Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD)
Cumulative Volume Delta is the running total of market buy volume minus market sell volume; rising CVD means aggressive buyers are lifting offers, and a divergence between CVD and price reveals absorption — one side pushing hard without moving price.
What it means
Delta for one bar is the volume executed at the ask (market buys) minus the volume executed at the bid (market sells). CVD accumulates it over time. It measures aggression: who is crossing the spread to get filled. Price and CVD normally rise together; when price makes a new high and CVD does not, buyers were not aggressive enough to justify the high — and when CVD makes a new high but price does not, buyers were absorbed by passive sellers.
CVD is an order-flow view of the same events Smart Money traders read from candles. A liquidity sweep with a CVD spike and no price follow-through is absorption; displacement with expanding delta is genuine order flow. The Institutional Pressure Oscillator approximates the same reading where true tick data is unavailable.
The measurement depends on the venue: exchange volume with real bid/ask classification (crypto perpetuals, futures) gives a real CVD; forex tick volume gives only a proxy.
How to identify it on a chart
- Plot CVD below price on a venue with real volume.
- Compare swing highs and lows on price and CVD.
- A new price extreme without a new CVD extreme is a divergence; CVD extending without price is absorption.
Worked example
BTC sweeps the range high at 66,900; CVD prints its highest reading of the day while price closes back inside the range. Aggressive buyers were absorbed at the high — the short into the sweep is confirmed by the delta divergence.
See it on the chart, read it in depth
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between delta and CVD?
Delta is one bar's buy-minus-sell volume; CVD is the running sum across bars.
Does CVD work on forex?
Only as a proxy from tick volume; real CVD needs bid/ask classified volume, which exists on futures and crypto exchanges.
What is a CVD divergence?
Price making a new extreme that CVD does not confirm, or vice versa — the signature of absorption or exhaustion.
Which free tool approximates it?
The Institutional Pressure Oscillator reads buying versus selling pressure from price and volume where tick data is unavailable.
Related terms
See Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) on your TradingView chart
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