When 24-hour volume runs many times a pool's liquidity, the same money is being cycled repeatedly. Sometimes that is genuine interest. Often it is manufactured.
Comparing a token's 24-hour trading volume to its pool liquidity gives a turnover ratio. A pool with $50,000 of liquidity and $500,000 of daily volume has a ratio of 10 — the pool's entire depth changed hands ten times.
High turnover on its own is not evidence of anything wrong. It is what genuine, concentrated interest looks like. But it is also exactly what wash trading looks like, and the two are difficult to separate from market data alone.
Volume is the number most often used as a proxy for interest, and it is the easiest to manufacture. A single actor trading with themselves across two wallets generates unlimited volume at the cost of fees alone. Ratios in the tens or hundreds against a thin pool are difficult to produce organically.
The practical consequence is that volume can make a token look liquid when it is not. Depth is what you trade against; volume is only a record of what has already happened.
Read the two together. High volume on deep liquidity is activity. High volume on thin liquidity is churn until proven otherwise.
This is the actual curve used to score volume vs liquidity on every token page and in the risk tool. Scores run 0 to 100, where higher means more risk.
| Measured value | Band | Component score |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5x | Low | 10/100 |
| 2x | Low | 20/100 |
| 5x | Moderate | 40/100 |
| 15x | High | 70/100 |
| 40x | Severe | 90/100 |
| 100x | Severe | 100/100 |
Nothing here is financial advice. A low score means the measurable indicators look unremarkable; it does not mean a token is safe. See how this site works.