ChainCatcher news, according to CoinGecko report, Ethereum’s native token ETH performed better than Bitcoin in the third quarter, with a price increase of 70%, exceeding Bitcoin’s 42% increase. However, the liquidity of ETH has significantly narrowed relative to Bitcoin during the same period.
Between July 6 and September 30, ETH’s average daily median market depth was only 35% to 45% of Bitcoin’s, compared with at least 60% during the same period last year. Market depth measures the total dollar value of buy and sell orders within a certain range of current prices. ETH’s depth within a 0.15% price range is $13 million to $14 million. CoinGecko said that ETH still maintains good liquidity in this range, with most exchanges having more than $1 million in buying and selling depth on both sides.
The liquidity of other mainstream tokens is also thinning. Solana's SOL depth in the 2% price range fell from about $28 million per side last year to about $20 million this year. Total XRP depth held steady at around $30 million, but the order book was skewed toward the buyers, with buy orders at around $18 million and sell orders at around $14 million. CoinGecko noted that XRP’s market cap is about 40% higher than SOL’s, but the depth within the 2% price range is lower, as SOL’s average daily trading volume is still 25% higher than XRP’s.