Highly liquid assets like Bitcoin can absorb large trades with little slippage, while thinly traded tokens can lurch on modest volume, making them harder to enter and, crucially, to exit.
Low liquidity is an underrated risk: a position can look fine on paper yet be difficult to sell at a fair price exactly when you need to.
DeFi Basics and Risks
Key takeaways
- Liquidity is how easily you can trade without moving the price much.
- Deep, liquid markets fill orders smoothly with small price gaps.
- Thin liquidity can trap you in a position you cannot exit at a fair price.
Liquidity — questions fréquentes
Why should a beginner care about liquidity?
Because a token that is easy to buy can be surprisingly hard to sell later if few others are trading it.
What is slippage?
It is the difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got, and it grows in thin markets.
This definition is educational and not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and high-risk — always do your own research.
Keep learning
New to crypto, or filling in the gaps? Work through the essentials in Learn, browse every term A–Z, or see live prices for the coins these concepts power.