What Is Order Book?

The live list of all outstanding buy orders, called bids, and sell orders, called asks, for a market. Order book depth shows how much size can be traded without moving the price, which is the practical definition of liquidity.

Related Terms

  • Liquidity How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price.
  • Slippage The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got.
  • Maker A trader whose limit order adds liquidity to the order book and waits to be filled.

Where You Will Meet This Term

You will run into order book constantly on any futures exchange, from the order panel to the position dashboard. If you are still building your foundation, our guides on leverage, liquidation and risk management connect the vocabulary into an actual trading process, and the full glossary covers every other term you will encounter.