What is a Crypto limit order?
A limit order is an order to buy or sell at a price you choose, or better. Buy limit orders are executed at your specified price or lower, sell limit orders are executed at your specified price or higher.
Limit orders aren't guaranteed – they'll only exchange if the price of the crypto increases or decreases to your set limit price. If it doesn't, your order is left unfilled.
How do buy limit orders work?
You place a guaranteed ‘limit’ on how much you pay to buy a cryptocurrency – your limit price should be the maximum price you want to pay per coin. If your cryptocurrency hits your limit price or lower, exchanges happen automatically.
Example. Crypto X is currently trading at $5 per coin, but you're only interested in buying if the price goes below $4. You set your limit price to $4 per coin.
- If Crypto X's price drops from $5 to $4 or lower, your order will be executed (in full or partially) at $4 or lower
- If Crypto X's price doesn’t drop to $4, your order won’t execute
How do sell limit orders work?
With a sell limit order, a cryptocurrency is sold at your limit price or higher. Your limit price should be the minimum rate (or 'limit') at which you are willing to sell the currency.
Example. Crypto X is currently trading at $5 per coin, but you're only interested in selling if the price goes above $6 at least. You set your limit price to $6 per coin.
- If Crypto X's price rises from $5 to $6 or higher, your order will be executed (in full or partially) at $6 or higher
- If Crypto X's price doesn’t rise to $6, your order won’t execute
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