (SOL)'s unilateral depth dropped from approximately US$28 million to US$20 million, while XRP (XRP) remained at around US$30 million, with slightly more purchases than sell orders.
Review of ETH Price Volatility
This rebound comes after Ethereum experienced two loss-making quarters. Tokens were close to $1,570 in early July and then began to climb after the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would double the repurchase of long-term Treasuries on August 19. In the quarter ended September 25, U.S. spot ETH funds attracted approximately US$3.1 billion in inflows, reversing the outflow trend of the previous two quarters. Since then, ETH has been trading around $2,700. Ethereum's "Glamstam" upgrade is scheduled to take place on October 6 on the Sepolia testnet.
