Volume: is anyone behind the move?
After this lesson you can read volume bars against their average, use volume to judge breakouts, follow OBV for signs of accumulation, and explain what VWAP measures.
Volume: move ke peeche kaun hai?
Volume batata hai ke kisi muddat mein kitna trade hua. Har trade mein ek buyer aur ek seller hota hai, is liye volume direction nahi, participation batata hai. Har bar ko pichle 20 bars ki average se compare karein. Average se 1.5 se 2 guna volume par breakout zyada qabil-e-bharosa hai; aadhe volume par breakout aksar fail ho jata hai, jaise Usman ke saath hua.
OBV har up day ka volume jorta aur har down day ka volume ghata deta hai. Number ahem nahi, us ka rukh ahem hai. Agar price naya high banaye aur OBV na banaye, to high ke peeche kam support hai. VWAP woh average price hai jo logon ne asal mein ada ki, volume ke hisaab se weighted. Crypto mein har exchange ka volume alag hota hai, aur kuch exchanges jhoota volume bhi dikhate hain.
Quran 4:29 baahmi razamandi se tijarat ki ijazat deta hai aur batil tareeqay se maal khane se rokta hai. Asli volume hazaron razamand saudon ka majmua hai. Wash trading aur pump-and-dump groups jhoota volume bana kar logon ko mehngay daamon bechte hain. Yeh dhoka hai. Jahan volume mashkook lage, wahan se door rahein aur aise group ka hissa kabhi na banein.
- Volume participation dikhata hai, direction nahi.
- Kam volume par breakout par shak karein.
- Jhoota volume dhoka hai; aise coins aur groups se door rahein.
Poora sabaq neeche English mein hai. Quiz English mein hai; asaan alfaaz mein.
Usman works in Dubai and sends money home to his family in Jhelum every month. One evening he saw a small coin jump 18% through a resistance zone and put AED 1,000 into it. He did not look at the volume bar under the candle. It was less than half the usual size. Two days later the coin was back below the zone and Usman was down 14%. A move without participation is like a shop with a sale banner and no customers.
What volume tells you
Volume is the amount traded in a period: the number of shares on PSX, the number of coins on a crypto exchange. Every unit traded has a buyer and a seller, so volume does not show who 'won'. It shows how much participation stood behind the move. A move on high volume means many people acted at those prices. A move on thin volume can reverse easily, because few people committed to it.
Compare each bar with an average, usually of the last 20 bars. A breakout on 1.5 to 2 times average volume is more believable than one on half the average. Very high volume after a long fall can mark capitulation, when the last worried holders give up. Very high volume after a long rise can mark a climax, when late buyers rush in.
- Rising price, rising volume: participation supports the move.
- Rising price, falling volume: the move may be tiring.
- Breakout on low volume: treat it with suspicion.
- Huge spike after a long trend: possible exhaustion, not a fresh start.
OBV: keeping a running score
On-Balance Volume (OBV) adds the day's volume when price closes up and subtracts it when price closes down. The number itself means nothing; its direction matters. If price is flat but OBV is rising, more volume is flowing on up days, which many read as quiet accumulation. If price makes a new high but OBV does not, the new high has thinner support. OBV can mislead too: one enormous day can dominate it for weeks.
VWAP: the average price people actually paid
VWAP, the volume-weighted average price, is the average price of all trading in a period, weighted by how much traded at each price. On intraday charts it usually resets each day. Price above VWAP means today's buyers are, on average, in profit; below it, they are under water. Large investors often judge their own fills against VWAP. For daily-chart investors it is mostly context, not a decision tool.
A warning for crypto: volume is reported per exchange, and some exchanges have inflated their numbers with wash trading, where the same party buys and sells to itself. Prefer volume from large, reputable exchanges, and be most careful with small coins.
Worked example: relative volume, OBV and VWAP
Relative volume: suppose a coin's 20-day average volume is 4,000,000 units and breakout-day volume is 1,800,000. Relative volume = 1,800,000 / 4,000,000 = 0.45x, less than half of normal. A breakout on 7,200,000 would be 1.8x.
OBV over five days, starting at 0: Day 1 up on 1,000, OBV 1,000. Day 2 down on 400, OBV 600. Day 3 up on 900, OBV 1,500. Day 4 down on 300, OBV 1,200. Day 5 up on 1,100, OBV 2,300. Up days carry more volume, so OBV rises.
VWAP: 2 coins trade at $100, 5 at $102 and 3 at $98. VWAP = (2 x 100 + 5 x 102 + 3 x 98) / 10 = (200 + 510 + 294) / 10 = $100.40. The plain average of the three prices is $100, but more volume traded at $102, which pulls VWAP up.
Quran 4:29 forbids consuming one another's wealth unjustly and permits trade by mutual consent. Every real volume bar is thousands of such consents: one person willing to sell, another willing to buy. Fake volume is the opposite. Wash trading and coordinated pump-and-dump groups create the look of interest so that others will buy from them at inflated prices. That is deception, and taking wealth through deception is what this verse forbids. When volume looks suspicious, the safest response is to stay away, and never to join in.
Education, not a fatwa. Where scholars differ, we say so. See what scholars say.
Trusting a breakout without checking the volume under it. Low-volume breakouts in small coins are often engineered, and the people who buy the 'breakout' become the exit for those who pushed it. The cost is buying near the top of a move that never had a real crowd behind it.
Open the BTC daily chart with volume, OBV and VWAP. Find the last three times price closed above a resistance zone. For each, compare breakout volume with the 20 bars before it: above or below average? Did the breakout hold for the next five days? Then check whether OBV made a new high together with price at the most recent peak.
Check volume on BTC →Key takeaways
- Volume shows participation, not direction; compare each bar with its recent average.
- Breakouts on above-average volume are more believable, and low-volume breakouts often fail.
- OBV tracks whether volume flows on up days or down days, and VWAP shows the average price people actually paid.
Check yourself
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Barqish is an educational platform. Nothing here is financial advice or an instruction to buy or sell, and screening is not a fatwa. Spot ownership only: no leverage, no short selling. Updated 30 September 2026.