What is CVD (cumulative volume delta)?

How it is calculated

Every trade has an aggressor: the side that used a market order. For each trade, buy volume counts as plus and sell volume as minus. Delta is the sum for one bar. CVD adds every bar's delta to the total before it, so it becomes a line that rises while buyers are more aggressive and falls while sellers are.

The level of CVD does not matter much, because it depends on where the count started. What matters is its direction and how it moves compared with price.

Four readings

• Price up, CVD up: buyers are driving the move. The trend is supported.
• Price up, CVD flat or down: price rises without aggressive buying. It may be sellers stepping away, or passive selling into the rise. Moves like this often fade.
• Price down, CVD up: aggressive buying, but price still falls. Big passive sellers are absorbing it.
• Price flat, CVD falling hard: heavy selling that is not moving price. Someone is absorbing it, and when sellers run out, price can move up quickly.

Spot CVD vs perp CVD

In crypto, perpetual futures trade far more volume than spot, and they are used with leverage. Spot buying is usually real demand. A rally with perp CVD rising and spot CVD flat is driven by leveraged traders and can unwind fast. A rally with spot CVD leading is often more solid.

That is why DM Charts lets you pick spot, perps, or both, on one exchange or several.

Try it

Open the chart on Bitcoin, add CVD for spot and for perps in separate panes, and compare them during the next big move.