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COIN RATIO: bid to ask ratio in the order book

7 min · DYOR Education
FreeCOIN · Order book
Goal

Learn COIN RATIO: the ratio of bids to asks, which doesn't depend on the size of the coin.

COIN RATIO on BTC/USDT: bid-to-ask ratio at 3% depth
COIN RATIO on BTC/USDT: bid-to-ask ratio at 3% depth
What it shows

How many times bids exceed asks at each depth. Formula: bid ÷ ask.

  • 1 — equal. Above 1 — more bids. Below 1 — more asks.
  • Seven lines, one per depth: 1.5 · 3 · 5 · 8 · 15 · 30 · 60%.
  • The scale is logarithmic: 2 and 0.5 are equally far from 1.

How it differs from COIN B&A: a ratio doesn't depend on the size of the coin. RATIO = 2 on BTC and RATIO = 2 on a small altcoin mean the same thing — twice as many bids.

bidsasksdepth 3%$90M$40Mbid ÷ ask = 90 ÷ 40 = 2.251 — equal; 2 and 0.5 are equally far from 1, log scale
The ratio doesn't depend on the size of the coin: 2.25 on BTC and 2.25 on a small altcoin are the same.
What it's for

Read the skew as one number that means the same for any coin. Then one threshold fits all coins.

For example.

  • RATIO 3% = 2 on BTC and RATIO 3% = 2 on a small coin mean the same thing: twice as many bids as asks. In money that could be $200M versus $2M.
  • That's why the condition “RATIO 3% > 2” works for any coin — in an alert or in the Market Depths screener. There it shows which coins have the biggest buyer edge.
  • That won't work with B&A: each coin needs its own dollar threshold.
Where to find it
Indicators›COIN›Order book›COIN RATIO
Settings
FieldOptionsDefaultWhat it changes
MarketSPOT
Futures		SPOTWhose order book to count: the spot or the futures market.
SPOT or FUTURES in the pane legend.
- Want orders from people buying the coin itself — SPOT.
- Want orders from people trading with leverage — FUTURES.
On Coinbase, Hyperliquid and Deribit the switch does nothing: Coinbase is spot only, Hyperliquid and Deribit are futures only, the value is set by the exchange itself.
Division formulaBID/ASK
ASK/BID
NORMALIZED		BID/ASKWhat to divide by what.
NORMALIZED — the same difference of sides, but on a scale from −100 to +100: zero — equal, colour by sign.
- Want “above 1” to mean “more bids” — BID/ASK.
- Want the opposite — ASK/BID.
- Want a symmetric scale with zero in the middle — NORMALIZED.
BTC pairsALL
USDT only		ALLWorks only on Binance and only for BTC.
ALL or USDT ONLY in the legend.
ALL — the sum of three pairs: BTCUSDT + BTCUSDC + BTCFDUSD.
USDT only — only the BTCUSDT pair.
For other Binance coins, data is always for the USDT pair; the input changes nothing.
Does nothing on Coinbase and Hyperliquid: Bitcoin has one pair there.
On Deribit too: the two BTC contracts are not added together.
- Want all of Binance's Bitcoin — ALL.
- Want to compare with a source that counts only BTCUSDT — USDT ONLY.
ExchangeChart
Binance
Coinbase
Hyperliquid
Deribit		ChartWhich exchange to take data from: Chart — the same one as the chart.
Binance — spot and futures, USDT pairs.
Coinbase — spot only, USD pairs.

Hyperliquid and Deribit — perpetual futures only, USDC pairs.
The list holds only exchanges where the coin trades.
Without a subscription there is no field.
- Want to compare one coin across exchanges — add the indicator several times and pick a different exchange in each.

By default one depth is visible — 3%. Turn on the other depths in the Styletab: tick the line you need.

In alerts

Metric COIN RATIO. Condition fields:

ExchangeMarket TypeCoinBTC pairsTimeframeDelta PercentagePrimary Target

“Delta Percentage” is the depth. “Primary Target” is the formula: bid/ask, ask/bid or normalized. “BTC pairs” appears only when the coin is BTC.

TOTAL

TOTAL RATIO — the same summed over the whole market. The “Total Type” field is added.

Try it yourself
  1. Turn on COIN RATIO. Hover over any bar and read the values at 1.5% and 60%.
  2. Divide bids by asks from COIN B&A 3% and compare with the 3% line.
What you should get. The ratio matches your division. Near and far depths give different numbers — that's normal.
Takeaway

RATIO = bid ÷ ask at a depth. 1 — equal, 2 — twice as many bids, 0.5 — half as many. The scale is logarithmic, so 2 and 0.5 are symmetric. The value is comparable across any coins.

Quick check

COIN RATIO = 2 at 3% depth means…

Show answer

Correct answer: Within 3% of the price there are twice as many bids as asks

Quick check

RATIO = 2 on BTC and RATIO = 2 on a small altcoin mean…

Show answer

Correct answer: The same thing: twice as many bids as asks

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