Limit Order

A limit order instructs an exchange to buy or sell a cryptocurrency only at a specific price or better, rather than accepting whatever price the market currently offers. The trader sets the highest price they are willing to pay on a buy, or the lowest price they will accept on a sell, and the order then waits for a matching counterparty instead of executing right away.

Once submitted, a limit order sits on the exchange's order book as a visible bid or ask until it is matched, cancelled, or expires. Because it adds a resting quote to the book rather than consuming existing liquidity, most exchanges classify a filled limit order as a "maker" trade and charge a lower fee for it than for an order that fills instantly. That fee gap, often a fraction of a percent but compounding over frequent trading, is one reason active traders default to limit orders whenever timing is not urgent.

The trade-off is that execution is never guaranteed. If the market price never reaches the chosen level, the order can sit open indefinitely, and it may fill only partially if there is not enough matching volume at that price. This differs from orders built for speed, which prioritize immediate execution over price control and risk slippage during sharp moves. Traders who want a defined exit if a position moves against them often combine a limit order with a stop-loss order, or split a large limit order into smaller pieces so the full size stays hidden from the rest of the market.