Bitcoin, ether perpetual volumes on Kalshi are dominated by an unusual, repetitive trade, data shows

On the ether market, trades valued within $2 of $5,499 accounted for $7.7 million, or 57%, of the $13.5 million in transactions CoinDesk analyzed from Sept. 17 through Sept. 20. On bitcoin, two recurring trade sizes worth about $2,500 and $5,000 accounted for 54% of the $8.5 million data sampled over the same period.

Volume is one of the first metrics traders use to judge how active and liquid a market is — in other words, whether they can buy or sell without significantly moving the price.

High volume can also make a new market appear more widely used. So if a large share of that activity comes from the same recurring trade sizes, understanding who or what is generating those trades is important for assessing what the volume actually represents.