Order flow is a direct view of what traders are doing right now, not just what the price shows. Imbalances in order flow — sudden spikes in buys relative to sells, or vice versa — can precede visible price moves. In onchain markets, order flow is the sequence of swaps against liquidity pools, visible to anyone with a node or data feed. Many short-term strategies lean on order flow more than on candlestick patterns.
Glossary
Order flow
The real-time stream of buy and sell orders hitting a market.