The Orbit Velocity Indicator: How It Works and How to Use It

What Is Velocity?

Velocity is a momentum indicator developed for the Orbit market scanner. It measures the rate of price change for any given asset relative to that asset historical volatility — giving you a normalized signal that is comparable across assets with very different price behaviors.

A high-cap, low-volatility asset like a tokenized T-bill and a small-cap, high-volatility AI token cannot be meaningfully compared using raw price change percentages. A 2% move in USDY is extraordinary. A 2% move in a newly launched AI token is noise.

Velocity normalizes these differences by expressing price change as a multiple of typical price change — giving you a signal that is meaningful regardless of the asset category.

The Calculation

Velocity is calculated using a rolling window of price data. The current price change is divided by the historical standard deviation of price changes for the same asset, producing a z-score that indicates how unusual the current movement is relative to historical norms.

A Velocity score of 50 means the current movement is at the 50th percentile of historical movements — roughly average. A Velocity score of 100 means the movement is at or near the historical extreme — a significant outlier that warrants attention.

How to Use Velocity in Practice

The most effective use of the Velocity indicator is as an early warning system for emerging price moves.

When an asset is in the Rising column of Orbit with a Velocity score above 75, it indicates that the current upward move is significantly stronger than typical for that asset. This is often an early signal of a trend that has not yet been widely noticed.

Conversely, a Falling asset with a high Velocity score indicates a breakdown that is unusually severe — potentially a signal to exit existing positions or avoid new entries until the selling pressure normalizes.

The Velocity threshold filter in Orbit allows traders to set a minimum Velocity score, filtering out low-momentum assets and focusing attention on the situations with the most significant signals.

The Sector Context

Velocity signals are most powerful when considered within the sector context. An AI token with a Velocity score of 90 that is the only rising asset in its sector is a different signal than the same score when the entire AI sector is rising.

The Terminal One Intelligence sector heatmap provides this context, allowing traders to distinguish between single-asset moves (idiosyncratic news or liquidity events) and sector-wide moves (macro or narrative driven).