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Spot trading exchanges the assets themselves. Buying WETH on the WETH/USDC market spends USDC and adds WETH to your balance. Selling WETH does the reverse.

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Markets and prices

Each market pairs two assets. In WETH/USDC, WETH is the asset being bought or sold, and USDC is the asset used to price and pay for it. A price of 2,500 means one WETH costs 2,500 USDC. Buying 0.1 WETH at that price costs 250 USDC before fees.

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The order book

The order book contains buy and sell orders at different prices. Buy orders specify what buyers are willing to pay; sell orders specify what sellers are willing to accept. A trade occurs when an incoming order can match available liquidity at an acceptable price. An order can fill immediately, fill partially, or remain open waiting for another trader. Its behavior depends on its price, the available liquidity, and the order type you select.

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Choosing your price

A limit order sets the highest price you will pay when buying or the lowest price you will accept when selling. For example, a limit order to buy WETH at 2,500 USDC can execute at 2,500 or lower. It will not buy at 2,510. Any unfilled amount can remain on the order book, depending on the order’s settings. Other settings let you require immediate execution or ensure your order only adds liquidity. See Order Types.

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Funds committed to orders

Open orders reserve the funds needed to execute them. Those funds are unavailable for another order or withdrawal while reserved. When an order fills, the corresponding funds are exchanged. Canceling its unfilled portion makes the remaining reserved funds available again. Continue to Accounts for funding and balances, or How Orders Match for execution rules.