One sentence: I don't care how much it costs, buy it in (or sell it out) right now, immediately – the domineering order!
 
When you're desperate to get on board or bail out, a limit order just sits there leisurely waiting for others to fill it, but you can't wait – you slam down a market order, eating up as many orders on the order book as possible, super fast!

How does it work?

You click "Market Buy" → The system directly fills you with the cheapest sell orders on the order book.

 

You click "Market Sell" → The system directly dumps it all on the most expensive buy orders on the order book.

 

The whole process takes just milliseconds, done in the blink of an eye, so it's also called "taking" (Taker), with fees a bit higher than placing orders (Maker).

When must you use a market order?

  • Coin price suddenly surges, you're afraid waiting one more second means you miss out → Market order, charge ahead!
  • Coin price suddenly crashes, you're afraid being one second slower means liquidation → Market order, run now!
  • Bitcoin, Ethereum – these eternal liquidity kings with almost zero slippage → Use market order freely, won't lose much.
  • Stop-loss didn't trigger, but the market has already collapsed → Hurry up and market sell to cut losses and save your life, no hesitation!

When should you never touch a market order?

  • Small altcoins, with only a few million in volume, order book thin as A4 paper → One market order and you pull the price up 20% yourself, massive loss!
  • You're swapping BTC for a bunch of shitcoins with poor liquidity → One all-in market order, congrats on sending the exchange a few thousand U as tuition.
  • You're not in a hurry at all, too lazy to calculate the price → Then why the hell use a market order? Just place a limit order and go take a nap.

Pros of market orders

  • Fast! Almost 100% fill rate
  • Simple! Newbies learn in three seconds
  • Can save your life in critical moments

Cons of market orders

  • Slippage can make you question life
  • Fees are a tad higher
  • No price control at all, losses depend on your awareness

One sentence summary

Market orders are the trading world's "911 emergency call":

 

Don't call randomly in normal times; when you do, it's definitely when you're really desperate.

 

Use it for urgent big coin trades; for small coins with poor depth, just honestly place limit orders – don't turn yourself into a leek harvester.

 

Remember: If you can place an order, don't use market; when it's time for market, it's not too late to use it!