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Microstructure guide

CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta), Explained

Cumulative volume delta (CVD) is the running balance of aggressive (taker) buy volume minus aggressive sell volume. It shows what actually executed — who is lifting offers versus hitting bids — rather than the resting liquidity the order book displays.

The intuition

The order book shows intentions — resting bids and asks that can be cancelled in an instant. CVD shows execution: every market order that prints is a buyer lifting the offer (+) or a seller hitting the bid (−). Sum those signed trades and you get cumulative volume delta — the net aggression of takers. Rising CVD means buyers are leaning on the market; falling CVD means sellers are. Its real power shows up when it disagrees with price.

Cumulative volume delta
CVD = Σ (buyTakerVol − sellTakerVol)

Each trade is signed by its aggressor: a market buy adds its size, a market sell subtracts it. Summed over the window, the running total is CVD. vyx captures the intracandle swing — cvdHigh, cvdLow, and cvdRange — so you see how far net aggression pushed inside each candle, not just where it closed.

How vyx uses it
live
variable cvdHigh
cvdHigh >= 100000 && imb <= -20

vyx tracks taker flow from the aggregated-trade stream as cvdHigh, cvdLow, and cvdRange per candle, alongside the largest same-side taker run (buyRun/sellRun, a sweep) and the largest single print (tradeMaxBuy/tradeMaxSell, a whale order). The example flags strong buy aggression meeting an ask-heavy book — classic absorption — across 300+ Hyperliquid markets.

See it on the live map
Worked example: absorption
  1. 1 Price stalls at a level while taker buying keeps printing — cvdHigh climbs hard.
  2. 2 But the book stays ask-heavy (imb negative) and price does not break up.
  3. 3 Aggressive buyers are being absorbed by resting sellers — often a reversal tell. You inspect the chart before acting, never trading the divergence alone.
Read it as context, not a trigger

CVD is flow, not a forecast. Aggression can persist far longer than a position can survive, and exchange-specific quirks distort it. It is strongest as confluence — a CVD extreme paired with book imbalance or a clear price level — not as a standalone signal. vyx exposes the intracandle swing, so treat it as per-candle aggression rather than one continuous session line.

Further reading

Related

order flow imbalanceorder book imbalancecvd order flow scannerliquidity sweepscvd divergencemarket microstructureorder flow signals

FAQ

What is cumulative volume delta (CVD)?

It is the running total of aggressive buy volume minus aggressive sell volume — a measure of net taker aggression. Rising CVD means buyers are lifting offers; falling CVD means sellers are hitting bids.

What is the difference between CVD and volume?

Volume counts every trade regardless of side. CVD signs each trade by who was aggressive — the taker — so it shows the direction of pressure, not just activity. Two candles can share identical volume but opposite CVD.

Is CVD a trading signal by itself?

No. CVD is context. It is most useful when it disagrees with price (absorption) or confirms a move alongside book imbalance — inspect the chart and combine signals before acting.

See it on the live map

Scan order-book pressure across 300+ Hyperliquid markets in real time.

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