The intuition
A trader who needs to fill size without showing it splits the order: the book displays only a small slice, and each time it fills, another slice appears. On the tape it looks like a level that refuses to break — aggressive orders keep hitting the same price and keep getting filled, but the price doesn’t move. The displayed book looks thin; the real liquidity is hidden.
How an iceberg reveals itself
You can’t see the hidden size directly, but you can read its footprint:
- Repeated fills at one price that refill instead of clearing — far more trades execute than the displayed size could absorb.
- CVD pushes hard into the level while price holds — aggression is being absorbed (the iceberg is the absorber).
- When the iceberg finally exhausts, price often releases sharply through the level it was defending.
cvdHigh >= 100000 && imb <= -20 vyx can’t see hidden order size, but it reads the absorption an iceberg creates: strong executed flow (cvdHigh/cvdLow) meeting a book that holds (imb) while price stalls — the built-in Delta Absorption read, ranked live across 300+ markets.
An iceberg is invisible by design — you’re reading its effect (persistent absorption), not the order itself. Thin displayed liquidity that keeps absorbing is the tell, but confirm with the price reaction before assuming a big passive player is there.
Further reading
Related
FAQ
What is an iceberg order?
A large limit order that only displays a small portion at a time, hiding its full size. As each visible slice fills, another appears — so the book looks thin while real liquidity sits hidden behind the price.
How do you detect an iceberg order?
By its footprint, not directly: repeated fills at one price that keep refilling, with CVD pushing into the level while price holds. That persistent absorption — far more executing than the displayed size — is the tell.
Why do traders use iceberg orders?
To fill large size without revealing it. Showing a big resting order would move the market against them, so they hide the true quantity and feed it in slices.
See it on the live map
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