What is capital flow? A plain-language guide
See-Market measures capital flow daily across 15 of the world's most-watched markets — for crypto (BTC, ETH) from Binance's real order-flow (cumulative volume delta, CVD), and for the rest via AI-derived pressure scores from daily OHLCV. Capital flow is the direction money is pressing into or out of a market: when buyers consistently outpace sellers it's accumulation (inflow); when sellers dominate, distribution (outflow). Descriptive, not investment advice.
Accumulation vs distribution
Accumulation happens when buyers are systematically absorbing supply — bids outnumber asks, volume skews to the buy side, and prices hold or drift higher as sellers are absorbed. Distribution is the mirror: sellers are steadily unloading, offers dominate, and prices stall or drift lower even if they don't collapse immediately. Capital flow analysis tries to measure which force is winning at any given time.
Capital flow vs trading volume
Volume counts the total shares or contracts traded — it tells you how much activity there was, but not which side was more aggressive. Capital flow goes further: it weights volume by direction, asking whether each trade was initiated by a buyer (lifting the offer) or a seller (hitting the bid). A day with high volume but equal buying and selling pressure is neutral; a day with moderate volume but 80% buyer-initiated is strong accumulation.
Crypto vs traditional markets
Crypto order-flow data is publicly available tick-by-tick from exchanges like Binance. Traditional markets (equities, commodities) don't publish per-trade aggressor data at the same granularity, so capital pressure for stocks and indices is derived from daily OHLCV patterns — a proxy, not the same thing as real order flow. See-Market is explicit about this: BTC and ETH show real CVD and order-flow metrics; everything else shows an honest OHLCV-derived pressure score.
FAQ
What is capital flow?
Capital flow is the net direction of money moving into or out of a market. When buying pressure exceeds selling pressure over a sustained period, capital is flowing in (accumulation); the reverse is capital flowing out (distribution). It is a directional read, not a prediction.
How is capital flow different from trading volume?
Volume measures how much was traded. Capital flow measures which side — buyers or sellers — was more aggressive. High volume with balanced buying and selling is neutral; the same volume skewed 80% to buyer-initiated trades signals accumulation. Direction matters as much as size.
What do accumulation and distribution mean?
Accumulation means buyers are systematically absorbing supply: bids are larger than offers, volume tilts to buy-side, prices tend to hold or grind higher. Distribution is the opposite: sellers are unloading into demand, offer volume dominates, prices stall or drift lower even without an immediate crash.
What can capital flow analysis tell me?
It gives you a directional lean — which side of the market is under more sustained pressure right now. A market in persistent accumulation is a different risk environment from one in distribution, even if the price hasn't moved yet. It is context, not a signal to buy or sell. Not investment advice.
How does See-Market measure capital pressure?
For crypto (BTC and ETH), See-Market uses real order-flow data from Binance — cumulative volume delta (CVD), open interest and funding rate. For the 13 traditional markets, it derives a pressure score from daily OHLCV patterns using AI analysis, then labels the direction accumulation, distribution or neutral. The full methodology is explained on the methodology page.
How is crypto capital flow different from stock market capital flow?
Crypto exchanges publish every trade's aggressor side in real time — so CVD (cumulative volume delta) is calculated directly from who was initiating each trade. Stock exchanges don't publish per-trade aggressor data publicly at the same granularity, so equity capital flow is approximated. The difference matters: crypto order-flow is a direct measurement; equity pressure is an AI-derived estimate.
Not investment advice. Capital flow is a descriptive market context tool, not a buy or sell signal. Market data via Yahoo Finance (traditional) and Binance public API (crypto).