How to read a liquidation map
Not a forecast — a map of where forced selling would accelerate a move.
What does a liquidation heatmap show?
A liquidation heatmap estimates the price levels where leveraged positions would be forcibly closed, modelled from open interest and assumed leverage tiers. Thick bands mark where forced buying or selling would concentrate, which is why price often accelerates through them rather than stopping.
What a liquidation map actually is
No exchange publishes a list of where positions will liquidate. Every heatmap you have seen, including paid ones, is a model — built from open interest and an assumed distribution of leverage across traders.
Our liquidation map uses the same method openly: total open interest, split across five leverage tiers, projected to the price where each tier would be closed. The result is directional information, not a prediction.
Why price is drawn toward the clusters
A liquidation is a market order the exchange places on your behalf. A band containing many liquidations is therefore a band containing guaranteed order flow — forced selling below the market, forced buying above it.
Large participants who need to fill size cannot do it in a thin market without moving price against themselves. A pool of forced orders is the cheapest place to get filled, which is why price so often reaches a cluster before reversing.
Reading it alongside the other panels
A map alone tells you where fuel sits. Three other readings tell you whether it is likely to ignite:
- Open interest rising means leverage is still building, so the clusters are growing.
- Funding strongly positive means longs are crowded and paying, so the clusters below are larger.
- Crowd positioning one-sided confirms which side is exposed.
Our squeeze radar combines exactly these three into one score per market, which is faster than reading three panels when you only want the conclusion.
What it cannot tell you
- Direction. Clusters exist on both sides. The map says where a move would accelerate, not which way it starts.
- Exact levels. The tiers are assumptions, so the bands are approximate zones.
- Cross-margin positions, which liquidate far from the simple estimate.
- Positions on other venues, unless the data is aggregated.
Anyone presenting a heatmap as a precise forecast is selling confidence rather than information.
How to use it practically
- Set targets, not entries. A cluster above the market is a plausible destination for a move already underway.
- Avoid placing stops inside a band. That is exactly where forced flow will pass through.
- Expect acceleration, not reversal. Price usually moves faster through a cluster and then slows.
- Watch the live stream for confirmation. Our liquidation feed shows forced closes as they happen, so you can see a modelled cluster actually triggering.
Common questions
Are liquidation heatmaps accurate?
They are models rather than measurements. No exchange publishes liquidation levels, so every heatmap — free or paid — estimates them from open interest and assumed leverage. Treat the bands as approximate zones and the direction as the useful part.
Does price always reach liquidation clusters?
No. Clusters make a move more likely to accelerate once it starts, but nothing forces price to travel there. Many clusters expire as positions are closed voluntarily or open interest shifts.
Where can I see liquidations for free?
Exchanges publish forced closes on public websocket streams with no key required. Our live liquidation panel reads that stream directly, which is the same source paid platforms package and resell.
Free, no account, nothing stored on our servers.
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