Reddit Discussion Analysis: Volume's Utility in Trading Strategies

The analysis examines a 2025-12-07 UTC Reddit thread [0] where the OP claims volume is useless in trading, asserting it lags price action and is driven by price rather than the reverse. Participants responded with varied perspectives, revealing a spectrum of beliefs:

• The high-consensus view (score 96) positions volume as a confirmatory tool: low-volume breakouts are suspicious due to lack of market commitment, while high-volume breakouts indicate strong market conviction [0]. This aligns with CoinDesk’s analysis of Chainlink (LINK), where a triple-average volume spike confirmed a breakout pattern [1].
• A participant noted the nuanced two-way interplay between volume and price, which they found understandable only after extensive Depth of Market (DOM)/tape reading [0].
• Less prevalent views included claims of volume manipulation (citing Mike Webster), irrelevance when using price action alone, volume’s critical role in confirming conviction (tied to VWAP and climactic volume), and the utility of Volume-at-Price (VAP) over time-based volume [0]. Investopedia supports VAP’s effectiveness in identifying key support/resistance levels [2].

1. The trading community remains divided on volume’s utility, with the majority emphasizing its contextual value (e.g., breakout confirmation) rather than universal applicability.
2. Volume’s utility is methodology-dependent: it is widely accepted as a confirmatory indicator for price moves but has limited predictive value, aligning with longstanding technical analysis principles [1][2].
3. Volume-at-Price (VAP) offers a distinct alternative to time-based volume, focusing on trading activity at specific price levels rather than over time, potentially filling gaps in traditional volume analysis [2].

• Risks
  : Traders may dismiss volume entirely (as the OP did) without considering its confirmatory role, potentially leading to unvalidated or high-risk trades [0].
• Opportunities
  : Combining VAP with time-based volume could provide a more comprehensive view of market activity, enhancing the effectiveness of trading strategies [2].

• OP’s core argument: Volume lags price and is driven by price, making it useless in trading [0].
• High-consensus view: Volume is a confirmatory tool for validating breakouts and market conviction [0][1].
• External support: CoinDesk (LINK breakout analysis) and Investopedia (VAP utility) validate volume’s confirmatory role [1][2].
• Alternative perspective: Volume-at-Price is more useful than time-based volume for identifying support/resistance levels [0][2].