A token can be up 100% in a day and still have an unhealthy market. Price alone does not tell you whether demand is real, liquidity is strong, or a single small order is moving the chart.
In this article, Maxim Moris, CEO and co-founder of Cicada, breaks down how to read a token’s order book and identify the signals that separate a healthy market from an artificial one.
The first metric is the spread — the gap between the best bid and the best ask. In a liquid market, spreads should remain tight. Wider spreads increase the cost of entering and exiting a position and usually signal weak liquidity.
The second key metric is market depth. Depth shows how much liquidity is available around the current price, typically measured at levels such as 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%. A market may look stable until a larger order arrives. If there is not enough depth, that order can create heavy slippage or move the price sharply.
Another important warning sign is a liquidity gap. If orders are concentrated near the current price but disappear further down the book, one larger trade can fall through that gap and create a sudden move or flash crash.
Volume also needs context. High trading volume means little if the order book has almost no depth behind it. Fake or artificial activity often becomes visible when volume, spread, depth, and trade history are viewed together rather than separately.
A practical market-health check comes down to six questions:
If these indicators are healthy, the market is generally in good shape. If one or more fail, the token may have a structural liquidity problem that requires attention.
For Cicada, market making is not about painting a chart. It is about building and maintaining a market where users can trade efficiently, spreads remain controlled, liquidity is available across multiple levels, and the order book stays resilient under pressure.
Watch the full video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/xgaJzHm_QQw
