What the chart shows
Stops collect just beyond obvious highs and lows: buy stops above highs (BSL, buy-side liquidity) and sell stops below lows (SSL). The terminal draws each level as a line and, once price trades through it, turns it into a dashed line with a ×.
On 23 October XRP fell in steps, and each step took out the lows before it: the dashed SSL × lines on the left. On 24 October the move ran one more time below the recent lows to about 1.2513 and then reversed sharply. A few candles later the teal MSS label shows the first break of a lower high: the sweep had become a turn. From there XRP worked higher in steps, breaking structure (BOS) and sweeping small highs on the way, until the end of the chart.
At the top right, three solid blue BSL lines between about 1.325 and 1.328 are still untouched. In ICT terms they are the next obvious draw on liquidity above price; that is a place to watch, not a forecast.
The rule in short
- A sweep is a quick run beyond a high or low that fails to hold: price closes back inside within a few candles.
- A sweep on its own is not a trade. ICT traders wait for the shift that follows (an MSS, often with a fair value gap) before looking for an entry.
- Liquidity that is still resting (solid lines) is a likely target; liquidity already taken is not.
What is different on crypto
Crypto runs on leverage, and long or short liquidations add fuel to sweeps: a run below a low can be faster and deeper than on gold or forex. Size stops for that, check where your own liquidation price sits with the crypto profit calculator, and practise the pattern in the free sweep round of the Chart Challenge.
Try it on the chart
Open XRPUSD in ICC Charts, pick the 1h chart and switch on the same layer in the ICT menu. New accounts get the first 14 days free.
Trading a prop firm challenge?
Some prop firms also offer crypto CFDs with daily loss and drawdown limits; size every trade from its stop loss with the crypto position size calculator.
FXIFY Partner link offers funded trading challenges. We may earn a commission if you buy through it. Prop firm challenges are paid evaluations; most traders don't pass. Trade only what you can afford to lose.
FXIFYQPZ8R2 Use it at checkout via our link.Questions
What is a liquidity sweep in crypto?
A quick move beyond an obvious high or low that takes the stops resting there and then fails, closing back inside the range within a few candles.
Is every sweep a reversal?
No. Many sweeps are followed by more of the same move. ICT traders wait for a market structure shift after the sweep before treating it as a turn.
Charts: crypto CFD candles of a broker's MT5 demo feed, shown in the ICC Charts web terminal. ICC Charts is not affiliated with Inner Circle Trader; the lessons explain the concepts in our own words. Crypto trading with leverage carries a high risk of losing money; this is education, not financial advice and not a signal.