Trade Footprint

Map cumulative trading activity to specific price levels to reveal where institutional buying and selling actually occurred.

What is Trade Footprint?

Trade Footprint displays cumulative trading activity broken down by price level, built from Hyperliquid full node data. For each price level on the chart, it shows the total volume of buying and selling that occurred, giving you a granular view of where market participants were most active and in which direction.

While standard candlestick charts show you open, high, low, and close, they hide the internal structure of each candle. Trade Footprint reveals this structure. You can see whether a bullish candle was driven by aggressive buying across all price levels or just a thin squeeze through low-volume zones. Similarly, a bearish candle might show heavy selling at the top but absorption buying at the bottom — a detail invisible on a regular chart.

This level of detail is particularly valuable for identifying accumulation and distribution zones. When large buying volume consistently appears at specific price levels without pushing price higher, it suggests patient institutional accumulation. The opposite pattern — large selling absorbed without price dropping — signals distribution.

Key Concepts

• Footprint: A detailed breakdown of trade volume at each price level within a time period, showing buy and sell volume separately
• Accumulation Zone: A price area where significant buying volume concentrates over time, often seen before an upward move
• Distribution Zone: A price area where significant selling volume concentrates, often preceding a downward move
• Volume Concentration: Areas where disproportionate trading activity occurs relative to surrounding price levels

How to Use Trade Footprint

1. Open Trade Footprint from the sidebar under Orderflow Tools
2. Select the symbol you want to analyze
3. Each price level displays the breakdown of buying and selling volume
4. Look for price levels where one side dominates — these are your key levels
5. Compare volume concentration across different price levels to identify where the most significant activity is happening

What to Look For

• Bullish signals: Consistent buy-heavy footprints at the bottom of a range indicate accumulation. When buying volume intensifies at a support level while selling volume decreases, buyers are absorbing all supply.
• Bearish signals: Sell-heavy footprints at the top of a range signal distribution. If large sell volume appears at a level that previously saw buying, control is shifting from buyers to sellers.
• Key patterns: Imbalanced footprints (where one side dominates by a large ratio) at swing points are high-conviction signals. Footprints that show declining sell volume on each successive test of support suggest sellers are exhausted.
• Combine with: Volume Profile for identifying which levels attracted the most total volume, CVD Chart for the cumulative net direction, Flow Chart for real-time trade-by-trade visualization

Supported Exchanges

Tips

• Focus on footprint data at key structural levels (previous highs, lows, Point of Control) rather than analyzing every price level
• Look for sessions where footprint data contradicts the candle — a red candle with heavier buy volume than sell volume often signals a reversal
• Trade Footprint is a confirmation tool, not a standalone signal — use it to validate trade ideas formed from other analysis