Maker vs Taker
Maker adds liquidity by placing limit orders that rest in the order book (not immediately filled). Taker removes liquidity by filling existing orders (often market orders).
✦ Key Insight
Why It Matters: Exchanges offer lower (or even negative) fees for makers to encourage liquidity. Understanding this optimizes costs and strategy. How It Works: Post-only limit orders = maker. Aggressive market or limit orders that cross the spread = taker. Fees are tiered by 30-day volume. Commo
✕ Common Misconceptions
It is often mistaken for similar sounding terms, but the technical implementation is distinct.
Detailed Explanation
In Practice
Dig Deeper
Order Book
A real-time list of all buy (bids) and sell (asks) orders for a trading pair, showing market depth at different price levels.
Slippage
Slippage is the difference between the price a trader expects when submitting an order and the actual price at which the trade executes. Slippage is common in crypto markets and is usually more noticeable during high volatility or when trading low-liquidity tokens.
Post-Only Order
A limit order flag that ensures the order only adds liquidity to the order book (acts as maker) and is canceled/rejected if it would immediately match/take existing orders.