Guide
Solana liquidation heatmap explained
A Solana liquidation heatmap marks the prices where leveraged SOL futures positions would be closed by force. Bright bands below the price are longs, bright bands above it are shorts. None of it is seen directly in the market: every liquidation heatmap is a model built from open interest and an assumption about leverage. This guide explains how that model works for SOL, how far each leverage sits from the entry price, and how to read the map next to the real order book.
What the map shows
SOL perpetual futures let traders hold positions much larger than their margin. If the price moves against a position by roughly one divided by its leverage, the exchange closes it with a market order: a liquidation. A long is closed by selling, a short by buying back. A liquidation heatmap estimates where those forced orders would sit:
- Below the price (green on our map): longs that would be sold if SOL falls there.
- Above the price (violet): shorts that would be bought back if SOL rises there.
- Brightness: the estimated dollar value at that price. Brighter means more.
Where SOL positions get liquidated
The distance to a liquidation depends almost entirely on leverage, not on the coin. For a position opened at 100 USD:
| Leverage | Move that liquidates | Long opened at 100.00 | Short opened at 100.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5× | 19.5 % | 80.50 | 119.50 |
| 10× | 9.5 % | 90.50 | 109.50 |
| 25× | 3.5 % | 96.50 | 103.50 |
| 50× | 1.5 % | 98.50 | 101.50 |
| 100× | 0.5 % | 99.50 | 100.50 |
Simplified: entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin) for a long, entry × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance margin) for a short, with a 0.5 % maintenance margin and no fees or added margin. Exchanges use tiered margins, so real prices differ slightly. 100 USD is a round example, not a price level.
The bands nearest the price therefore come from high leverage and the distant ones from low leverage. A 100× position survives only a 50-cent move from 100 USD; a 5× position survives a move of almost 20 dollars. Because SOL tends to move with a higher beta than Bitcoin, a given percentage distance is reached more often, so the high-leverage bands near the price are created and wiped out again all the time, and clusters tend to sit closer to the price in percentage terms.
How our SOL heatmap is built
- Every 5 minutes we add up open interest in the SOL USDT perpetuals on Binance, Bybit and OKX.
- When open interest rises, new positions were opened at that window's average price. We split them into longs and shorts by the share of aggressive buying and selling on Binance in the same window.
- Each new position is spread over the leverage mix in the FAQ below and gets a liquidation price for each leverage.
- When open interest falls, all open levels shrink by the same share. When price trades through a level, it is removed.
- The page shows the result with zoom and pan, together with the real liquidations, so you can see which bands were hit.
Every step is an assumption: some traders add margin, some are hedged elsewhere, and the leverage mix is a guess. That is why the map is checked against the real SOL liquidations and the score is printed on the page. The model is the same for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, so the three maps can be compared directly.
What is different about Solana
- Busy around the clock. SOL perpetuals trade 24 hours a day and are among the most traded perpetual futures after BTC and ETH, so open interest, and with it the map, keeps changing at weekends too.
- A thinner book. The SOL order book usually holds less dollar value near the price than the Bitcoin book. When a band of forced orders is triggered, there may be less resting liquidity to absorb it. Check what is actually resting there in Solana Depth.
- Options do not liquidate. SOL options trade on Deribit, where they are settled in USDC, and on OKX and Bybit. Option positions are not liquidated like futures; their pressure points are described by SOL max pain and the gamma levels by strike.
How to read it
- Bands are estimates, not orders. Nothing sits in the order book at a liquidation level until it is triggered. To see orders that are really there, use the Solana order book heatmap; the difference is explained in liquidation heatmap vs order book heatmap.
- Look at the real liquidations next to it. The map can draw the real liquidations on top, so you can see which bands were actually hit.
- Check funding and open interest. Rising open interest with high funding means many new leveraged longs, which is what fills the bands below the price: SOL funding rate, SOL open interest and the SOL long/short ratio.
See where SOL liquidations sit right now.The SOL liquidation heatmap is rebuilt every 5 minutes and checked against real liquidations. Free, no sign-up.
Open the SOL liquidation heatmapCommon questions
Is there a free Solana liquidation heatmap?
Yes. The Swiftedge SOL liquidation heatmap is free, needs no sign-up and is rebuilt every 5 minutes from open interest on Binance, Bybit and OKX.
How accurate is a SOL liquidation heatmap?
It is an estimate. Exchanges do not publish where each position would be liquidated, so every map rests on assumptions. Ours compares the bands with the liquidations that really happened and shows that check on the page, so you can judge it yourself.
What leverage does the map assume?
5x (10 %), 10x (25 %), 25x (30 %), 50x (25 %) and 100x (10 %) of new positions, with a 0.5 % maintenance margin. Real leverage is not public, so this is an assumption, shown openly. It is the same mix as on the Bitcoin and Ethereum maps.
Why do bands disappear?
When price trades through a band, the positions there would have been liquidated, so the band is removed. When open interest falls, all bands shrink by the same share, because positions were closed.
Does SOL move to the brightest band?
The map shows where forced orders could appear, not where price will go. We do not claim bands act as magnets, and nothing on this page is a forecast or advice.
Where can I see real SOL liquidations?
On Solana liquidations today, and live on the chart in Swiftedge Depth for SOL with the Liquidations indicator.