Market Order

Market orders are the simplest order type: you tell the exchange "buy/sell right now at whatever price is available." The exchange matches your order against the best available limit orders in the order book.

**How market orders work:** - A market buy order takes the lowest available asks in the order book - A market sell order takes the highest available bids - If your order is large relative to available liquidity, it "walks up" the order book, filling at progressively worse prices

**Slippage:** Slippage is the difference between the expected price and the actual fill price. For Bitcoin (highly liquid), slippage on a $10,000 market order is typically <0.01%. For a low-cap altcoin with $200,000 daily volume, a $50,000 market buy could cause 5–15% slippage.

**When to use market orders:** - When execution speed is critical (during fast-moving markets or emergency exits) - When the asset is highly liquid and slippage will be minimal - When entry/exit is time-sensitive (news events, liquidation risk)

**When to avoid market orders:** - On low-liquidity altcoins (use limit orders) - During very low-volume periods (weekends, overnight in your timezone) - For very large position sizes relative to daily volume

**Taker fees:** Market orders are always taker orders — they remove liquidity from the order book. Exchanges typically charge higher fees for taker orders (0.04–0.10%) than maker (limit) orders (0–0.03%).