What you need to know about crypto displayed orders in 2026
A displayed order is an order that is visible on an order book at a specific price and size. Other traders can see it, trade against it, and use it to infer where supply or demand might sit in the market. In crypto trading this matters because almost all price discovery on centralized exchanges and many decentralized protocols still happens through visible bids and asks.
Displayed orders are central to strategies that care about execution price, liquidity provision, and market impact. They also play a key role in automation, where bots post and update visible orders as markets move. Understanding how they work will help you place more precise trades, design better algorithms, and avoid common execution mistakes.
This guide walks through how displayed orders work, when to use them, their benefits and trade-offs, how they fit into automated workflows, how they compare to other order types, and practical tips for using them well. It is useful for active traders, quant teams, and anyone integrating on-chain trading into applications or bots.
Understanding how a displayed order works
A displayed order is simply an instruction to buy or sell a given amount of a crypto asset at a specific price, with the condition that the order sits visibly on an order book until it is matched, canceled, or expires. It becomes part of the current market depth. Other participants see it in the list of bids (buy orders) and asks (sell orders).
On centralized exchanges, the exchange engine holds the order in its internal order book. Matching is off-chain. Only final account balances and some summary data may be reflected on-chain if the exchange supports that.
On decentralized exchanges that use order books, the situation differs. Some DEXs maintain off-chain order books with on-chain settlement. In that model you submit a signed order to a relayer. The displayed order is shown in the off-chain book, but the actual trade is settled on-chain once a match happens. Other protocols implement fully on-chain order books, where posting a displayed order means sending a transaction that writes the order into a smart contract storage. Each amendment or cancellation is another transaction.
Aggregators like CoW Swap and other routing protocols might treat displayed orders as one source of liquidity among many. They can route orders to an order book if a visible quote gives the best price, or to automated market makers if those are more favorable.
What sets a displayed order apart from some other order types is its visibility and resting nature. It sits and waits to be filled at its stated price. This contrasts with market orders that execute immediately against existing liquidity, and hidden or iceberg orders whose full size is not visible to others.
When to use a displayed order
Displayed orders work best when you care about the price you receive and are willing to wait for a match. If you want to buy only at or below a certain price or sell only at or above one, a displayed limit order is the basic tool.
Traders use displayed orders to:
Place patient limit orders away from the current price to catch favorable moves.
Provide liquidity near the spread and earn the bid-ask differential or fee rebates on some venues.
Anchor larger strategies, for example layering several displayed orders at different prices to build or unwind a position over time.
Institutions and professional desks use displayed orders as building blocks for execution algorithms. For example, a time-weighted or volume-weighted strategy will break a large order into many smaller displayed orders that update as market conditions change.
Bots rely on displayed orders for market making and arbitrage. A market making bot repeatedly posts displayed bids and asks, canceling and replacing them as the reference price moves. Arbitrage bots may place displayed orders on slower venues to capture price differences relative to faster ones.
Common parameters for a displayed order include price, size, side (buy or sell), and time-in-force. Some exchanges also allow post-only flags that ensure your order adds liquidity rather than taking it, and reduce-only flags for derivatives that prevent net position flips.
Advantages and trade-offs
The main advantage of displayed orders is control over execution price. You define the price, and you only trade at that level or better. This is critical in volatile or thin markets where market orders can slip badly.
Displayed orders also help you earn the spread if you provide liquidity. Many venues pay maker rebates or lower fees for resting orders that other traders hit. If you quote wisely, you can reduce transaction costs or even turn them into a small edge.
Visibility, however, cuts both ways. Other traders see your order and can adjust their behavior. Large visible orders can move the market, invite front running, or expose your intentions. On-chain order books add blockchain-specific risks like miner or validator extractable value, where your resting order can be targeted in a block.
Displayed orders are not guaranteed to fill. In fast moves the market can trade around your price and never touch it, or touch it briefly and skip your order if you are behind others at the same price. Speed depends on both your network latency and the venue’s matching engine or on-chain confirmation times.
Compared with market orders, displayed orders usually offer better price control but less certainty of execution and more management overhead. Compared with hidden or iceberg orders, they provide more transparency and often better fee terms but more information leakage. Relative to request-for-quote systems, they are more open and continuous but less private.
How displayed orders fit into automated trading
In automated trading, displayed orders are manipulated by logic instead of manual clicks. A bot or algorithm decides when to place, update, or cancel orders based on signals such as price feeds, volatility, inventory targets, or order book imbalances.
Market makers program rules like: always show a buy and sell order a certain distance from a reference price, adjust quotes if inventory gets too long or short, and cancel quotes during sudden spikes. The bot’s main action is the ongoing creation and adjustment of displayed orders.
On DEXs, these bots interact with smart contracts or relayers. They must account for gas costs and confirmation delays when posting or canceling orders on-chain. If fees are high, the strategy might place fewer, larger orders or use off-chain books with batched settlement.
Time-in-force settings are crucial in automation. Good-til-canceled orders stay active until explicitly removed. Immediate-or-cancel or fill-or-kill styles ensure the order either trades right away or disappears, which can help control stale quotes in fast markets.
Price triggers and liquidity routing logic can decide when a displayed order becomes active. For example, an algorithm may watch several venues and only post a displayed order if it improves the current best price by a minimum amount. Aggregators may consume these orders when routing user trades, so your displayed liquidity becomes part of a larger execution graph.
Comparing displayed orders to other order types
Displayed orders sit at the core of the order ecosystem. Around them are market orders, which accept whatever price the market offers to trade immediately, and limit orders of various visibility types.
Compared with market orders, displayed orders prioritize price over certainty and speed. Use a displayed order when avoiding bad slippage is more important than filling right away. Use a market order when getting the trade done now matters more than a small price difference.
Compared with hidden or iceberg orders, displayed orders are simpler and often cheaper. Hidden orders conceal size but may have higher fees or different queue priority. Iceberg orders show only a portion of the full amount at a time. Choose them when you want to reduce information leakage while still trading at specific levels.
Relative to smart order routing or aggregate swap interfaces, a single displayed order is a focused tool. Routing systems may break your intent across many venues and pools. A displayed order concentrates your liquidity and influence at one price point on one venue.
Practical tips for using displayed orders effectively
Start with modest size and conservative prices in thin markets. Avoid placing very large visible orders close to the current price unless you are prepared for the market to move against you or for other traders to react.
Always define clear time-in-force rules. Long-lived orders should be monitored. Cancel or adjust them if the market moves far away. Stale orders at old prices can generate unwanted fills when volatility returns.
Use post-only when available if your goal is to provide liquidity rather than take it. This helps avoid accidental market orders caused by crossing the spread.
Manage risk by tying displayed orders to your overall position limits. Automated systems should check inventory and exposure before placing new orders. Include safeguards to cancel all orders in case of connectivity loss, price feed failure, or extreme volatility.
For beginners, focus on simple limit orders at prices you are comfortable with and watch how often they fill. For advanced users, add layers, dynamic pricing, and inventory controls. Test algorithms in low size or in paper environments before deploying them with meaningful capital, especially on-chain where mistakes are costly.
Conclusion
A displayed order is a visible instruction to trade at a specific price and size that becomes part of the market’s liquidity. It matters because it shapes price discovery, affects your execution quality, and underpins both manual and automated strategies.
Understanding when and how to use displayed orders lets you control slippage, participate as a liquidity provider, and design more resilient trading systems. As you grow more comfortable with this core tool, it becomes easier to evaluate more complex order types and routing logic.
The next step is to explore how other order types, such as hidden, iceberg, or conditional orders, complement displayed orders so you can match each trading objective with the right mechanism.
FAQ
What is a displayed order in crypto trading?
A displayed order is an instruction to buy or sell a specific amount of a crypto asset at a particular price that sits visibly on an order book until it is matched, canceled, or expires. Other traders can see these orders and trade against them, making them a key component of price discovery on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.
When should I use displayed orders instead of market orders?
Use displayed orders when you care about the price you receive and are willing to wait for a match at your specified price level. They're ideal for patient limit orders, providing liquidity near the spread to earn rebates, or when you want to avoid slippage in volatile markets. Choose market orders when immediate execution is more important than price control.
What are the main advantages and risks of displayed orders?
The main advantages include precise price control, potential to earn maker rebates, and better execution prices compared to market orders. However, the visibility can work against you - other traders can see your intentions, large orders may move the market, and there's no guarantee of execution if the market moves away from your price.
How do displayed orders work differently on decentralized exchanges?
On DEXs, displayed orders may exist in off-chain order books with on-chain settlement, or in fully on-chain order books where each order placement requires a blockchain transaction. This means you must account for gas costs and confirmation delays when placing or canceling orders, and there are additional risks like miner extractable value where your order could be targeted.
What are the key best practices for using displayed orders effectively?
Start with modest sizes and conservative prices in thin markets, always define clear time-in-force rules, and monitor long-lived orders to avoid stale fills. Use post-only flags when available to ensure you're providing liquidity, manage risk by tying orders to position limits, and include safeguards to cancel orders during connectivity issues or extreme volatility.
