A candle tells you where price went. A footprint tells you who pushed it there.
A normal candlestick shows four prices: open, high, low and close. It hides everything that happened in between. A footprint chart opens the candle up and shows, at every price level inside it, how much volume traded on the bid (sellers hitting buyers) and on the ask (buyers lifting sellers).
That turns a candle from a shape into a record of the auction. You can see where aggressive buyers stepped in, where sellers absorbed them, and where the candle closed against the side that was doing the pushing.
The four things to read
Bid × ask volumeEach row shows volume traded at that price, split into sell-side (bid) and buy-side (ask). The split tells you which side was aggressive at that level.
DeltaAsk volume minus bid volume — for a row, or for the whole candle. A green candle with negative delta means price rose while sellers were the aggressors: often a sign of a short squeeze or passive buying.
ImbalancesA row where one side traded far more than the diagonal row on the other side. Stacked imbalances in one direction show a side taking control.
Point of controlThe price inside the candle where the most volume traded. It acts as the candle's centre of gravity, and later as a reference level.
Patterns traders look for
- Absorption — heavy aggressive selling at the low of a candle, but price refuses to go lower. Someone passive is buying everything offered.
- Exhaustion — volume dries up at the extreme of a move. The last buyers or sellers have run out.
- Trapped traders — big aggressive volume at a high that price then leaves behind. Those buyers are now underwater.
- Delta divergence — price makes a new high while delta weakens. The push is losing participation.
None of these is a buy or sell button. Order flow shows you how the auction is behaving at a level; it is most useful at a level you already care about — a prior high, a session open, a Smart Level — not on its own in the middle of nowhere.
Footprint, DOM and tape together
The footprint shows what has traded. A DOM (depth-of-market) ladder shows the resting orders waiting to trade. Time & sales — the tape — shows each trade as it prints. Read together, they show intention (the book), action (the tape) and result (the footprint).
In LiveTradingAI
The LTAI Terminal puts all three in one browser tab on live Binance data: a footprint chart, a DOM Trader ladder, Smart Tape, Market and DOM Pressure gauges and a session statistics journal. You can paper-trade straight from the ladder on live prices, so you can practise reading order flow without risking money. Open the LTAI Terminal →
This page is educational. It is not financial advice and nothing here is a recommendation to enter any trade. Trading carries substantial risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What is a footprint chart?A footprint chart splits every candle into price rows and shows how much volume traded on the bid and on the ask at each one. It shows who was aggressive inside the candle, not just where price opened and closed.
What does delta mean on a footprint chart?Delta is ask volume minus bid volume. Positive delta means aggressive buyers traded more; negative delta means aggressive sellers did. Comparing delta with the candle direction helps spot absorption and squeezes.
Is a footprint chart useful for crypto?Yes. Crypto exchanges publish every trade with its aggressor side, which is exactly what a footprint needs. Liquid pairs such as BTC and ETH on Binance produce clean footprints.
What is the difference between a footprint chart and a DOM?A footprint shows volume that has already traded. A DOM ladder shows resting limit orders that have not traded yet. The footprint is the result; the DOM is the intention.
Can I practise reading order flow without risking money?Yes. The LTAI Terminal includes paper trading on live prices, so you can place practice orders from the DOM ladder and review them in the session statistics journal.
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