Liquidity Voids: Where Price Runs Through Empty Space█ Liquidity Voids: Where Price Runs Through Empty Space
Big moves don’t just “happen”, they happen because either buyers or sellers step aside and let price run.
A liquidity void is what’s left behind when that happens: an area on the chart where price traded with very little volume, leaving a ‘hole’ in market participation.
This is not just another fair value gap. A typical FVG can form on normal volume during strong momentum. A liquidity void specifically signals a displacement under thin conditions, meaning the move was too easy, and price often comes back to check that area later.
█ What Exactly Is a Liquidity Void?
Think of the order book as a ladder of bids and asks. Normally, price moves step by step as orders fill at each level. But when there aren’t enough orders (low liquidity), price jumps levels and that jump is your void.
On a chart, it shows up as:
A large, one-directional candle with very small or no wicks overlapping neighbors.
Little or no volume relative to the move’s size (thin participation).
Price displacement that looks almost “too clean” — no hesitation, just a straight run.
These clues tell you price didn’t just move on heavy buying/selling, it moved through empty space.
⚪ Liquidity Void Detector
Use this free Liquidity Void Detector indicator to spot liquidity voids. It signals when the market makes a relatively sharp move on comparatively low volume, helping you spot these voids in real time.
█ Why Low Volume Matters
⚪ Not All Gaps Are Voids
A fair value gap can form on high participation, think of a breakout candle with heavy volume and institutional backing. That’s an accepted price move.
⚪ Voids Are Different
A liquidity void happens when the market skips prices because there was no one there to trade. It’s an inefficient move that the market often wants to revisit and “fill in” once participation returns.
⚪ Volume as the Filter
When volume is below its own average (or below a trend baseline), it tells you this wasn’t a “healthy” move, it was a thin-book displacement.
█ How Traders Use This
⚪ Mark the Zone
Draw the high and low of the candle(s) that created the void. This is your “inefficiency zone.”
⚪ Wait for the Return
Voids often act like magnets. Price often reverses and retests or fills the void, but it can just as easily slice through the zone once revisited, as thin liquidity offers little resistance.
█ What Research Show
Academic studies on price gaps find that immediate fills are rare, but the probability of fill rises over time. Downward voids (panic selling) fill faster on average than upward voids.
Crypto traders track CME Bitcoin gaps and report over 80–90% eventually get filled, but timing is unpredictable.
Volume-adjusted strategies outperform simple gap-filling because they focus on inefficient moves, not every gap. The key is filtering for thin participation.
█ Bottom Line
Liquidity voids are not just gaps, they are evidence of skipped prices under low participation.
They tell you where price moved “too easily,” leaving behind unfinished business.
Learn to filter for low-volume displacements, mark those zones, and watch how often price comes back to rebalance them. This turns a random candle into a predictive level, one that can guide your mean reversion trades or act as a support/resistance flip in trending markets.
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Disclaimer
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