How to Read the Liquidation Map

Learn how to read each element of the Liquidation Map, what map changes mean, and where to see actual liquidations.

Last updated 2026-10

Key Takeaways

The Liquidation Map is a Blave proprietary estimate of potential liquidation volume at each price level. It is not actual liquidation prices on exchanges, and not resting orders.
The map's shape does not tell you whether this coin's traders lean long or short; you cannot read a view from the long and short areas.
Map changes come in three bands, 0–1h, 1–8h and 8–24h. They are estimated new liquidation exposure, not liquidations that actually happened.
The 24-hour liquidation bars on the map come from liquidations that happened, converted to a market-wide estimate. For the liquidation amounts each exchange actually reported, see the By Exchange page.

On the Liquidation Map, a big block of long liquidations sits below the current price. Are those positions really sitting on the exchange, waiting to be triggered? No. Blave's Liquidation Map is an estimate, and reading it as actual liquidation prices is the most common misread. To see how many liquidations actually happened, see the Liquidation Indicator guide.

What is the Liquidation Map?

The Liquidation Map is a Blave proprietary estimate of potential liquidation volume at each price level: longs below the current price, shorts above. It is not liquidation orders published by exchanges. The page shows three kinds of numbers that are different in nature; tell them apart first:

Number	What it is
Volume by price, cumulative line	An estimate; not exchange orders and not liquidations that happened
Map Change	Estimated new exposure, not actual liquidations
24-hour liquidation bars	Liquidations that happened, converted to a market-wide estimate

The two critical nuances: the map is an estimate, Map Change is not actual liquidations

The Liquidation Map is a model estimate, not real liquidation prices

The liquidation volume at each price level on the map is estimated. It does not mean that much position will really be force-closed on an exchange at that price. Real positions may already have added margin or been closed, and the map cannot see that.

You cannot read "this coin's traders are bullish" from the long and short areas of a single coin's map. Two coins having different-looking maps does not mean the two groups of traders hold different views.

Map Change is not actual liquidations

Map Change compares the current map with the map 1 hour, 8 hours and 24 hours ago, and draws what was added in the 0–1h, 1–8h and 8–24h bands. It is estimated new liquidation exposure, not liquidations that happened and not individual new positions. Some small coins update more slowly, so band edges can be off by tens of minutes.

It draws only additions, not reductions, so price levels where exposure disappeared do not show on Map Change. The map itself is re-estimated as the market moves, which can also make some levels show "additions" without anyone actually opening new positions in that period.

Ask one question before reading the map. Is this number an estimate, or liquidations that actually happened? The map and Map Change are estimates; only the 24-hour liquidation bars and summary, and the By Exchange page, come from liquidations that happened.

How do you read the Liquidation Map?

No official strategy uses the Liquidation Map, and Blave has not backtested any way of using it, so this section gives no strategy code. Here is how to read each element on the chart:

Element	How to read it
Below / above the current price	Below is the estimated liquidation volume of longs, triggered only if the price falls there; above is shorts, triggered if the price rises there. The numbers are estimates, not actual position amounts.
Cumulative line	Sums longs downward and shorts upward from the current price: the estimated exposure price passes on its way to a level. It is an estimate, not a promise that this much gets liquidated there.
A tall bar at one level	The estimated liquidation volume at that level is especially large. It is a pile-up in the estimate, not a group of traders deliberately building positions there, and it does not guarantee that much will be liquidated when the price gets there.
24h liquidation bars	These come from liquidations that happened, not the estimated map. They are converted to a market-wide estimate and the raw data is sampled, so read their relative position, not exact amounts.

What does the By Exchange page count?

The By Exchange page uses a different source: public liquidation feeds from six exchanges, USDT and USDC linear perpetuals only, with coin-margined and delivery contracts excluded. It adds up whatever it receives. Each exchange pushes by different rules, so it counts liquidations received, not all liquidations:

Exchange	Price basis	Feed
Binance	Average fill price	At most one per symbol per second, sampled
Bybit	Bankruptcy price	Complete
OKX	Bankruptcy price	Sampled, rules undisclosed
HTX	Bankruptcy price	Complete, not stated officially
Gate	Undefined	Aggregated per second
Bitfinex	Undefined	Complete, not stated officially

Price conventions differ, so amounts across exchanges add up only approximately. The By Exchange page and the 24-hour summary on the Liquidation Map page can also disagree, because they use different sources and conversions.

Where do you read it in Data Studio?

Page	What it shows	Access
Liquidation Map	The cumulative line, the estimated liquidation volume at each price level, and liquidation bars for the past 24 hours. The price range defaults to ×0.7 to ×1.3 of the current price and can be adjusted.	Pro
Liquidation Map Change	New estimated liquidation exposure in three periods: 0–1h, 1–8h and 8–24h.	Pro
By Exchange	Long and short liquidation totals across six exchanges over 1, 4, 12 or 24 hours, plus a coin × exchange matrix. Go here for dollar amounts.	Public

What should you know when pulling it via API?

All three endpoints sit under /liquidation/. The two map endpoints take symbol plus optional price_min and price_max, defaulting to 0.7× to 1.3× the current price; get_exchanges takes no symbol.

Endpoint	What it returns
`get_map`	200 price buckets `labels`, the reference current price `price`, the estimated `oi_value` (USD) and `cumsum`, plus `buy_liq` (short liquidations) and `sell_liq` (long liquidations) under `liquidation.24h`, both converted to market-wide estimates.
`get_map_change`	Three bands, `hist_0_1h`, `hist_1_8h` and `hist_8_24h`: estimated new exposure, not actual liquidations.
`get_exchanges`	Long and short liquidation totals across six exchanges, plus a coin × exchange matrix. `hours` takes 1–168 and `top_n` 1–50; out-of-range values return 400.

Remember: the Liquidation Map is reference data, not a trading signal. The map and Map Change are estimates, not actual liquidation prices and not actual liquidations; the 24-hour liquidation bars are a converted market-wide estimate. No use of the map has been backtested.

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