What a liquidation map shows, the difference between realised liquidations and estimated liquidation levels, and how to read clusters without treating them as price targets.
A liquidation map shows where leveraged positions would be forced to close. This guide explains what a liquidation is, how the map is built and how to read it, using the liquidation views on the Sigmita Technicals page.
What is a liquidation?
Traders on perpetual futures borrow to open positions larger than their margin. If price moves far enough against a position, the exchange closes it to stop losses exceeding the margin. That forced close is a liquidation. A long is liquidated when price falls; a short is liquidated when price rises.
What is the difference between realised and estimated liquidations?
- Realised liquidations already happened. Exchanges publish them as they occur, so they are facts about the recent past.
- Estimated liquidation levels are a model of where open positions might be liquidated. They are built from price history, open interest and assumed leverage, so they are informed guesses, not exchange data.
- Sigmita keeps the two apart: realised events come from public exchange feeds, and its own estimates are labelled "SIGMITA · EST".
How do you read clusters on the map?
Brighter or taller areas mean more estimated positions would be liquidated around that price. Clusters above the current price are mostly shorts; clusters below are mostly longs. A large cluster near price shows where a move could speed up if it is reached, because forced closes add buying or selling in the same direction.
Which markets have liquidation data?
Liquidations only exist where leveraged perpetual futures trade. Sigmita shows them for Bitcoin, BNB, gold, silver and crude oil, which have perpetual contracts on major exchanges. Spot forex pairs such as EUR/USD and USD/JPY have no comparable public feed, so the page says so instead of showing an empty chart.
What are the limits of a liquidation map?
- Estimated levels depend on leverage assumptions that no outside observer can confirm.
- Positions open and close all the time, so a cluster can disappear before price reaches it.
- A cluster is not a price target. Price can stop short of it or pass through it with little reaction.
- Like everything in Sigmita, it is research context for your own judgement, not a recommendation to trade.