Bid Ask Spread

Description

Bid-Ask Spread measures the difference between the best bid and best ask prices for a trading pair. It returns both:

  • The absolute spread (in quote currency)
  • The spread as a percentage of the mid-price

This dual representation allows for cross-pair and cross-exchange comparison of liquidity conditions.


Details

This metric provides a view of market tightness and liquidity fragmentation. By analyzing how wide or narrow the spread is, traders can quickly identify:

  • The most liquid exchange for a given asset
  • Which trading pairs or quote currencies offer the best execution conditions

The percentage spread is especially useful when comparing instruments with different quote currencies (e.g., BTC-USDT vs. BTC-USD vs. BTC-EUR), as it normalizes price scale effects.


API Endpoints

/spot-analytics-information-order-book-depth

/spot/analytics/bid-ask-spread



Availability

We cover major tokens such as BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and USDT. Please use the information endpoint to find all coverage and exact trading pairs.

ExchangeHistory
Binance2024-01-01
Binance.us2023-05-31
GDAX (Coinbase)2024-01-01
Huobi2023-11-20
Kraken2023-08-27
Okex (OKX)2024-01-01


Frequently Asked Questions

How is the absolute spread calculated?

  • spread = bestAskPrice − bestBidPrice
  • This is returned in the quote currency of the pair.

What does spreadPercent represent?

  • It’s the absolute spread divided by the mid-price:
  • spreadPercent = (spread / midPrice) × 100
  • This normalizes spread data across different pairs.

How can I compare liquidity across exchanges?

  • Leave the exchange parameter blank to return spread data across all supported exchanges for the same pair. You can then quickly identify the exchange with the tightest spread.

What does fuzzyMatch do?

  • If fuzzyMatch = true, the endpoint returns all trading pairs related to an underlying asset. For example, searching for btc_usd with fuzzy matching would return BTC-USDT, BTC-ETH, BTC-EUR, etc.