When you buy or sell crypto, you don't always have to accept the current market price. You can choose a market order to trade at the best available price or a limit order to set the price you're willing to accept. This guide explains order books, the two order types, how each type works, and how to get started.
An order book is a list of orders to buy and sell a cryptocurrency on an exchange. It shows the prices traders are willing to accept and the amounts they want to trade. Buyers make offers, sellers name their prices and trades happen when those prices match.
An order book has two sides:
The highest bid is the most a buyer currently offers. The lowest ask is the cheapest price at which someone is currently willing to sell. The difference between these two prices is called the bid-ask spread.
Let’s say a cryptocurrency has the following prices:
Price | |
Lowest asking price | $100.20 |
Highest bidding price | $100.00 |
Bid-ask spread | $0.20 |
If you want to buy immediately, you’d look at the $100.20 asking price. If you want to sell immediately, you’d look at the $100 bidding price.
The spread isn’t fixed. It can change as traders place, cancel or complete orders. A narrow spread often points to an active market, while a wider spread can suggest lower liquidity or more uncertainty about the price.
See our guide on liquidity in crypto markets
Market depth shows how much crypto is available to buy or sell at different prices. Here’s an example of how that works:
Let’s say you're buying 10 units of a cryptocurrency with the following order book: 4 units at $100 each and 6 units at $101 each. If you place the order, you’d pay $1,006, which is an average of $100.60 per unit (before fees). Although the lowest asking price was $100, you paid more because there wasn't enough liquidity at that level.
A crypto market order is an instruction to buy or sell a cryptocurrency immediately at the best available price. So, instead of choosing a specific price, you're telling the exchange to complete the trade using available orders in the order book.
Market orders prioritize execution speed, but the final price may be different from what you saw when you placed the order.
Let's say Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $80,000 and you place a market order to buy 0.1 BTC. The exchange will match your order with available sellers, starting with the lowest asking price.
If there's enough BTC available at that price, the order can be filled right away. If not, the exchange may need to buy from other sellers at higher prices, so you could end up paying more than expected.
The same goes for selling. A market sell order matches with the highest available bids first, potentially moving to lower prices if there aren't enough buyers.
Slippage happens when a trade executes at a different price from the one you see when you place the order. This goes both ways – so, your order could fill at a better or worse price. Slippage can sometimes be more noticeable during sharp price movements or when you’re trading larger amounts.
A crypto limit order is an instruction to buy or sell cryptocurrency at a specified price or better. In other words, it places a limit on the price you're willing to accept. This could give you more control over the execution price, but the trade-off is that your order might never get filled.
There are two main types of limit orders:
Imagine 1 BTC is trading at $80,000, but you're only willing to buy if the price falls to $78,000. You could place a buy limit order at $78,000. If there’s a matching seller at that price or lower, your order will be executed. If there isn’t, your order waits.
Now imagine you already own 1 BTC and want to sell it at no less than $85,000. You could place your sell limit order at $85,000 and it would only execute at that price (or higher).
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Market order | Limit order | |
Execution speed | Immediate | Immediate or delayed |
Price control | No specified price limit | Executes at the set price or better |
Execution | Subject to available liquidity and platform rules | Not guaranteed |
Slippage | Could execute at a different price than expected | Can’t execute at a worse price than the specified limit |
Fees | Taker fees on an exchange | Maker or taker fees, depending on execution |
Partial fills | Possible, with the remainder potentially canceled | Possible on supporting exchanges |
Main trade-off | Less control over the execution price | Risk of remaining unfilled |
A partial fill happens when only part of an order executes. For example, say you place a limit order to buy 5 ETH at $2,500, but only 2 ETH are available at that price. An exchange that supports partial fills will allow you to buy the 2 ETH while you wait for the remaining 3 ETH to match your order. If you don’t want to wait, the unfilled amount can sometimes be canceled.
Crypto exchanges may charge different fees depending on how your order is filled. These are called maker fees and taker fees.
A maker fee is charged when your order adds liquidity to the market. Here’s an example. Say ETH is trading at $2,500, but you only want to buy it at $2,300. You’d place a limit order at that price and wait for a seller to match it. Because your order adds another buying opportunity to the order book, you're considered a maker when it executes.
A taker fee is charged when your order matches an existing order on the exchange. For example, if you place a market order to buy Bitcoin, you're accepting the best available offers from sellers. This makes you a taker.
Does that mean all market orders have taker fees and all limit orders have maker fees? Not quite. A limit order can also incur taker fees if it matches an existing order immediately, rather than waiting in the order book.
Deciding to use a market order or a limit order comes down to whether you want to complete a trade quickly or get a particular price. Neither order type is necessarily better – both have their trade-offs.
There are different ways to buy and sell cryptocurrency through the Crypto.com App and Crypto.com Exchange.
The App can provide a straightforward experience, including one-time orders and a separate limit order feature. The Exchange provides more detailed order book information and trading tools.
Your order will stay open while it waits for the execution conditions you set. Whatever funds or crypto you allocate to an open limit order are reserved and you can’t use them for other transactions while the order is waiting to be filled.
Please take note: Most limit orders in the Crypto.com App don't have a fixed expiry date, but orders funded by credit or debit card expire after 30 days if they aren’t filled.
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You can use ‘Order History’ to review completed, canceled or expired orders.
You can monitor your unfilled and partially filled orders under ‘Open Orders’. Try to keep an eye on them, because they can execute when market conditions change.
Please take note: If you’re using the desktop version of Exchange, you can make changes to certain limit orders. If you’re using the Exchange app, you have to cancel your unfilled orders and place a new one (you can’t amend them).
A market order lets you buy or sell crypto at the best available price, with the aim of completing the trade immediately. A limit order lets you set the highest price you're willing to pay or the lowest price you'll accept when selling. With a limit order, the trade may not happen, though.
Yes, if the market never reaches your chosen price, your order may stay open until you cancel it or it expires. Even if the price reaches your target, there needs to be enough crypto available to fill your order.
Yes, it can. For example, if you place a buy limit order for Bitcoin at $82,000 and the current price is $80,000, your order could execute straight away. You'd pay the best available price, up to your $82,000 limit.
This is called slippage. Crypto prices can change between placing an order and having it filled. If there isn't enough crypto available at the price you saw, your order may also be filled at different prices. Slippage can work in your favor or against you.
Not always. Market orders incur taker fees on exchanges, while limit orders may qualify for lower maker fees. However, if your limit order matches an existing order immediately, you could still pay taker fees. The exact charges depend on the exchange.
Yes, depending on the platform. For example, if you place an order to buy 5 ETH but only 2 ETH are available at your price, you can buy those 2 ETH while the rest of your order stays open. Crypto.com Exchange supports partial fills, but the Crypto.com App's Limit Order feature doesn't.
Once your cancellation is confirmed, the order won't execute. Any funds or crypto reserved for it will become available again, subject to the platform's processing rules. If part of the order has already been filled, that portion of the trade can't be canceled.
Important information: This is informational content sponsored by Crypto.com and should not be considered as investment advice. Trading cryptocurrencies carries risks, such as price volatility and market risks. Past performance may not indicate future results. There's no assurance of future profitability. Before deciding to trade cryptocurrencies, consider your risk appetite.
Services, features and other benefits referenced in this article may be subject to eligibility requirements, token holdings, and may change at the discretion of Crypto.com.
