Price moves up. Volume confirms the move. This is the standard reading. But volume alone does not tell you who is driving the move. A price increase accompanied by aggressive selling that is being absorbed by passive buyers looks the same on a volume bar as a price increase driven by aggressive buying. The volume number is identical. The underlying dynamic is opposite.
Cumulative Volume Delta separates these two scenarios. It tracks the difference between volume executed at the ask (aggressive buyers) and volume executed at the bid (aggressive sellers) and accumulates this difference over time. The result is a running total of net aggression.
What divergence tells you
When price rises but CVD falls, aggressive sellers are dominating the tape. Price is being held up by passive limit orders, not driven by aggressive demand. This is hidden selling pressure. The price chart looks bullish. The order flow beneath it is bearish.
The reverse is equally informative. When price drops but CVD rises, aggressive buyers are stepping in below the market. The passive selling is getting absorbed. The chart looks weak, but demand is building beneath the surface.
CVD_DIVERGENCE_EXTREME
Glass fires this event at P1 priority when the divergence between price direction and CVD direction exceeds a calibrated threshold. The event includes the symbol, divergence magnitude, duration, and the implication (hidden selling or hidden buying).
Cross-exchange CVD
A CVD divergence on a single exchange tells you about that exchange's order flow. The same divergence observed across multiple exchanges tells you about market-wide pressure.
Glass computes CVD across 22 exchange connections. When Binance, Bybit, and OKX all show falling CVD while price climbs, the hidden selling pressure is not an artifact of one venue. It is a structural condition present across the derivatives market.
Single-exchange CVD can be distorted by venue-specific activity: a large institutional order, a market maker adjusting inventory, or a single whale entering a position. Cross-exchange CVD filters these local effects and surfaces the broader dynamic.
Divergence near structural zones
CVD divergence gains significance when it occurs near loaded structural zones. If price is climbing toward a cluster of short liquidations while CVD is falling, the price move lacks aggressive buyer support. The shorts may survive. If CVD is rising into that approach, aggressive demand is pushing price toward the zone. Cascade probability increases.
Glass layers CVD data against the Heatmap Engine output. The Fast Feed event for CVD_DIVERGENCE_EXTREME includes proximity data for the nearest armed liquidation zones. This allows a trader to evaluate not just the divergence itself, but its structural context.
The gap between price and intent
Price is what happened. CVD is how it happened. The gap between the two reveals whether the move is supported by genuine aggression or sustained by passive flow that can withdraw at any moment.
Most traders watch price. Some watch volume. Few decompose volume into buyer aggression versus seller aggression across 22 exchanges simultaneously. That decomposition is what CVD divergence analysis provides, and it is the layer where hidden pressure becomes visible.