A limit order specifies a maximum price you will pay (for a buy) or a minimum price you will accept (for a sell). It only executes if the book reaches your level. Limit orders guarantee price but not execution — they can sit on the book unfilled indefinitely.
Limit orders are passive: they 'rest' on the book waiting for someone to take the other side. This makes them 'maker' fills on most exchanges, which charge lower fees (sometimes negative — you get paid to provide liquidity).
Limit orders are the right tool when price matters more than fill certainty: entries at specific structural levels, partial profit-takes, and rebate-harvesting strategies. They are the wrong tool when missing the move is costlier than the spread saved.
Example
BTC trading at 50,200. Place a limit buy at 50,000. The order sits on the book and only fills if price comes down to 50,000 or below.
How Noon Barbari uses Limit order
Every concept here is implemented in the platform. Open the relevant docs or tool to see it in action.
Order types in the designer →Related terms
- Order types
Market order
An order to fill immediately at the best available price. Pays the spread.
- Order types
Stop order
An order that converts to a market order once a trigger price is reached.
- Order types
Stop-limit order
Stop order that converts to a limit order, not a market — avoids bad slippage.
- Order types
Iceberg order
A large order shown to the book in small slices to hide total size.