Strategy order types

Published on Nov 30, 2022Updated on Apr 4, 202417 min read

1. Stop order

1. What is a stop order?

Stop order is an algorithmic trading strategy with which you can set a trigger price and an order price to limit losses and reduce risks. Your order will be placed automatically at the predefined order price once the market price reaches the predefined trigger price to "take profit" or "stop loss". With this strategy, you can engage in momentum trading or limit your losses in a volatile market. All stop orders in one way mode and stop orders to close in hedge mode will not freeze your margin or positions. Stop orders to open in hedge mode will freeze your margin. You can place an OCO (One-Cancels-the-Other) order if you want to combine a set of take profit and stop loss orders. When either one is triggered, the other order is automatically canceled.

For stop orders, you can choose to have the last price, mark price, or index price as the trigger price.

You can place stop orders as illustrated —

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2. Placing a stop order along with a normal order

When placing a limit order, advanced limit order, or market order, you can set up a stop order for the position to be opened. The stop order will be submitted along with the limit order. When the limit order is fully filled, the stop order will be placed automatically with the predefined trigger price and order price.

After the limit order is fully filled, the attached stop order can be found in Open Orders - Stop Orders. It can be canceled at any time before it's triggered.

You can set up a stop order along with an open order as illustrated —

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3. Placing a stop order via the entry point in the position

A position stop order refers to a stop order specifically placed for a certain position.

There are two types of TP/SL orders that target a position: Partial position TP/SL and Entire position TP/SL

You can check and cancel the TP/SL orders in the Open orders - TP/SL

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(1). Partial position TP/SL

The pages for the partial position TP/SL are as follows:

At present, we support the customers to set TP/SL according to the Price/ Estimated Profit/ Estimated Profit Rate.

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(2). Entire Position TP/SL

1. Introduction
The position TP/SL applies to the entire position. In this mode, the order quantity changes with the position size.

At the same time, a market order will be placed when the trigger price is reached. You can only place one entire position TP/SL order targeted at one position.

If you decide to place both take profit and stop loss at the same time, if one side is triggered, the other side will be canceled.

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2. The difference between the position TP/SL and the partial position TP/SL
The partial position TP/SL (original TP/SL) applies to a fixed quantity in the position. In this mode, the order quantity doesn't change with the position size.

In the partial position TP/SL mode, you can choose to place a limit order or a market order when the triggered price is reached. You can place more than one partial position TP/SL order.

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3. How to place a position TP/SL order
Placing an Entire position TP/SL

You can only add via the entry point in the position -- choose Entire position TP/SL -- set the trigger price -- confirm

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Modifying an existing order

Click TP/SL in the position-- delete the original setting -- set the trigger price.

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4. How to take profit & stop loss?

(1). User scenarios

Scenario 1. Close a long position with a conditional order
John holds a long BTC contract with an average open price of 9,000 USD and expects to close the long position to stop losses when the market price drops to 8,000 USD. John places a conditional order as shown below.
Trigger price: 8,000 USD
Order price: 7,950 USD
When selling out, it is preferred to set the order price not too close to the trigger price to ensure the order will be filled promptly. Choosing the market price is also recommended.
If the price falls to 8,000 USD, the stop loss order will be triggered, and John's long position will be closed at 7,950 USD. If the order price is set as the market price, the position will be closed at the market price immediately.
If John wants to close his long position and lock in his gains, he can set up a take profit order and set the trigger price higher than 9,000 USD.

Scenario 2. Close a short position with a conditional order
Jane holds a short BTC contract with an average open price of 9,000 USD and expects to close the short position to stop losses when the market price rises to 10,000 USD. Jane places a conditional order as shown below.
Trigger price: 10,000 USD
Order price: 10,050 USD
When buying in, it is preferred to set the order price higher than the trigger price to ensure the order will be filled promptly. Choosing the market price is also recommended.
If the market price goes up to 10,000 USD, the stop loss order will be triggered and Jane's short position will be closed at 10,050 USD. If the order price is set as the market price, the position will be closed at the market price immediately.
If Jane wants to close her short position and lock in her gains, she can set up a take-profit order and set the trigger price somewhere lower than 9,000 USD.

Scenario 3. Close a long position with an OCO order
Joe holds a long BTC contract with an average open price of 9,000 USD. He expects to take profits when the market price surges to 10,000 USD and to stop losses when the market price drops to 8,000 USD. Joe places an OCO order as shown below.
TP (take profit) trigger price: 10,000 USD
TP order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 9,950 USD
SL (stop loss) trigger price: 8,000 USD
SL order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 7,950 USD
TP will be triggered if BTC's market price goes up to 10,000 USD and Joe can exit the trade at the market price instantly or at the preset TP order price, for example, 9,950 USD. At the same time, the SL order will be canceled.
SL will be triggered if BTC's market price drops to 8,000 USD and Joe can exit the trade at the market price instantly or at the preset SL order price, for example, 7,950 USD. Meanwhile, the TP order will be canceled.

Scenario 4. Close a short position with an OCO order
Jenny holds a short BTC contract with an average open price of 9,000 USD. She expects to take profits when the market price drops to 8,000 USD and to stop losses when the market price surges to 10,000 USD. Jenny places an OCO order as shown below.
TP trigger price: 8,000 USD
TP order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 8,050 USD
SL trigger price: 10,000 USD
SL order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 10,050 USD
TP will be triggered if BTC's market price drops to 8,000 USD and Jenny can exit the trade at the market price instantly or at the preset TP price, for example, 8,050 USD. Meanwhile, the SL order will be canceled.
SL will be triggered if BTC's market price rises to 10,000 USD and Jenny can exit the trade at the market price instantly or at the preset SL order price, for example, 10,050 USD. Meanwhile, the TP order will be canceled.

Scenario 5. Open a long position with a conditional order
BTC's current market price is 11,500 USD and Jack believes the market will turn bullish if BTC's market price pushes through the 12,000 USD mark. Jack places a conditional order as shown below.
Trigger price: 12,000 USD
Order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 12,050 USD
If BTC's price goes up to 12,000 USD, a long order will be triggered and placed at its market price or the preset order price, for example, 12,050 USD.
OCO orders can also be placed for opening a long position. A bullish action will be triggered at the higher price while a reverse order will be triggered at the lower price.

Scenario 6. Open a short position with a conditional order
BTC's current market price is 6,500 USD and Jill believes the market will turn bearish if BTC's market price falls through the 6,000 USD mark. Jill places a conditional order as shown below.
Trigger price: 6,000 USD
Order price: Market price or any price, e.g. 5,950 USD
If BTC's price drops to 6,000 USD, a short order will be triggered and placed at its market price or the preset order price, for example, 5,950 USD.
OCO orders can also be placed for opening a short position. A bearish action will be triggered at the lower price while a reverse order will be triggered at the higher price.

(2). Stop-order settings and trigger rules

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5. Additional notes

(1) All stop orders in one way mode and stop orders to close in hedge mode will not freeze your margin or positions. Stop orders to open in hedge mode will freeze your margin.

(2) A stop order might not be triggered successfully because of price restrictions, position restrictions, insufficient margin, being in a non-trading status, and system errors. Once successfully triggered, the subsequent limit order might not execute, just like a regular limit order. You can find the unfilled limit orders under Open Order.

(3) If your order is filled, it will either close your existing position or open a new one. If your order fails to fill, your position and margin will still be available.

(4) Once the stop order is triggered and your order price conflicts with our price restrictions, your order will be placed at the highest or lowest market price at the time of triggering, depending on your settings.

(5) The price restrictions for stop orders for different contracts are different and are subject to changes in the market conditions.

(6) For stop market orders in one way mode and stop market orders to close positions in hedge mode, if the order amount is larger than the maximum number of contracts permissible per order, the system will help users break up the orders into smaller amounts once triggered. Orders will be placed one by one with each subsequent order only being placed once the previous order has been fully filled. The order size will be the smaller amount between the remaining stop order amount yet to be placed and the max number of contracts for a market order. It minimizes the hassle for users with large positions as they will not need to manually split up their orders into smaller amounts.

(7) In one way mode, if there are open orders in the opposite direction (non reduce-only orders), these orders might open a position after the position TP/SL order is triggered. Margin verification may fail at this point and non reduce-only orders will be cancelled before trying again.

2. Trailing stop

1. What is a trailing stop?

A trailing stop is a stop order that tracks the market price. Its trigger price changes with the market price. Once it's triggered, a market order will be placed. A trailing stop can help you dynamically take profits or stop losses in fluctuating market conditions.

You can set an activation price which will determine when the trailing stop is activated.

2. How to set up a trailing stop?

You can set up a trailing stop order as illustrated —

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1. Definitions

Trail variance: The trail variance is a custom percentage, along with the recorded highest/lowest prices, used to calculate the actual trigger price. For example, if you order a sell with a 5% trail variance and the historical highest price is 50,000 USDT, the current actual trigger price is 50,000*(1-5%)=47,500.

Amount: The amount of the market order to be placed when the trailing stop order is triggered.

Activate price: Reaching the activate price is a prerequisite for the trailing stop order to become active. When the market price reaches or exceeds the activate price, the trailing order is activated. Once activated, the system will calculate the trailing stop's actual trigger price. If the activate price is left empty, the trailing stop order will be activated once the order is placed.

2. Activation and triggering rules

Activation rules:
If the activation price = the latest price when the order is placed, then the trailing stop order will be activated immediately.
If the activation price > the latest price when the order is placed, then the trailing stop order won't be activated until the latest price ≥ the activation price.
If the activation price < the latest price when the order is placed, then the trailing stop order won't be activated until the latest price ≤ the activation price.

Trigger rules:
Buy: latest price ≥ trigger price
Sell: latest price ≤ trigger price

Trigger price:
Buy: [Var.] lowest price + trail variance; [Percentage] lowest price* (1 + trail variance)
Sell: [Var.] highest price - trail variance; [Percentage] highest price* (1 - trail variance)

3. User scenario

Scenario 1. James wants to sell BTC and he hasn't set an activate price for the trailing stop order. The latest price for BTC is 30,000 USDT. James places a trailing stop order as shown below.
Trail variance: 2,000
Amount: 1 BTC
Assuming BTC's price rises to a historical high of 40,000 and then drops to 38,000, the trailing variance is 2,000 and the trigger condition is met (40,000 - 2,000= 38,000). The system will then help James sell at the market price.

Scenario 2. Jean wants to buy BTC and the latest price is 40,000 USDT. Jean places a trailing stop order as shown below.
Trail variance: 5%
Activate price: 30,000
Amount: 1 BTC
Assuming BTC's price drops to 30,000 USDT, the order becomes activated. Then the price falls all the way to 20,000 USDT before rebounding to 21,000 USDT, meeting the trigger condition (20,000 * (1 + 5%) = 21,000). The system will then help Jean buy at the market price.

4. Additional notes

(1) Your positions and margin will not be frozen until the trailing stop order is triggered. Please make sure you have enough positions or margin available.

(2) A trailing stop order might not be triggered successfully because of price restrictions, position restrictions, insufficient margin, being in a non-trading status, and system errors. Once successfully triggered, the subsequent market orders might not execute, just like a regular market order. You can find the unfilled market orders under Open Order.

(3) If your order is filled, it will either close your existing position or open a new one. If your order fails to fill, your position and margin will still be available.

(4) The amount of orders that can be placed with a trailing stop order varies for different types of contracts. The orders will be placed at the market price. The restrictions are subject to changes in the market conditions.

3. Trigger order

1. What is a trigger order?

A trigger order is an algorithmic trading strategy that allows you to set a predefined trigger price and an order price. Your order will be placed automatically at the preset order price once the market price reaches the trigger price. With this strategy, you can engage in momentum trading or exit a trade to limit risks and lock in gains. The only difference between a trigger order and a stop order is that a trigger order does not freeze your margin or positions.

You can place a trigger order as illustrated below.

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2. Trigger order settings and trigger rules (identical to stop orders)

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3. Additional notes

(1) Your positions and margin won't be frozen until the trigger order is triggered.

(2) A trigger order might not be triggered successfully because of price restrictions, position restrictions, insufficient margin, being in a non-trading status, and system errors. Once successfully triggered, the subsequent limit order might not execute, just like a regular limit order. You can find the unfilled limit orders under Open Orders.

(3) If the order is filled, your existing position will be closed or a new position will be opened. If the order fails to be filled, your position and margin will still exist.

(4) When the order is activated as the trigger condition is met, if the predefined order price exceeds the price limit, the system will place the order with the highest or lowest market price at the time of activation.

(5) There will be different restrictions on the order amount of single trigger - market order for different contracts (the restrictions will be adjusted according to market changes).