What is Volume?
The Volume indicator draws the volume traded in each bar as a column in its own pane. Columns are green when the bar closed at or above its open and red when it closed below. A blue line through the columns is the simple moving average of volume over 20 bars, so you can see at a glance whether a bar was busier or quieter than usual.
Volume shows how much trading happened in each bar. It does not say who was buying or selling, and the colour only reflects the candle's own direction, not the balance of orders inside it.
How to use Volume
- Columns above or below the average. A column well above the blue line is an unusually busy bar. A run of columns below it means activity is quiet.
- Volume on breakouts. A break through a level on a column well above average is generally read as more convincing than the same break on light volume.
- Volume in trends. Volume growing in the direction of the trend and shrinking on pullbacks is read as a healthy trend. The reverse suggests it is tiring.
- Climaxes. An extreme column after a long move can mark exhaustion, when the last participants pile in.
These are ways to read volume alongside price, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| MA Length | 20 | Bars in the moving average of volume. Lower follows recent activity more closely; higher gives a steadier baseline. Minimum 1. |
Adjust the average length in the indicator settings.
Calculation
Each bar's volume is drawn as a column, and a simple moving average of volume is drawn over it:
column colour = green if close >= open, otherwise red
Volume MA = SMA(volume, 20)A bar that closes exactly at its open counts as green, not red. Flat bars like that are common on low-volume markets. The moving average weights every bar in its window equally, so it appears once 20 bars have loaded.
Volume is shown in the units the exchange reports for that market. For a total over a rolling 24 hours rather than per bar, use 24-hour Volume.
Limitations
- The colour is the candle's, not the order flow's. A green column means the bar closed at or above its open. Much of its volume may still have been selling.
- Volume differs between exchanges. The same market on two exchanges can show very different volume. Compare volume within one market, not across venues.
- The live candle is incomplete. The current bar's column keeps growing until the bar closes, so it nearly always looks small early in the bar.
- The average lags. After a sudden change in activity the moving average takes up to its full length to catch up.
- It is not a strategy. On its own it carries no risk management, sizing or exit.
Frequently asked questions
It shows how much was traded in each bar, as a column, coloured green when the bar closed at or above its open and red when it closed below. A line through the columns shows the 20-bar average volume.
The colour compares the bar's close with its own open, not with the previous close. A bar can open with a gap down, rise during the bar and close above its open, which makes it green even though price is lower than the bar before.
Yes. The indicator declares one input: MA Length, default 20 with a minimum of 1. It sets the length of the moving average drawn over the columns.
No. A closed bar's volume and colour are fixed. The current bar's column grows while that candle is live, and its colour can change until it closes.
Volume shows each bar's own volume. 24-hour Volume adds up the turnover of every bar in the trailing 24 hours, so it gives a rolling daily total at the chart's own resolution.
Use the Add to chart button at the top of this page. It opens BTC/USDT on Binance in the Altrady Charts terminal with the built-in Volume already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Volume from the Volume group.