Stablecoin Liquidity Depth Score
As of Apr 2026, the stablecoin market aggregate Liquidity Depth Score stands at 3.65. The Liquidity Depth Score (L = Volume ÷ √Market Cap) normalizes 24-hour trading volume by the square root of market cap — isolating genuine market depth from the size effect. A $200B coin doing $100B daily volume is less impressive than a $5B coin doing the same. This metric answers the question enterprise treasurers and CFOs actually ask: "Can I move $500M in USDC without significant slippage?" High LDS signals proportionally deep order book activity — the stablecoin actively circulates through multiple venues. Low LDS signals thin liquidity relative to outstanding supply, creating execution risk at institutional scale. Inspired by the Amihud (2002) market impact framework, LDS is a size-adjusted measure of market depth that raw velocity cannot capture. USDT typically leads LDS rankings through exchange settlement flows and cross-border remittances. Stablecoin Beat tracks this as a live daily time series across 366 snapshots from Apr 2025 to present.
Aggregate Stablecoin Liquidity Depth Score
Total daily volume ÷ √Total market cap, smoothed with a 7-day rolling average. Rising LDS signals improving market depth per unit of supply. Declining LDS signals supply growing faster than active order book depth — an early liquidity stress signal.
Liquidity Depth by Coin — Top 5 (7-day avg)
Daily LDS for USDT, USDC, DAI, FDUSD, and PYUSD. USDT's high LDS reflects active settlement flows relative to its size. DAI and yield-bearing instruments score lowest, reflecting locked DeFi collateral.
LDS Ranking — Latest Snapshot
Current Liquidity Depth Score for tracked stablecoins, sorted by score. Green = deep liquidity (L>3.0). Amber = adequate (L 1.0–3.0). Blue = shallow (<1.0).
Volume is high relative to market cap size. Active order book depth across multiple venues — exchange settlement, OTC desks, and cross-border flows. Large institutional orders can be executed with minimal price impact.
For enterprise: Safe for large-volume settlement flows. For policymakers: Strong monetary function signal — supply is actively circulating, not hoarded.
Mixed depth — sufficient for most institutional use cases but with potential venue concentration risk. Check whether volume is distributed across exchanges or concentrated in one platform before large flows.
For enterprise: Functional for standard treasury operations; slippage risk increases above ~$100M. For policymakers: Monitor venue concentration alongside this metric.
Volume is thin relative to outstanding supply. Typical for yield-bearing tokens with large collateral holdings and minimal active trading. Not suitable for institutional-scale execution without significant price impact.
For enterprise: High execution risk — verify order book depth before large transfers. For policymakers: These coins function as collateral instruments, not payment rails.
Formula: Li = (Volume_24hi ÷ 10⁹) ÷ √(Market_Capi ÷ 10⁹) per coin, per day. Aggregate LDS = (Σ Volume_24h) ÷ √Total Market Cap, both in billions USD. Displayed values use a 7-day rolling average to reduce daily noise.
Data source: CoinGecko API (daily snapshots). Update frequency: Daily at ~15:30 UTC. Coverage: Apr 2025 – present (366 snapshots).
Theoretical basis: The square-root scaling reflects the Amihud (2002) market impact framework, where price impact scales approximately with √(order size / market depth). LDS therefore measures order book resilience relative to a coin's supply footprint — providing a size-adjusted liquidity signal that raw velocity cannot capture.
Limitation: Volume data reflects CoinGecko-reported 24h exchange volume, which may include wash trading. LDS may be inflated for coins with high wash-trade volume on certain exchanges. On-chain volume (transfer volume only) would be a more precise measure and is planned for a future version.