Ether posted a stronger third quarter than bitcoin on price, but CoinGecko said its market liquidity became thinner over the same period.
ETH rose 70% in the quarter, ahead of bitcoin’s 42% gain. Even so, CoinGecko’s report showed that from July 6 to Sept. 30, ether’s median daily market depth was only 35% to 45% of bitcoin’s. In the same stretch last year, that figure was at least 60%. CoinGecko described the change as "a stark drop from last year's figures."
ETH gained, but order books got shallower
Market depth is a standard liquidity measure. It tracks the total dollar value of buy and sell orders sitting on exchanges within a defined distance from the current market price. A deeper market usually takes more capital to move. In a thinner market, a large order can consume available liquidity quickly and push the price further.
CoinGecko said ether had $13 million to $14 million in depth within 0.15% of its market price. In practical terms, that is roughly the amount of capital resting close enough to the current price that clearing those orders would move ETH by just 0.15%. Liquidity at that range matters for routine trading and for larger orders that traders want filled without moving the market too much.
The data cuts against a common market assumption that rising prices attract more traders and that more traders naturally produce deeper order books. CoinGecko’s figures showed that this did not happen with ether.
At the same time, the firm said ETH remains tradable at that range. CoinGecko wrote: "ETH remains fairly liquid at this range [within 0.15% of the market price], with most exchanges maintaining over $1 million in depth on each side."
SOL liquidity has also shrunk
Ether was not the only major token with thinner markets. CoinGecko said liquidity in solana’s SOL, which it described as ether’s main rival, has also contracted, though the firm measured SOL over a wider range.
"The overall liquidity for SOL has shrunk considerably since 2025," CoinGecko said.
SOL’s depth within 2% of the market price fell from about $28 million on each side of the order book last year to around $20 million this year. Depth at 2% captures orders sitting farther away from the current price. It offers a view into how much buying or selling pressure the market can absorb before the price makes a larger move, the kind often seen during a sharp rally or sell-off. In other words, ether’s thinning showed up close to the current price, while SOL’s showed up more in its capacity to handle bigger swings.
XRP books leaned toward buyers
CoinGecko said XRP, the payments-focused cryptocurrency, held roughly steady at around $30 million in total depth during the study period, but its order books leaned bullish.
Bids were close to $18 million, compared with about $14 million in asks.
The report also said XRP’s market capitalization is about 40% larger than SOL’s, yet XRP has less depth within 2% of the price. According to CoinGecko, that is because SOL still trades 25% more than XRP on an average day.