Order Book Cleansing

Action

Order book cleansing represents a deliberate series of trades executed to modify the visible depth of an exchange’s order book, often preceding larger institutional orders. This action aims to minimize market impact by absorbing liquidity or creating the illusion of supply or demand, influencing short-term price discovery. Sophisticated participants employ this technique to obscure their trading intent and reduce adverse selection costs, particularly within cryptocurrency and derivatives markets. The effectiveness of this action is contingent on market microstructure and the prevailing level of algorithmic trading activity.