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Market Orders

Last updated: Aug 7, 2026

Market Orders allow you to buy or sell immediately using the best available market price. They are designed for traders who prioritise execution speed over controlling the exact execution price.

Market Orders execute immediately. As a result, the final execution price may differ slightly from the quoted price due to market movement and available liquidity.

Common Trading Scenarios

Market Orders are commonly used when immediate execution is more important than specifying an exact execution price.

Examples include:

  • Opening a position quickly to gain immediate market exposure.
  • Closing a position immediately without waiting for a specific price.
  • Exiting a position during rapidly changing market conditions where execution speed is prioritised.

Whether a Market Order is appropriate depends on your trading objectives and current market conditions.

How Market Orders Work

When you submit a Market Order, Synthetix Exchange executes your trade using the best available price on the order book at the time your order reaches the market.

The quoted price shown before submission is an estimate. Your final execution price may differ slightly if the market moves or available liquidity changes before the order is filled.

How to Place a Market Order

  1. Open the Market Selector near the top-left corner.
  2. Select the market you want to trade, for example BTC-USDT.
  3. In the Order Entry panel, ensure Market is selected as the order type.
Select your market from the Market Selector near the top-left corner, then ensure Market is selected as the order type in the Order Entry panel.
  1. Adjust your leverage, if required.
  2. Select Buy / Long or Sell / Short.
  3. Enter the position size.
Adjust leverage if required, select Buy / Long or Sell / Short, then enter your position size in the Value field.
  1. (Optional) Configure Reduce Only.
  2. (Optional) Configure Take Profit and Stop Loss.
  3. Select Buy or Sell.
Optionally enable Reduce Only and configure Take Profit and Stop Loss, then select Buy or Sell to open the Confirm Order window.
  1. Review your order details in the Confirm Order window.
  2. Select Submit to place your order.

Reduce Only

Reduce Only ensures that your Market Order can only reduce or close an existing position. It is only available when you have an open position in the selected market.

When enabled, the order:

  • Cannot increase your existing position.
  • Cannot open a new position.
  • Cannot reverse your position.
  • Cannot exceed the size of your current position.

Reduce Only is useful when partially or fully closing an existing position without unintentionally increasing your market exposure.

Take Profit and Stop Loss

You can optionally configure Take Profit and Stop Loss when placing a Market Order.

Take Profit

A Take Profit order automatically closes your position when your chosen target price is reached.

Stop Loss

A Stop Loss order automatically closes your position if the market moves against you and reaches your chosen stop price.

Both options can also be added or managed later from an existing position.

When configuring Take Profit and Stop Loss, the platform validates that the prices are on the correct side of the current mark price.

For a Long position:

  • Take Profit must be above the current entry price.
  • Stop Loss must be below the current entry price.

For a Short position:

  • Take Profit must be below the current entry price.
  • Stop Loss must be above the current entry price.

If an invalid price is entered, the platform displays a validation message and prevents the order from being submitted until the values are corrected.

Important Considerations

  • Market Orders may experience slippage if the market moves or available liquidity changes before the order is filled.
  • Market Orders cannot be edited after submission because they execute immediately.
  • If controlling your execution price is more important than immediate execution, consider using a Limit Order. See Limit Orders to learn more.