Advanced Order Types

[Estimated reading time: 5 minutes]

1. Take-profit and stop-loss

Take-profit and stop-loss orders allow you to preset a trigger price and an order price. Once the market price reaches the trigger price, a limit order at the preset price or a market order will be automatically placed. This allows you to lock in profits or limit potential losses without constantly monitoring the market.

Take a take-profit sell order as an example: Suppose you buy BTC at $900 and want to take profit when the price rises to $1000. You can set the trigger price to $1000 and the order price to $950. The order price should not be too close to the trigger price to increase the likelihood of execution. When the price rises to $1000, the take-profit order will be triggered, and a limit sell order will be placed at $950. Alternatively, if you select a market order, it will be submitted for execution at the best available market price.

Similarly, if you want to limit your losses when the price falls to $800, you can set the trigger price to $800 and the order price to $750. For a sell order, the order price should be sufficiently below the trigger price to increase the likelihood of execution. When the price falls to $800, the stop-loss order will be triggered, and a limit sell order will be placed at $750.

 

2. Trailing stop

A trailing stop allows you to place an order in advance based on market movements. Once activated, the order tracks the highest or lowest price reached and automatically places a limit or market order when the price pulls back or rebounds by a specified percentage.

The order has two key parameters: The activation price is optional. If it is not set, the last price at the time the order is placed will be used by default. The order enters tracking mode only after the market price reaches or crosses the activation price. The trail variance determines when the order is triggered. Even after the activation price is reached, the order will not be placed until the price rebounds from its lowest level or pulls back from its highest level by the specified percentage. The trail variance can be set between 0.01% and 30%.

 

Scenario 1: Buy order with an activation price

Suppose the current price is $1700. You create a trailing stop buy order with an activation price of $1500 (below the current price), a trail variance of 10%, and a limit price of $1450. After creation, the order remains pending until the price falls to $1500, at which point it enters tracking mode.

If the price continues falling to $1400 (the lowest price during the tracking period) before rebounding, a limit buy order will be placed at $1450 once the rebound reaches 10%, or when the price rises to $1400 × (1 + 10%) = $1540. If no limit price is set, a market order will be placed instead for immediate execution at the best available market price.

If the price does not reach the activation price of $1500, the order will not enter tracking mode, even if the market subsequently rebounds.

 

Scenario 2: Sell order with an activation price

Suppose the current price is $2000. You create a trailing stop sell order with an activation price of $3000 (above the current price), a trail variance of 10%, and a limit price of $3100. When the price rises to $3000, the order enters tracking mode.

If the price continues rising to $3200 (the highest price during the tracking period) before pulling back, a limit sell order will be placed at $3100 once the pullback reaches 10%, or when the price falls to $3200 × (1 − 10%) = $2880.Unlike a buy order, which tracks rebounds from the lowest price, a sell order tracks pullbacks from the highest price during the tracking period.

 

Scenario 3: No activation price

If you do not set an activation price when creating a trailing stop, the last price at the time of order placement will be used as the activation price by default, and the order will immediately enter tracking mode.

For example, suppose the price is $1700 when you place a trailing stop buy order with a trail variance of 5%.

If the price subsequently falls to $1600 (the lowest price during the tracking period) before rebounding, the order will be placed at the preset price once the rebound reaches 5%, or when the price rises to $1680, without waiting for any additional activation condition.

 

3. Trigger order

A trigger order allows traders to preset a target trigger price. A preset limit or market order is automatically placed only when the market price reaches the trigger price. The trigger price can be above or below the current price, making this order type suitable for traders who cannot monitor the market in real time but want to automatically enter or exit a position once the market reaches a certain level.

For example, if the current market price is $100, you can set the trigger price to $90 (below the current price) or $110 (above the current price). Once the price falls to $90 or rises to $110, the corresponding trigger order will be activated, and a market or limit order will be placed.

 

4. OCO

An OCO (one-cancels-the-other) order consists of one limit order and one trigger order. When either order is triggered or executed, the other is automatically canceled. If either order is manually canceled, the other will also be automatically canceled.This order type helps users manage potential profits and losses simultaneously while seeking better execution prices.

Take a buy OCO order as an example: Suppose the current price is $2000. You can set a buy stop order with a trigger price of $3000 (above the current price) and a limit buy order at $1500 (below the current price). If the price rises to $3000, the buy stop order is triggered, and a limit or market order is placed, while the limit buy order at $1500 is canceled. Conversely, if the price falls to $1500 or below and the limit buy order is executed, the buy stop order is canceled.

The same logic applies to sell orders. For example, the trigger price of a stop-loss order should be below the current price, while the limit price of a take-profit order should be above it. When a price decline triggers the stop-loss order, the take-profit order is automatically canceled. When a price increase results in the execution of the take-profit order, the stop-loss order is automatically canceled.

 

5. TWAP

A TWAP (time-weighted average price) order is a strategy-based order that allows users to split a large order into multiple smaller sub-orders and place them sequentially at specified intervals over a period. The basic parameters include the total quantity, number of sub-orders, and order placement frequency. Once configured, the system automatically places one sub-order every N seconds from the time the strategy starts until the entire quantity is executed or the strategy is terminated.

Sub-orders are market orders by default to increase the likelihood of execution. Under Advanced settings, you can change the sub-orders to limit orders and configure two optional controls: Trigger price — The strategy starts executing only when the market price reaches this price. Until then, it remains pending. Termination price — The strategy stops immediately if the market moves in the opposite direction and reaches this price. No further orders will be placed for the remaining quantity.

For limit sub-orders, the order price can be set either by spread, which places orders a fixed amount above or below the order book price, or by percentage, which places orders a fixed percentage above or below the order book price.

 

Scenario 1: Default market buy

Suppose the current BTC price is $65,000. You create a TWAP order in market order mode for a total quantity of 10 BTC, split into five sub-orders placed at 60-second intervals.

At each scheduled interval, the system places a market order for execution at the best available market price. For example, 2 BTC is purchased at $65,000 at 10:01 AM, another 2 BTC at $65,120 at 10:02 AM, 2 BTC at $64,850 at 10:03 AM, 2 BTC at $64,720 at 10:04 AM, and the remaining 2 BTC at $64,500 at 10:05 AM.

At this point, all 10 BTC have been purchased at an average price of approximately $64,838, without requiring manual market monitoring.

 

Scenario 2: Advanced mode, limit sell by spread

Suppose the current BTC price is $65,000, and you want to wait until the price rises above $66,000 before selling in batches.

Under Advanced settings, you can set the trigger price to $66,000, select by spread as the limit price method with an order price $10 above the best ask, set the termination price to $65,500, and set the total quantity to 10 BTC, split into five sub-orders placed at 60-second intervals.

While the price fluctuates around $65,000, the strategy remains pending. When the price rises to $66,050, the strategy is triggered, and the system begins placing limit sell orders for 2 BTC each, with the order price dynamically determined by the order book. If the price subsequently falls to $65,480, crossing the termination price of $65,500, the strategy stops immediately, and no further orders are placed for the remaining quantity.

This allows you to begin selling only after the price reaches your target and stop placing orders if the market pulls back, without constantly monitoring price movements.

 

Scenario 3: Advanced mode, limit buy by percentage

Suppose the current ETH price is $3500, and you want to wait until the price falls below $3400 before gradually buying to build a position.

Under Advanced settings, you can set the trigger price to $3400, select by percentage as the limit price method with an order price 0.3% below the best bid, set the termination price to $3550, and set the total quantity to 50 ETH, split into 10 sub-orders placed at 60-second intervals.

When the price falls to $3390, the strategy is triggered, and the system begins placing limit buy orders sequentially at the best bid × 0.997. If the price subsequently rebounds above the termination price of $3550, the strategy stops immediately, and no further orders are placed for the remaining quantity.

This allows you to begin buying only after the market reaches your target price and stop placing orders if the rebound exceeds expectations, helping you avoid buying at increasingly higher prices.

 

6. Iceberg order

An iceberg order is a strategy-based order designed for large trades. Once you set the total quantity and order-splitting method, the system splits the order into multiple sub-orders, each of which is a limit order. After one sub-order is fully executed, the next sub-order is automatically placed. This continues until the entire quantity is executed or the strategy is terminated.

Unlike time-driven TWAP orders, iceberg orders are execution-driven: the next sub-order is placed only after the previous one has been fully executed.

You can select Faster execution, Fixed distance, or Fixed price as the order placement preference, which determines the price of each sub-order. An optional price limit can also be set so that the strategy terminates immediately if the market price rises above the limit for a buy order or falls below it for a sell order.

Iceberg orders help conceal your trading intentions and total order size, potentially reducing market impact and slippage from large trades while making it more difficult for other traders to identify your trading direction and trade ahead of your orders.

For example, suppose you want to buy a total of 50 BTC without revealing the full order size to the market. You set each sub-order to 5 BTC, for a total of 10 sub-orders. With the current best bid at $100, the placement price and execution pace of each sub-order will vary depending on the selected order placement method.

 

Method 1: Faster execution (place orders at the best bid)

Sub-order 1: The best bid is $100, so a limit buy order for 5 BTC is placed at $100. After the first sub-order is fully executed, the best bid changes to $100.50, so the second limit buy order for 5 BTC is placed at $100.50.

This method continuously tracks the latest best bid in the order book to prioritize faster execution. However, if the price continues rising, it may result in a higher average purchase price.

 

Method 2: Fixed distance (fixed distance set to $0.50)

Sub-order 1: The best bid is $100, so the order price is $100 − $0.50 = $99.50, and a limit buy order for 5 BTC is placed.

After the first sub-order is fully executed, the best bid changes to $101. The second sub-order is priced based on the updated best bid: $101 − $0.50 = $100.50, and another limit buy order for 5 BTC is placed.

With this method, each sub-order is placed $0.50 below the prevailing best bid, offering the potential for a better purchase price. However, because the orders do not follow the best bid directly, they may take longer to execute.

 

Method 3: Fixed price (fixed price set to $99.50)

All 10 sub-orders will be placed at $99.50, regardless of market movements.

Once the first sub-order at $99.50 is fully executed, the second sub-order is immediately placed at the same price. This process continues until all 50 BTC have been purchased or the price limit is triggered and the strategy is terminated.

If you also set a price limit of $105 for the buy order and the best bid suddenly rises to $106 during execution, exceeding the limit, the strategy will terminate immediately. Even if only 20 BTC have been purchased at that point, no further orders will be placed for the remaining 30 BTC. This helps prevent additional purchases at higher prices during a sharp market rally.

 

7. Scaled orders

Scaled orders allow users to specify a price range and place multiple limit orders within that range simultaneously using a selected quantity distribution method.

The system generates evenly spaced order prices within the specified range and determines the quantity of each order based on the selected distribution method: Flat: Assigns the same quantity to each order regardless of price. This is suitable when the market direction is uncertain. 

• Ascending: Assigns larger quantities to orders at higher prices. This is suitable for upward-trending markets. 

• Descending: Assigns smaller quantities to orders at higher prices. This is suitable for gradually increasing a position at lower prices to reduce the average purchase cost.

For example, suppose you want to buy SOL in batches within the $100–$110 range. You set five orders for a total quantity of 10 SOL. The system generates five evenly spaced order prices within the range: $100, $102.50, $105, $107.50, and $110. If you select Flat distribution, each order will be for 2 SOL. If you select Ascending distribution, the buy quantity will increase at higher prices.