Every term you'll encounter when reading Bitcoin order flow data — defined plainly, without unnecessary jargon.
Aggressor
The party that initiates a trade by crossing the spread. Always the taker. Identifying the aggressor is the foundation of order flow analysis.
CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta)
The running total of taker buy volume minus taker sell volume. Rising CVD = buyers in control. Falling CVD = sellers dominate. CVD diverging from price is one of the most reliable signals in bitcoin order flow analysis.
Delta
Taker buy volume minus taker sell volume over a candle or period. Positive delta = more buying. Negative delta = more selling. Cumulative delta over many candles is CVD.
ETF Flow
The daily net creation or redemption of shares in a Bitcoin spot ETF. Positive flow = institutional capital entered (Bitcoin purchased by the custodian). Negative flow = redemptions (Bitcoin sold).
Maker
The passive party in a trade — the one who posted the resting limit order that got filled. The maker provides liquidity. The opposite of the taker (aggressor).
Net Delta
Taker buy USD minus taker sell USD over a period. The most direct measure of order-flow imbalance. Bitcoin Live shows net delta per asset per window on the dashboard.
Order Flow
The real-time stream of all matched buy and sell trades, each with a direction, size, and aggressor. Order flow is the raw signal that produces price.
Perpetual Futures (Perp)
A futures contract with no expiry date, tracking price via a funding rate. No Bitcoin changes hands. Leverage up to 100× is common. Volume typically runs 5–10× spot.
Taker
The party that crosses the spread, placing a market order or marketable limit that fills immediately. The taker is the aggressor. Buy flow = taker bought; sell flow = taker sold.
Venue
An individual exchange or trading platform. Bitcoin Live tracks order flow from multiple venues simultaneously and shows per-venue breakdowns on the Asset Detail pages.
Volume
The total USD value of all trades (buy + sell) over a period. Volume is directionless — order flow analysis adds the directional component via delta and CVD.