What is a market order? It fills now, but watch for slippage
Short answer
A market order doesn't set a price. It fills right away at the best prices on the order book: a buy takes the cheapest sell orders, and a sell takes the highest buy orders. It's quick, but when prices move fast or a coin doesn't trade much, you can end up with a worse price than you saw. That's called slippage.
- Market orders are always taker orders: standard spot taker fees are 0.1% at Binance and 0.1% at OKX.
- For coins that don't trade much, or for big amounts, a limit order is safer.
In one line
No price set: it fills right away at the best price available.
An example
The cheapest sell order for bitcoin is 60,000 USDT. You place a market order to buy 600 USDT of bitcoin:
- There’s enough on sale at 60,000: you get 0.01 BTC, all at 60,000.
- There isn’t: the rest fills at 60,010, 60,020 and up, so your average price ends up a little above 60,000. That’s slippage.
Fees
Market orders fill straight away, so they’re taker orders. Standard spot taker fees are 0.1% at Binance and 0.1% at OKX. If you entered a referral code when you signed up, the exchange pays part of those fees back to you.
Related
FAQ
Can a market order fill at a really bad price?
On busy pairs, a small market order usually fills close to the price you see. On coins that don't trade much, or when prices are moving fast, the gap can be bigger.
Is a market order OK for my first purchase?
Yes. For a small amount on a busy pair, such as BTC/USDT, a market order is the simplest way: it fills straight away.
Do market orders cost more in fees than limit orders?
Market orders are always taker orders. Standard Binance spot fees are 0.1% for maker and taker alike; at OKX, takers pay 0.1%, a little more than the 0.08% makers pay.