The order book is the live list of buy and sell orders that are waiting to be filled for one trading pair. It shows at which prices other traders are ready to buy or sell, and how much. Reading it helps you choose the price for a limit order and understand what a market order will pay.
On Akunosai the order book sits next to the chart on every spot and futures trading page.
Bids, asks and the last price
Each row shows a price, the amount waiting at that price and the running total. The shaded bar behind a row shows how large that level is compared with the others.
- Asks (red, upper half): sell orders. The lowest ask is the cheapest price at which you can buy right now.
- Bids (green, lower half): buy orders. The highest bid is the best price at which you can sell right now.
- Last price (in the middle): the price of the most recent trade. On USDT spot pairs the approximate value in US dollars is shown next to it.
What the spread tells you
The spread is the gap between the lowest ask and the highest bid. A narrow spread means buyers and sellers agree closely on the price, which is typical for liquid pairs such as BTC/USDT. With a wide spread, a market order loses more to the gap, so a limit order is often the better choice.
Example: if the lowest ask is 100.10 and the highest bid is 100.00, the spread is 0.10, about 0.1%. A market buy pays about 100.10 and a market sell receives about 100.00.
Depth: how much is waiting
Depth is the total amount of orders close to the current price. In a deep book even a large order barely moves the price. In general, in a thin book a large market order can use up several price levels, so its average price ends up worse than the last price.
To see the whole book at once, switch from "Chart" to "Depth" above the chart: bids and asks are drawn as two curves on either side of the current price.
Order book tools on Akunosai
- View: show both sides, only bids or only asks with the buttons above the book.
- Price grouping: merge nearby price levels, for example by 1, 10 or 100 price steps, to see where larger orders cluster.
- Click a price: clicking a row copies its price into the order form, so you can place a limit order at that level.
- Trades: the tab next to the order book lists the latest trades with time, price and amount.
How to use it when you trade
- Check the spread before a market order. If it is wide, consider a limit order instead. See market vs limit orders.
- To avoid paying the spread, place a buy limit at or below the highest bid and wait for a seller.
- Large walls of orders show where many traders want to buy or sell, but orders can be cancelled at any moment, so do not treat them as a guarantee.
- On futures, watch the mark price too: liquidation and stop-loss use the mark price, not the last trade. See what a wick is and why liquidation uses the mark price.
FAQ
Q: Why are asks red and bids green? A: Red rows are sell orders and green rows are buy orders, the same colours as the Sell and Buy buttons.
Q: What is a good spread? A: On major pairs it is usually a small fraction of a percent. If the spread is larger than the trading fee, a limit order can save more than a market order costs in fees.
Q: Can I place an order straight from the order book? A: Clicking a row fills in the price in the order form. You still enter the amount and confirm the order yourself.
New to trading? Register and start with small amounts, or practise with virtual funds on the futures demo account.