What is a limit order?
A type of order to buy or sell an asset at a specified price or better. The order can only be filled if the asset’s market price reaches the target price. Limit orders help ensure that investors do not buy or sell assets above or below the prices they are seeking in the market. For buy limit orders, the order will be executed only at the target price or lower, while for sell limit orders, the order will be executed only at the target price or higher.
When trading, it's key to understand the difference between Take Profit/Trailing Stop orders and Limit Orders. Take Profit/Trailing Stop orders are ideal for managing risk on trades you're entering, helping you lock in profits or limit losses automatically. On the other hand, Limit Orders can be used both when entering a trade and when selling assets already in your portfolio. With a Limit Order, you specify the price at which you want to buy or sell*, giving you control over the exact price point of your transactions. Knowing when to use each can enhance your trading strategy!
*Please note the following important information regarding limit orders:
- Sell Limit Orders: You cannot set a selling price for an asset that is below the current market price.
- Buy Limit Orders: You cannot set a buying price for an asset that is above the current market price.
- Go to Transact.
- On the Anything to Anything screen, tap Limit.
- Drag down to buy (the icon will change to ≤) or drag up to sell (the icon will change to ≥).
- Then tap duration to set the length of your order.
- Review your limit order details on Preview.
- Tap Confirm limit order to finish.
When setting up a limit order, tap Duration and choose one of the following options:
Good ´till canceled: the limit order will be active until it’s executed or you cancel it. This is the default setting.
Good ´till end of day: your order will remain active until the end of the day. If your target price is not achieved, the limit order will cancel at 00h00* the next day.
Example: If the limit order is set on May 14, it will expire on May 15 at 00h00*
Good ‘till date: your order will remain active until the date you choose. If your target price is not achieved, the limit order will be canceled at the end of that day.
Example: If you place a Good ‘till January 3 Order, it will expire on January 4 at 00h00*
*As determined by the timezone in your country/state of residence.
Mobile Wallet
- Go to Menu > Activity.
- On the Activity screen, tap Limit.
- You can see both your active and inactive Limit orders.
Web Wallet
- On the left sidebar, click More.
- Then go to Activity.
- On the Activity screen, click Limit.
- You can see both your active and inactive Limit orders.
Mobile Wallet
- Go to Menu > Activity.
- Tap Limit to see your active and inactive limit orders.
- On the Active tab, select the limit order you want to cancel.
- Tap the cancel icon at the top of the screen.
- Tap Cancel limit order to confirm.
Web Wallet
- On the left sidebar, click More.
- Then go to Activity.
- Click Limit to see your active and inactive orders.
- On the Active tab, select the limit order you want to cancel.
- Click on the cancel icon at the top of the screen.
- Click Cancel limit order to confirm.
Our ‘limit orders’ feature allows you to set up Buy or Sell orders triggered by a target price that is unrelated to the order. For example, you can set a limit order to sell 0.1 BTC and receive the proceeds in XRP, to be executed when 1 BTC is equal or higher than $10K. We can’t predict the exchange rate that’ll be in place between BTC and XRP when the target price is achieved, and so the proceeds will only be determined at the time of execution of the limit order.
Our charts show mid-market prices for assets. Limit orders are triggered by the actual Buy or Sell prices achievable in the market. There is always a small difference between the two. This means that while our charts may suggest the target price for your asset has been met, the actual Buy or Sell price required is not yet obtainable. As a result, the Limit Order remains open and is not executed.
- Limit price: The price at which you want to trade, configured by you in the limit order.
- Sell price: The price that you are able to sell an asset for.
- Buy price: The price that you are able to buy an asset for.
- Mid-market price: The price that sits in the middle of the market, equi-distant from the current Buy and the current Sell prices. Like virtually all exchanges, we show this price in our charts.
Example:
- BTC buy price $50,500.00
- BTC sell price $49,500.00
- BTC mid price $50,000.00
In this example situation if you want to buy Bitcoin when the price drops below $50,000 the order would trigger when the buy price was at or below $50,000, while if you want to sell when the value goes above $50,000 the order would trigger when the sell price was at or above $50,000.
Most common causes for a limit order to fail include:
- Your Uphold sub-account doesn’t have enough funds (e.g., BTC, ETH, USD).
- You’ve hit your exchange limit for that day, week, or month.