Most LP ranges fail for one reason: the market is no longer behaving like a range market. Volatility expansion changes the distribution of moves, and ranges stop being “containers.” They become speed bumps.
You can widen a range, but if the regime is expansion with persistence, widening often only delays failure. The regime is the driver.
Compression creates repeated trading inside a band. This sustains time-in-range and supports fee accrual. It is not “low volatility” in a boring sense. It is volatility that stays inside a structure.
In expansion, edges are touched more frequently and breaks are more violent. That has two consequences: fee income becomes intermittent, and inventory drift accelerates.
When price repeatedly touches or crosses the boundary, it is not just “testing.” It is consuming the range’s ability to function. Too many touches compress the remaining useful time, even if the range is technically still “alive.”
In expansion, the market stops renting your range. It starts driving through it.