Bitcoin liquidity can deteriorate rapidly under market stress, BitGo says
BTGO•BitGo’s analysis found bitcoin remains the most liquid digital asset, but market stress can rapidly reduce market depth and raise execution costs. As of August 2026, bitcoin’s spot-to-derivatives volume ratio was approximately 0.074, with derivatives volume roughly 13 times spot volume.
1. Liquidity under stress
BitGo’s analysis found that exchange fragmentation and liquidation cascades can drain usable bitcoin liquidity, making high reported trading volume an unreliable indicator of execution quality. It recommends that institutions model slippage across venues, stress-test execution and consider OTC desks when orders represent a meaningful share of near-market exchange depth.
