™Absorption happens when aggressive orders keep hitting one side of the market but price barely moves, because large passive orders on the other side soak them up. Heavy selling into a level with no follow-through lower is the classic example: someone is buying everything that is offered.
How to spot it
| Tool | What absorption looks like |
|---|---|
| Footprint chart | Large bid volume (aggressive selling) at the low of the candle, but the candle closes off the low |
| Cumulative delta | Delta falls sharply while price holds flat — sellers are aggressive and getting nowhere |
| DOM ladder | A resting bid that keeps getting hit and keeps refilling instead of disappearing |
| Tape | A burst of large sell prints at the same price without the price ticking lower |
Absorption vs exhaustion
They are easy to confuse. Absorption is high aggressive volume that fails to move price — the other side is strong. Exhaustion is aggressive volume drying up at the end of a move — the pushing side has run out. Both can precede a turn; absorption shows a strong opponent, exhaustion shows a tired one.
The traps
- Absorption can fail. The passive side can be overwhelmed. If price finally breaks through the level with volume, the absorption read was wrong.
- Context matters. Absorption at a level you already care about — a prior low, the value area edge, an order block — means far more than in the middle of a range.
- Iceberg orders hide size. The resting order on the DOM may look small while it keeps refilling; the tape and footprint show the real volume.
See absorption live
The LTAI Terminal marks absorption on its footprint chart and shows the DOM ladder, Smart Tape and delta side by side on live Binance data — with paper trading so you can practise reading it without risking money. Free in the browser. Open the LTAI Terminal →