Market orders
A market order executes immediately at the best available price in the order book. As long as there are matching bids, use a market order when you want to enter or exit a position right away and don't want to risk your order going unfilled.
Fee: Market orders pay the taker fee.
Note: In fast-moving markets, the price you receive on a market order may differ from the price you saw when placing it. This is called slippage.
Limit orders
A limit order rests in the order book at the price you specify. It will only execute if the market reaches your price. Use a limit order when you want to enter at a specific price and are willing to wait.
Fee: Limit orders that rest in the book and are filled later pay the maker fee, which is lower than the taker fee.
Note: A limit order is not guaranteed to fill. If the market does not reach your specified price, your order will remain open until you cancel it.
Going long vs. short
Long: You open a buy position. You profit if the price goes up, and lose if it goes down.
Short: You open a sell position. You profit if the price goes down, and lose if it goes up.
Leverage
When placing an order, you select your leverage. Higher leverage means you control a larger notional position with less margin — but smaller adverse price moves can liquidate you.
Leverage | Margin needed for $1,000 exposure | Approx. liquidation distance |
1x | $1,000 | ~100% adverse move |
2x | $500 | ~50% adverse move |
3x | $333 | ~33% adverse move |
5x | $200 | ~20% adverse move |
6x | $167 | ~17% adverse move |
Resting order constraints
If you have an open resting limit order on a position, you cannot partially or fully close that position until the resting order is cancelled. To actively manage or close a position, cancel any resting orders on it first.