Cascade Simulator

Simulate what happens if the price reaches a specific level — how many liquidations cascade, and where the price ends up after the chain reaction.

What is Cascade Simulator?

Cascade Simulator is an interactive tool that models liquidation chain reactions. You pick a symbol and a target price, and the simulator calculates the total liquidation volume between the current price and your target, then estimates how that forced selling or buying pressure pushes the price further, triggering additional liquidations in a cascading waterfall effect.

In leveraged crypto markets, liquidations do not happen in isolation. When the price drops to a level where leveraged long positions are liquidated, those forced market sells push the price down further, potentially triggering more liquidations at lower levels. This cascade effect is what turns a modest move into a flash crash or short squeeze. The Cascade Simulator lets you model this process before it happens.

The simulator uses real-time liquidation level data from our Hyperliquid L1 node, which provides the exact price levels where open positions would be liquidated and the volume at each level. This is not theoretical — it is based on actual open positions in the market right now.

Key Concepts

• Cascade Steps: Each step in the simulation represents a price level where liquidations are triggered, the volume of those liquidations, and the estimated price impact that pushes price to the next level
• Total Liquidated Volume: The cumulative USD value of all positions that would be force-closed between the current price and the final cascade price
• Danger Zones: Price regions where liquidation density is extremely high — these are where cascades accelerate dramatically
• Final Price Estimate: Where the price is projected to end up after all cascade steps have resolved, accounting for the compounding effect of each liquidation wave

How to Use Cascade Simulator

1. Open Cascade Simulator from the sidebar or Terminal workspace
2. Select a symbol (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.)
3. Choose a direction — Long Cascade (price drops, longs liquidated) or Short Cascade (price rises, shorts liquidated)
4. Set a target price using the input or slider
5. The waterfall chart shows each cascade step with price impact and volume
6. Review the total liquidated volume and danger zone markers

What to Look For

• Bullish signals: A short cascade simulation showing massive short liquidation volume just above current price suggests that a push higher could trigger a violent short squeeze. Thin liquidation levels above mean shorts are vulnerable.
• Bearish signals: A long cascade simulation revealing dense liquidation clusters below current price indicates that a dip could snowball into a much larger drop. The more volume in the cascade, the more dangerous the level.
• Key patterns: Asymmetric cascades — when one direction has significantly more cascade potential than the other — reveal the market’s vulnerability. If the long cascade from current price to -5% would liquidate $500M but the short cascade from current price to +5% would only liquidate $50M, the market is heavily skewed to the downside.
• Combine with: Position X-Ray to understand where those positions were entered, Liq. Heatmap & Levels for visual confirmation of the liquidation clusters, Smart Entry Calculator for placing trades around cascade risk zones

Data Source

Tips

• Run simulations in both directions to understand the market’s asymmetric risk profile
• Danger zones where cascade acceleration is highest are the most important levels to watch — even a wick into these zones can trigger the full cascade
• The simulator assumes market conditions remain static during the cascade — in reality, new limit orders and liquidations can dampen or amplify the effect
• Use the cascade total as a risk metric: if you are long and the downside cascade volume is enormous, your position is more vulnerable than the chart suggests