Overview
Enhanced Liquidations is an extended version of the basic Liquidations indicator. It adds bucket filtering by position size, allowing you to focus on the liquidations that actually move the market.
- Long liquidations — Forced closure of long positions (shown in one color)
- Short liquidations — Forced closure of short positions (shown in another color)
- Size filtering — Show only liquidations above a configurable position size threshold
How It Works
When a trader’s margin falls below the maintenance requirement, the exchange forcefully closes their position — this is a liquidation. Enhanced Liquidations captures these events and categorizes them by:
- Direction — Was a long or short position liquidated?
- Size — How large was the liquidated position?
The size bucketing system lets you filter out the noise of small liquidations and focus on the significant forced closures that create cascading price impact.
Size Buckets
| Bucket | Minimum Position Size | Use Case |
|---|
0 | All liquidations | Full picture, including noise |
1 | 1,000 USD+ | Filter out micro-positions |
2 | 10,000 USD+ | Medium-sized liquidations |
3 | 100,000 USD+ | Large liquidations only |
4 | 1,000,000 USD+ | Whale liquidations only |
Filter to the 10K+ bucket (minBucket: 2) to see only significant liquidations. Large liquidation cascades often mark local price extremes — when big positions get wiped out, the forced selling/buying pressure exhausts itself and price reverses.
Interpretation
Long Liquidations (displayed above zero line)
Long positions being forced closed. The exchange sells their position on the market, adding sell pressure. Clusters of long liquidations during a downmove indicate a long squeeze cascade — each liquidation pushes price lower, triggering more liquidations.
Short Liquidations (displayed below zero line)
Short positions being forced closed. The exchange buys back their position, adding buy pressure. Clusters of short liquidations during an upmove indicate a short squeeze — each liquidation pushes price higher, triggering more.
Cascade Detection
The most powerful signal from Enhanced Liquidations is the cascade — a self-reinforcing loop where liquidations cause more liquidations:
- Price moves against overleveraged positions
- First wave of liquidations hits
- Liquidation orders push price further
- Second wave triggers
- Repeat until leverage is flushed
These cascades often end at extremes that mark significant turning points.
Settings
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|
longColor | Color for long liquidations | #22c55e |
shortColor | Color for short liquidations | #ef4444 |
mode | Display liquidation volume or count | volume |
minBucket | Minimum position size bucket (0–4) | 0 |
displayMode | Visualization style: line, columns, or candles | columns |
highlightAnomalies | Highlight extreme liquidation events | true |
anomalyThreshold | Standard deviations for anomaly detection | 2.5 |
anomalyPeriod | Lookback period for anomaly calculation | 30 |
gradientIntensity | Scale bar opacity by magnitude | true |
minOpacity | Minimum opacity for gradient scaling | 0.3 |
barWidth | Column width ratio (0.0–1.0) | 0.6 |
Mode: Volume vs Count
- Volume (default) — Shows the total dollar value of liquidated positions. Better for assessing market impact since a single large liquidation matters more than many small ones.
- Count — Shows the number of liquidation events. Better for gauging how many traders are being affected, regardless of position size.
Display Modes
- Columns — Default histogram. Long liquidations in one color, short in another. Height shows magnitude.
- Line — Continuous plot of liquidation activity. Useful for spotting trends in liquidation frequency.
- Candles — OHLC rendering of liquidation values per bar.
Anomaly Detection
When highlightAnomalies is enabled, liquidation bars exceeding anomalyThreshold standard deviations from the rolling mean are visually marked. Liquidation anomalies are among the most significant events in futures markets:
- Major cascade events that flush leveraged positions
- Exchange-wide liquidation waves during flash crashes
- Single whale liquidations that move the market
Gradient Intensity
With gradientIntensity enabled, bars are shaded by liquidation magnitude. Small liquidations appear faded (down to minOpacity), while large cascades appear at full opacity. This naturally highlights the events that matter most.
Enhanced Liquidations is a futures-only indicator. Liquidation data is sourced from the exchange’s reported liquidation events. Some exchanges may have slight delays in reporting, so liquidation bars may appear 1-2 seconds after the corresponding price move.
Practical Examples
Cascade Reversal: Price drops sharply. Long liquidations spike to anomaly levels in the 10K+ bucket. As the cascade exhausts, liquidation volume drops off — this is often the point of maximum pain and a potential reversal zone.
Leverage Flush: After a period of rising open interest and calm markets, a sudden move triggers a wave of liquidations. The sharp spike in Enhanced Liquidations confirms that overleveraged positions have been flushed — the market is healthier for the next move.
Squeeze Confirmation: Price breaks above resistance. Short liquidations spike in the 100K+ bucket — large shorts are being squeezed. The forced buying from these liquidations adds fuel to the breakout.
Bucket Analysis: Compare all-bucket view (minBucket: 0) with 10K+ view (minBucket: 2). If small liquidations are high but large liquidations are absent, the move lacks the force to trigger a cascade — likely a minor shakeout.