Order Types

Perpetuity supports many order types. While these are the initial order types supported, we plan on supporting many more, including stop losses, market stop losses, trigger prices etc.

Market Orders:

Market orders are orders that are instantly filled based off the market price. By default we add a 1% slippage from the oracle price to protect against slippage in the event of severe market changes, but you are free to change this. If your order can’t be filled, this order is immediately cancelled.

Limit Orders:

A limit order is an order to buy or sell an asset at a specified price or better. If the order book price is better than the limit price, it'll be filled up until the limit price. The price for the transaction is guaranteed, but actually being filled is not. Using limit orders can cause you to miss great deals in fast changing markets.

When an order is partially filled, the unfilled portion stays active on the book until it is either filled or canceled.

Limit orders can float on the book forever, or they can have a set time duration. The current default time duration is 30 days before we remove your order.

Time Weighted Average Price (TWAP) Orders:

order size = # of orders / total amount

Where # of orders is the duration divided by 30 seconds. Orders are done at a market order with a maximum slippage from the mark price that can be set manually.

If the order size would become lower than the minimum order due to the duration being too long, then the TWAP order will end prematurely.

What is a Post-Only Order?

A post-only order is to ensures the order is added to the exchange's order book and does not immediately execute against an existing order. It guarantees the order will be a "maker" order, adding liquidity to the market. The exchange checks if this order, at the price specified, would instantly match with an order already resting on the opposite side of the order book. If this occurs, and the order-type is not slide, the post order is cancelled instantly.

If the order type is slide and the price would normally cross and then be cancelled, it will slide to the best price on the book closest towards the top of the book.

Examples of different Post-Only Orders

Normal Post-Only Order at $1500 against $1499 ask price:

Check: The system checks if placing a $1500 limit order would immediately execute against $1501 ask. Outcome: Order is accepted and a $1500 limit post-only order hits the books. Normal Post-Only Order at $1500 against $1499 ask price:

Check: The system checks if placing a $1500 limit order would immediately execute against the $1499 ask. Action: The core rule of a standard post-only order is that it must not execute immediately. Since it would execute, the exchange cancels the $1500 buy order. Outcome: Order is rejected, and no trade occurs.

Slide Post-Only Order at $1500 against $1499:

Check: The system checks if placing a $1500 buy order would immediately execute against the $1499 ask. Action: Instead of cancelling, the "slide" feature activates. For a buy order that would cross the spread, the system adjusts the price downwards to the best price where it won't execute immediately. This means it slides the price down to the current best bid price (the highest price anyone is currently willing to pay).. Outcome: The system adjusts your $1500 limit buy order price down to $1498.99 and the order is successfully placed.

What are Reduce-Only Orders?

The Reduce-Only execution option ensures that leverage on your account can’t increase by forcing all orders to be reduced towards zero. This is used to close a position and ensure that no mistakes could be made to increase a position.