CoinGecko: ETH rose 70% in the third quarter, outperforming BTC, though its market liquidity has significantly contracted.

CoinGecko’s report shows Ethereum (ETH) rose 70% in the third quarter, outperforming Bitcoin (BTC), which gained 42% over the same period, though ETH’s market liquidity has actually declined. Between July 6 and September 30, ETH’s median daily market depth was only 35% to 45% of BTC’s, compared to at least 60% in the same period last year. Within a 0.15% range from the market price, ETH’s combined buy and sell order book depth is roughly $13 million to $14 million. Market depth measures the total size of orders placed near the current price; lower depth means large orders are more likely to drive price swings. Despite the liquidity contraction, CoinGecko notes ETH remains relatively easy to trade, with market depth exceeding $1 million on both buy and sell sides across most exchanges. Solana (SOL) has also seen a liquidity decline: its one-sided market depth within a 2% range of its price fell from approximately $28 million last year to around $20 million. XRP’s total market depth has stabilized at roughly $30 million, with buy orders totaling about $18 million and sell orders around $14 million. While XRP’s market capitalization is roughly 40% higher than SOL’s, its market depth is lower, a gap attributed to SOL’s average daily trading volume being about 25% higher.