Liquidity and depth
What sits behind a price on Solana: pool reserves, bonding-curve arithmetic, depth at a given size, and what changes when a token moves venue.
What this area is about
Price on Solana is not quoted by a market maker with an opinion. It is computed by a program from balances it holds. A constant-product pool solves for the output that keeps the product of its two reserves intact. A bonding curve applies a schedule that maps supply to price. In both cases the number on your screen is arithmetic over a state that anyone can read.
Depth is the practical consequence of that state. It answers a different question from price: not what one token costs, but what your order will cost. Two pairs can quote the same price and fill a moderate order at wildly different levels, because depth depends on reserves and reserves are rarely visible in a price chart.
These notes cover reading the state directly, comparing the two liquidity structures a Solana token typically passes through, working out impact before submitting an order, and understanding what a migration resets. Depth is also the reason two identical volume figures can describe completely different markets, which is why this area sits next to market structure rather than underneath it.
Where to start
If you have never opened a pool account, start with the pool reading guide. If you are trying to work out why a fill came back worse than the quote, start with the price-impact note. If the token you are watching has just left a launch curve, the graduation note is the relevant one.
Field notes in this area
- 03 Curve Liquidity vs Pool Liquidity A bonding curve and a constant-product pool both quote a price, but their depth profiles differ in shape, in ownership and in what a single buy does to them.
- 04 Reading a Solana Liquidity Pool Reserves, LP supply, fee tier and depth at one, two and five percent — a step-by-step reading of a pool account, plus an eight-point red-flag checklist.
- 06 Price Impact on Thin Solana Pairs Why a small pool turns an ordinary order into a bad fill, how the impact curve bends, and what order splitting can and cannot recover.
- 10 Liquidity After Graduation What migration actually moves, how depth resets on the new venue, and why volume attribution splits across two markets in the first hour.