One sentence: It's you paying money now, taking the goods now, price settled on the spot, no one owes anyone in this market!
 

Your first time buying coins is most likely spot trading.

 

Open Binance or OKX, see BTC at 69,000 bucks now, click "Buy" directly, and your wallet instantly has a bunch of bitcoins. That's spot trading. No leverage, no expiration date, no liquidation worries. Once bought, it's yours; you can hold for ten years if you want.

Spot markets are everywhere

US stocks, A-shares are spot; gold and silver are spot; in forex, exchanging for USD is spot. Nasdaq, NYSE, Shanghai Stock Exchange—all spot markets. The crypto circle is the same; 99% of newbies step on the gas in spot first.

So how do you play spot trading?

Two ways:

1. Play on exchanges (most people choose this)

Open the app, see the market price, enter with a market order instantly, or place a limit order to wait for others to dump. After buying coins, they go straight to your wallet or exchange account; selling is the same, money arrives in seconds.

2. Over-the-counter trading OTC (big shots love this)

Private chat in WeChat groups or Telegram, negotiate the price, transfer USDT directly to swap coins, or offline cash trades. No deep order book, no slippage, one-shot deals—even billions in orders can be eaten quietly.

Exchanges are divided into two camps

  • Centralized exchanges (CEX): Binance, OKX, those kinds—the boss holds your coins for you, KYC requires ID, low slippage, fast speed, low fees, but you have to trust the platform won't run away.
  • Decentralized exchanges (DEX): Uniswap, PancakeSwap, etc.—connect your wallet yourself, smart contracts swap automatically, no one cares who you are, full privacy, but fees are a bit high, and the frontend occasionally glitches.

How do spot prices come about?

Pure supply and demand. Someone lists at 69,000 to sell, someone at 68,900 to buy; once orders match, the price jumps. No mysterious algorithms—just a bunch of people shouting prices at each other.

What's the difference from futures?

  • Spot: Money today, goods today, settlement today.
  • Futures: Sign a contract today, pay and deliver in three months, and in between, you can leverage 100x to play wildly.

Different from margin trading?

  • Spot: Pay money with one hand, get coins with the other; 100 bucks buys at most 100 bucks worth of goods.
  • Margin: Borrow money to play; 100 bucks can act like 10,000, earn big or lose big, play poorly and go straight to zero.

Benefits of spot

  • Clean prices: What you see is what you get, no one messing around behind the scenes.
  • Simple rules: Newbies master in three minutes, pros can hold coins worry-free.
  • Buy and sleep soundly, no fear of midnight liquidation.
  • Actually get the coins, transfer anytime you want— sovereignty in your hands.

Drawbacks of spot

  • Earn slowly, no leverage; for 10x or 100x, can only wait for bull market money from the sky.
  • Bulk commodities spot might really need to haul home (buying oil requires an oil tanker); crypto is fine, just manage your private keys yourself.
  • Large orders on exchanges easily slip, can't get good prices, have to go OTC.

One-sentence summary

Spot is the most primitive, purest buying and selling:

 

I like your goods, I pay now, you give now—fair to young and old.

 

Newbies' first stop in the circle is always spot; master it before considering advanced plays like leverage and contracts.

 

Want to make money simply, sleep more soundly?

 

Then honestly do spot; leave the rest to time.