Limit order
Also called: limit buy · limit sell
Definition
A limit order is an instruction to buy or sell only at a specific price or better, so a buy limit fills at your price or lower and a sell limit fills at your price or higher.
This entry is shown in English.
How Limit order works
If BTC trades at 62,000 USDT and you place a buy limit at 61,000, your order rests in the order book until a seller is willing to trade at 61,000 or lower. If the price never drops there, your order never fills. You control the price, but you give up certainty of execution.
A limit order placed away from the current price adds liquidity to the book, so it is usually charged the lower maker fee. If you set a buy limit above the current ask, it fills immediately like a market order and pays the taker fee, unless you choose a post-only option.
Limit orders can be partially filled. If you want 1 BTC at 61,000 and only 0.3 BTC is offered there, you get 0.3 and the rest waits. You can choose how long the order stays active with time-in-force settings such as GTC, IOC or FOK.
Example
Suppose ETH trades at 2,600 USDT and you place a buy limit for 2 ETH at 2,500. Two days later the price dips to 2,480 and your order fills at 2,500, costing 5,000 USDT. With a maker fee of 0.08 percent you pay 4 USDT in fees. If you had used a market order at 2,600, you would have paid 5,200 USDT plus a 0.1 percent taker fee of 5.20 USDT. But if ETH had bounced at 2,520, your limit order would never have filled.
Common mistakes
- Setting a buy limit above the market price and paying taker fees by accident.
- Forgetting about open limit orders that fill days later when market conditions have changed.
- Assuming a limit order guarantees a fill when the price touches your level; there may be orders ahead of you in the queue.
Learn and practise
FAQ
What happens if my limit order does not fill?
It stays open until it fills, you cancel it, or it expires according to its time-in-force setting. No funds are spent until it executes.
Why did the price touch my limit but my order did not fill?
Other orders at the same price were placed earlier and were filled first, and the price moved away before reaching yours.
Are limit orders cheaper?
Often yes. Limit orders that rest on the book are usually charged maker fees, which are lower than taker fees on most exchanges.