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GlossarySSlippage (order book)

Slippage (order book)

The difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual executed price due to market movement.

What is Slippage (order book)?

Slippage occurs in order books when a large market order exhausts available liquidity at the current price, filling at worse subsequent levels. For a buy order on a low-liquidity pair, if only 10 BTC is available at $66,500 but 30 is requested, the remainder fills at higher asks like $66,775, increasing the average cost. In DEXs, slippage can exceed 10% for volatile assets.

Negative slippage harms traders, while positive benefits them in fast-moving markets. To minimize, use limit orders or trade high-liquidity pairs with narrow spreads. During high volatility, slippage erodes profits in low-depth books.

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