Limit Order
A limit order is an instruction to buy or sell an asset only at a price you set, or at a better one. It protects you from a bad price, but it may never be executed.
How a limit order works
When you place a limit order you name two things: the amount and the limit price. A buy limit order will only fill at your limit price or lower. A sell limit order will only fill at your limit price or higher.
If the market is not at your price yet, the order waits in the exchange's order book, the public list of open buy and sell offers. It stays there until the price reaches it, until you cancel it, or until it expires according to the time setting you chose.
A simple example
Say a coin trades at 100 USDC and you only want to buy at 95. You place a buy limit order for 10 coins at 95. Nothing happens until someone is willing to sell at 95 or less. If the price dips to 94, your order fills at 95 or better. If the price climbs to 120 instead, your order just sits there unfilled.
Limit order versus market order
A market order buys or sells immediately at whatever prices are available in the order book. It gives you certainty of execution but not of price. A limit order is the opposite: certainty of price, but no guarantee of execution.
Because a resting limit order adds a new offer to the order book, many exchanges treat it as a maker order and charge a lower maker fee than for market orders, which are taker orders.
Risks and common mistakes
The main risk is missing the trade. If the price moves away from your limit, you may watch the move happen without you. Large orders can also be filled only partly, leaving you with less than you planned.
Typing errors are a classic mistake: a sell limit set far below the market price acts almost like a market order and fills immediately at the best available bids. Always double-check the price, the side (buy or sell) and the amount before you confirm.
Ask Coach about it
Coach is the AI on AtenaCrypto. It explains crypto with live market data, in plain words.
When does it make more sense to use a limit order instead of a market order?Ask Coach →
Frequently asked questions
Is a limit order better than a market order?
Neither is better in general. A limit order controls the price but may not fill; a market order fills right away but you accept the current price, including possible slippage.
Can a limit order fill at a better price than I set?
Yes. If better prices are available when your order arrives, it fills at those. The limit price is the worst price you accept, not a fixed price.
What happens to an unfilled limit order?
It stays open in the order book until it is filled, cancelled by you, or expires under its time-in-force setting, such as good-till-cancelled or a daily expiry.
Related terms
Learn it step by step
AC Learning explains these ideas in interactive lessons — the first eight sections are free.
Open AC Learning → Create a free accountAll glossary terms · Educational reference only — not investment, legal, tax or financial advice.