Market order
Also called: market buy · market sell
Definition
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best price currently available in the order book, prioritising speed of execution over a specific price.
How market order works
When you place a market buy, the exchange matches it against the lowest asks until your size is filled. A market sell fills against the highest bids. You know the order will execute right away on a liquid pair, but you do not know the exact average price until it is done.
Market orders remove liquidity from the book, so they are charged the taker fee, which is usually higher than the maker fee. They also cross the bid-ask spread and can suffer slippage if your order is large compared with the depth available.
Use market orders when getting filled matters more than the exact price, such as closing a losing position quickly. For entries where you have time, a limit order often gives a better price and a lower fee. Some exchanges add price protection that cancels the part of a market order that would fill too far from the reference price.
Example
Suppose SOL shows a best ask of 150.00 USDT and you market-buy 40 SOL. The book has 25 SOL at 150.00 and 30 SOL at 150.10, so you fill 25 at 150.00 and 15 at 150.10. You pay 3,750.00 + 2,251.50 = 6,001.50 USDT, an average of about 150.04. With a 0.1 percent taker fee you pay another 6.00 USDT. A limit order at 150.00 might have saved the extra 1.50 and part of the fee, but might not have filled fully.
Common mistakes
- Using a market order on a low-liquidity coin and receiving a much worse average price.
- Placing a market order during a fast spike and buying the very top.
- Forgetting that market orders pay taker fees, which add up for frequent traders.
Learn and practise
Try it on an exchange
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nexu888Open OKXFAQ
Is a market order or limit order better?
A market order is better when you need to execute immediately. A limit order is better when price matters more and you can wait.
Why did my market order fill at a different price?
Because it filled against the available orders, which may be spread over several price levels, and the price can move between clicking and execution.
Do market orders pay maker or taker fees?
Taker fees, because they take liquidity from the order book.