Ether outperformed Bitcoin in the third quarter on price, but not on market depth. A CoinGecko report found that from July 6 to Sept. 30, ETH’s median daily market depth was only 35% to 45% of BTC’s, down from at least 60% in the same period last year.
The article listed ETH at $2,714.83 and BTC at $85,966.73. Over the quarter, ETH rose 70%, ahead of BTC’s 42% gain. CoinGecko called the decline in ETH’s depth ratio a "sharp drop from last year’s data."
ETH rose, but large trades face a thinner book
Market depth is a standard way to measure liquidity. It refers to the total dollar value of buy and sell orders resting within a set distance from the current market price on exchanges. A deeper book takes more capital to move. A thinner one can be pushed around more easily by a large order.
Within 0.15% of spot, ETH depth stood at roughly $13 million to $14 million. In practical terms, that is the pool of orders sitting close enough to the current price that, even if fully consumed, the move would be about 0.15%. Liquidity at that range matters most for everyday trading. It also matters for larger orders that want execution without moving the market too far.
A common market view is that rising prices pull in more traders, and more traders should produce thicker order books. The data cited here points the other way for ETH.
CoinGecko still said ETH remains fairly easy to trade. "Within this range (0.15% from the market price), ETH liquidity remains fairly robust, with most exchanges maintaining over $1 million in depth on both the bid and ask sides," the report said.
SOL is thinning too, though in a different part of the book
ETH is not the only large token seeing weaker liquidity. The report said Solana’s SOL has also seen shrinking liquidity, though CoinGecko measured it across a wider price band.
"Since 2025, SOL’s overall liquidity has contracted significantly," CoinGecko said.
SOL’s depth within 2% of spot fell from about $28 million per side in last year’s order books to about $20 million this year. The 2% depth metric captures orders resting farther away from the current price, showing how much buying or selling pressure the market can absorb before a larger move takes shape. In the report’s framing, ETH’s thinning is showing up closer to spot, while SOL’s is showing up in its capacity to absorb bigger swings.
XRP depth held steady, but still trailed SOL
XRP, which the article described as a payments-focused cryptocurrency, maintained total depth of about $30 million. During the study period, its order book leaned toward bids, with nearly $18 million in buy orders versus roughly $14 million in sell orders.
The report added that XRP’s market capitalization is about 40% higher than SOL’s, but its depth within 2% of spot is still lower. CoinGecko said that is because SOL’s average daily trading volume remains 25% above XRP’s.