GlossaryIntermediate
Order Book
A live list of buy and sell orders at different prices, used to match trades.
An order book is a real-time list of outstanding buy and sell orders for an asset, organized by price, that an exchange uses to match buyers with sellers.
The gap between the highest buy order and the lowest sell order is called the spread, and the overall depth of the order book affects how easily large trades can be filled without significantly moving the price.
Examples
- A deep order book generally means large trades can execute with less price impact.
- Centralized exchanges commonly use an order book model to match trades.