Ether’s liquidity drop left order books thinner than Bitcoin’s despite its 70% rally

Ether’s price jumped 70% in the third quarter of 2026, easily beating Bitcoin’s 42% gain over the same stretch. That should have been the whole story. Instead, the bigger surprise was what happened underneath the price chart: Ether’s market got thinner, not deeper, even as the token rallied harder than its larger rival.

Key takeaways

• Ether gained 70% in Q3 2026, outpacing Bitcoin’s 42% rise.
• Ether’s market depth fell to 35%-45% of Bitcoin’s level, down from at least 60% a year earlier.
• $SOL’s depth within 2% of price dropped from about $28 million to roughly $20 million year over year.
• $XRP held steady near $30 million in total depth, with order books tilted toward buyers.

The figures come from a report by CoinGecko, cited by CoinDesk, which tracked order-book depth across major tokens between July 6 and September 30. The data points to a broader Ether liquidity drop relative to Bitcoin, one that market watchers might not expect during a period when Ether was the better-performing asset.

Ether Outperformed Bitcoin in Q3 2026 Price Rally

Ether’s third-quarter run was decisive. The token climbed 70% between July and the end of September, compared with Bitcoin’s 42% advance over the same period, according to CoinGecko’s report. On price alone, Ether had the stronger quarter by a wide margin.

That performance gap usually invites a simple assumption: more buyers chasing a rally should mean more orders stacked on exchanges, and therefore deeper, more liquid markets. The data tells a different story for Ether.

Ether’s Liquidity Thinned Despite Price Gains

Ether’s order books got noticeably shallower even as its price outran Bitcoin’s. Between July 6 and September 30, Ether’s median daily market depth sat at just 35% to 45% of Bitcoin’s, down from at least 60% during the same window a year earlier, CoinGecko found. The firm described the shift as “a stark drop from last year’s figures.”

Market depth refers to the combined dollar amount of buy and sell orders placed on exchanges that fall within a specific range from the current trading price. It’s a direct read on liquidity: the deeper the book, the more money it takes to move the price, and the less a single large trade will distort it. In a thin market, the opposite happens — an order chews through the available bids or asks quickly and pushes the price further than it would in a deeper one.

Specifically for Ether, CoinGecko found depth ranging from $13 million to $14 million within 0.15% of its market price, representing approximately how much capital is positioned close enough to the price that fully executing it would move the token by that percentage. That range matters most for everyday trades and for larger orders traders want filled without moving the market. CoinGecko said ETH “remains fairly liquid at this range, with most exchanges maintaining over $1 million in depth on each side.”

Still, the numbers cut against a common market assumption: that rising prices pull in more traders, and more traders translate into deeper order books. That didn’t happen with Ether.

Liquidity Trends in Other Major Cryptocurrencies

Ether wasn’t alone in seeing its order books thin out. $SOL and $XRP showed contrasting liquidity patterns over the same period — one shrinking, one holding firm but skewed.

$SOL’s Liquidity Decline and Trading Volume

The contraction in $SOL’s liquidity was tracked across a broader price range compared to Ether. CoinGecko examined depth within 2% of the market price, finding it declined from roughly $28 million on each side of the order book last year to approximately $20 million this year. The firm said “the overall liquidity for $SOL has shrunk considerably since 2025.”

That 2% band captures how much buying or selling pressure a market can absorb before a sharper move — the kind typically seen in a rally or a sell-off. CoinGecko noted that even with its thinner order book, $SOL still sees 25% higher average daily trading volume than $XRP, despite $XRP’s market cap being roughly 40% bigger than $SOL’s.

$XRP’s Stable Depth and Buyer-Skewed Order Books

$XRP presented a more consistent pattern. According to CoinGecko, its overall depth remained steady at approximately $30 million throughout the study. The order books showed a buyer tilt, with bids totaling close to $18 million compared to $14 million in asks.

Despite having a larger market cap, $XRP didn’t show deeper order books than $SOL within the 2% range — CoinGecko attributed this discrepancy to $SOL’s greater daily trading volume.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.