Buy-side liquidity, or BSL, is the pool of buy orders resting above the market. It sounds counter-intuitive, but the buy orders here are mostly stop losses from short sellers and breakout buy stops. When price rises into them, they trigger and become buying pressure.
How to spot it
Look for swing highs and equal highs. A single old high holds some liquidity; two or more highs at roughly the same price form a stronger pool because traders keep placing stops just above the obvious resistance. The flatter and more obvious the highs, the more orders likely sit above them.
How SMC traders use it
BSL is often a target, not an entry. In a bearish scenario, price may rally into buy-side liquidity to fill large sell orders before turning down. Marking BSL tells you where an up-move might be running out of fuel — but a run into liquidity is not automatically a reversal, so wait for confirmation.
Buy-side liquidity sits above highs — mostly short stops and breakout buys that price may run before reversing down.