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The practical decision is therefore not simply “market or limit.” You must also decide whether a limit order should cross the spread, rest as a maker order, execute only immediately, or reduce an existing position. The sections below show what each setting does, where the risks differ, and how to choose without confusing execution price, fill probability, fees, margin, or liquidation triggers.
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Quick comparison: immediacy versus price control
| Characteristic | Market order | Limit order |
|---|---|---|
| Primary objective | Attempt execution immediately at available prices | Set a maximum buy price or minimum sell price |
| Execution price | Not fixed in advance; matches available order-book liquidity | At the specified price or better |
| Book levels | Can match across multiple levels as liquidity permits | Can match immediately or rest at one price, depending on whether it crosses the spread |
| Complete fill | Not guaranteed; the order can be partially filled or unfilled | Not guaranteed; unfilled quantity can wait in the book unless a cancellation policy applies |
| Unfilled remainder | Cancelled under Kraken’s market-order protection rule | Normally remains open when the order is resting, unless you select a policy such as immediate-or-cancel |
| Liquidity role | Normally takes liquidity | Can take liquidity if it crosses the spread, or add liquidity if it rests |
| Best fit | When completing an entry or exit is more important than controlling the exact price | When a price boundary matters more than immediate completion |
This table describes order intent, not a guaranteed outcome. The live order book, order size, price movement and available margin determine what actually happens.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteHow a market order works on Kraken Futures
It consumes the best available liquidity
A Kraken Futures market order tells the platform to match your quantity against the best available opposing orders. If the quantity available at the first price is insufficient, the order can continue through additional book levels. A large buy can therefore receive several execution prices as it consumes offers; a large sell can do the same against bids.
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“Immediate” describes the order’s execution intent. It does not promise that every contract will fill or that the entire order will execute at the first displayed price. An order submitted during a fast move can encounter a different book from the one you saw a moment earlier.
Kraken’s 1% price boundary
Kraken’s derivatives order-types documentation says a market order cannot match more than 1% above the best ask for a buy or more than 1% below the best bid for a sell. This is a platform protection parameter, not a promise that your execution will be within 1% of an earlier quote, and not a performance statistic for market orders.
If eligible liquidity inside that boundary is insufficient, the order may be partially filled or not filled. Kraken cancels the remainder instead of leaving it on the order book. Read the current rule in Kraken’s Order types in Derivatives trading documentation before relying on the setting, because platform parameters can change.
What a partial market fill means
Suppose you submit a buy for 100 contracts and only 60 contracts can match within the permitted price range. You may receive a 60-contract fill and a cancellation for the remaining 40. The unfilled 40 do not automatically become a resting limit order. If you still need that exposure, you must decide whether to submit another order after checking the current book and your margin.
A partial fill can also leave a position smaller than intended. That matters for hedges, exits and strategies that assume a fixed position size. Check the filled quantity and the resulting position rather than assuming that submitting the order created the full exposure.
How a limit order works
The limit is a price boundary, not a time guarantee
A limit order executes only at its specified price or better. For a buy, the limit is the highest price you will accept; executions below that price are better for you. For a sell, the limit is the lowest acceptable price; executions above it are better.
Kraken states that it recommends limit orders to control the worst price at which an order can be matched. That recommendation appears in its Order types in Derivatives trading guide. It does not mean a limit order will fill, prevent a loss, or guarantee the market will return to your price.
Resting limit orders
If your price does not immediately match available opposing liquidity, the order can be added to the order book. It then waits for another participant to trade at your price or for the market to move through it. The order may remain open for an extended period, or never fill if the market moves away.
While it is open, the displayed quantity and the surrounding book can change. Another trader can trade ahead of you, available size can disappear, and your limit can become more aggressive or less competitive as prices move. A limit that was passive when submitted is not guaranteed to remain passive during its lifetime.
Marketable limit orders
A limit order can also be priced to cross the spread. For example, a buy limit at or above the current best ask can match immediately, subject to available quantity; a sell limit at or below the best bid can do the same. This is a marketable limit order: it retains a worst-price boundary but behaves partly like an aggressive order.
If the opposing quantity is insufficient, the order can fill partially at available levels and leave the rest open at its limit, unless you choose an instruction that cancels the remainder. Kraken’s general limit-pricing explanation describes this trade-off in How to set prices for limit orders on Kraken Pro. That page provides general pricing context; it does not establish a particular Futures fee rate.
Three different limit-order intentions
Resting limit: price first
Use a resting limit when you are willing to wait for your price. The order should be placed away from immediately executable prices so it can join the book. The benefit is control over the worst execution price. The cost is uncertain timing and the possibility of no fill.
Marketable limit: price boundary with urgency
Use a marketable limit when you want an immediate attempt but refuse to trade beyond a defined ceiling or floor. It may take liquidity and may be classified as taker. If the book cannot supply the full quantity within your limit, the result can be a partial fill and an open remainder, depending on the selected time-in-force or other options.
Post-only limit: maker intent enforced
Post-only is designed for an order that must rest rather than execute immediately. Kraken says an order with post-only enabled is cancelled or rejected if it would match existing liquidity. This protects the intention to add liquidity, but it also means a trade may not happen at all. A rapidly moving market can make a price that looked passive become executable before the order reaches the book.
Immediate-or-cancel and reduce-only options
Immediate-or-cancel (IOC)
Immediate-or-cancel instructs Kraken to execute whatever quantity is available immediately and cancel the remainder instead of posting it. If no quantity is available at the selected price or within the order’s executable range, Kraken says the order is rejected and cancelled.
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IOC is useful when a resting order would be undesirable—for example, when you want to avoid leaving an order that could fill later after your trading decision has changed. It sacrifices the chance of a later fill in exchange for a definite end to the order attempt.
Reduce-only
Reduce-only is a position-management constraint, not a price or fill guarantee. Kraken describes it as allowing execution only when the order reduces an existing open position. It can help prevent an exit order from accidentally increasing exposure or reversing the position if the position changes before execution.
When closing a position, place the order in the opposite direction and verify the quantity. Kraken’s single-collateral derivatives guidance covers this workflow at Trading Single-Collateral Derivatives. Use reduce-only where appropriate, but still check the resulting position after any partial fill.
Maker and taker classification: why a limit order is not automatically cheaper
Kraken classifies an order according to whether it matches immediately against an existing opposing order. A market order accepts available liquidity and is therefore described as taker. A limit order that crosses the book can also be taker because it executes immediately. A limit order that rests and is later matched can be maker, subject to the applicable rules.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsPost-only can preserve maker intent by cancelling an order that would take liquidity. The trade-off is a possible rejection rather than an execution. Do not assume that every limit order receives a maker fee or that every marketable limit receives the same treatment as a resting order.
Fee percentages depend on the current Futures schedule, product, account and other applicable conditions. Kraken explains the classification in What are Maker and Taker fees?. Check the live schedule for your account instead of applying a generic rate from an older article or from spot trading.
Price control does not remove position and liquidation risk
Margin is checked when a limit is placed
Kraken says a margin check occurs when a limit order is placed. An order that passes that check can still become a problem later if your portfolio value falls or other positions consume available margin. Kraken also states that open limit orders may be cancelled if portfolio value drops below initial-margin requirements.
That means a resting order is not guaranteed to remain available until its price is reached. Monitor open orders, account equity and margin requirements, especially when positions are leveraged or markets are moving quickly.
Mark price is separate from your fill price
Kraken uses mark price to value positions and determine liquidations. Mark price is therefore a risk and accounting reference, not necessarily the price at which your market or limit order executes. A limit order can fill at your specified price while the mark price moves differently, and a stop trigger can be based on a signal that is not the same as your eventual execution price.
Kraken’s derivatives guide identifies mark price as the default trigger signal, with last trade and index alternatives. A trigger only activates the subsequent order process; it does not guarantee an exit or a particular execution price. Treat triggering and execution as two separate events.
How to choose between market and limit in practice
Choose a market order when completion has priority
- You need an immediate attempt to enter or exit and accept that fills can occur at several prices.
- You are managing a time-sensitive hedge and an unfilled position would be more dangerous than price uncertainty.
- The order is small relative to visible liquidity and you have checked that the book is reasonably deep.
- You have confirmed the 1% market-order boundary and understand that the remainder can be cancelled.
Even in these cases, check the filled quantity immediately. If the order is partial, reassess rather than blindly resubmitting, because the book and your risk may have changed.
Choose a resting limit when price is the priority
- You will not accept execution beyond a defined ceiling for a buy or floor for a sell.
- You can tolerate waiting and the possibility that the order never fills.
- You want to display an order in the book rather than consume existing liquidity.
- You are prepared to cancel, amend or replace the order as market conditions and your thesis change.
A limit order is often the clearest choice when avoiding an unexpectedly adverse price matters more than entering immediately. It is not a substitute for position sizing or a stop-loss plan.
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Choose a marketable limit when both constraints matter
A marketable limit can be appropriate when you want an immediate attempt but need a hard price boundary. Set the limit only after checking the current best bid, best ask and depth. If the boundary is too tight, you may receive little or no fill; if it is wide enough to cross multiple levels, it may take liquidity and behave much like an aggressive order while still stopping at your limit.
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A pre-submission workflow for Kraken Futures
- Define the position objective. Decide whether the order opens exposure, reduces it, or closes it. For a close, select the opposite direction and consider reduce-only.
- Inspect the live book. Note the best bid, best ask, displayed size and the distance between them. Treat displayed depth as changeable, not guaranteed.
- Set the risk boundary. For a market order, understand the platform’s 1% protection rule and the possibility of a partial fill. For a limit order, calculate the highest buy price or lowest sell price you can accept.
- Select the execution policy. Decide whether the limit should rest, cross immediately, use post-only, or use IOC. Do not enable post-only if a rejection would be worse than taking liquidity.
- Check margin and quantity. Confirm available margin, contract quantity and the effect of a partial fill. A limit order is checked at placement, but open orders can later be cancelled if margin requirements are no longer met.
- Submit and verify. Confirm the order status, filled quantity, average execution price, remaining quantity and resulting position. Do not rely on the submission screen alone.
- Manage the remainder. A market-order remainder is cancelled. A resting limit remainder stays open unless cancelled or subject to a policy such as IOC. Decide explicitly whether to leave it, amend it or cancel it.
Illustrative outcomes
Fast entry with a market order
Assume the visible offers are 10 contracts at 100 and 20 at 101, and you submit a market buy for 25 contracts. An illustrative result could be 10 contracts at 100 and 15 at 101, producing more than one execution price. If eligible offers disappear before the remaining quantity matches, the protection boundary can leave part of the order unfilled and cancelled.
The numbers here explain the mechanism only; they are not a forecast of Kraken Futures liquidity or slippage.
Resting buy limit
Suppose the best ask is 101 and you submit a buy limit at 99. The order does not buy immediately because the market is above your ceiling. It can rest at 99, fill if sellers reach that price, or remain unfilled if the market rises.
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If the best ask is 101 and you submit a buy limit at 102, the order can match available offers at 101 and potentially higher levels up to your 102 limit. Any quantity beyond available offers may remain open under the order’s policy. Because the order crosses the spread, it can be classified as taker rather than maker.
Post-only rejection
If you submit a post-only buy at a price that would immediately match an existing offer, Kraken cancels or rejects it instead of executing. You preserve maker intent, but you do not receive a fill. You may need to resubmit at a less aggressive price after checking the book again.
Common failure modes and responses
| What you observe | Likely explanation | What to check next |
|---|---|---|
| Only part of a market order filled | Insufficient eligible liquidity within Kraken’s market-order boundary | Filled quantity, current book, margin and whether another order is still necessary |
| A limit order has not filled | The market has not reached your price, or other orders are ahead of yours | Distance to the market, queue position if shown, order age and whether your thesis still applies |
| A limit order incurred taker treatment | The price crossed the spread and matched immediately | Whether the order was marketable at submission and the current fee schedule |
| A post-only order disappeared | It would have executed immediately, so the post-only rule cancelled it | Best bid/ask, your limit price and whether to resubmit less aggressively |
| An IOC order did not remain open | IOC cancels quantity that cannot execute immediately | Available size at the selected price and whether a resting order is acceptable |
| An open limit order was cancelled unexpectedly | Portfolio value may have fallen below initial-margin requirements | Account equity, margin requirements, liquidation risk and order history |
| A stop triggered but the position did not close at the trigger price | Triggering and subsequent execution are separate events | Trigger signal, resulting order type, book liquidity and actual fill |
What the available evidence can—and cannot—tell you
The platform documentation establishes the mechanics, settings and 1% market-order boundary. It does not provide an independent average-slippage figure, comparative fill rate or realized-outcome statistic for market versus limit orders on Kraken Futures. Outcomes depend on contract, order size, book depth, volatility and timing.
Use the rules to frame a decision, not to predict a guaranteed result. A market order exchanges price certainty for execution urgency within the stated protection rule. A limit order exchanges execution certainty for price control. The right choice depends on which failure—an adverse price, a delayed fill, a partial fill or an unintended open order—would create the greater risk for your position.
Quick Recap
Final checklist before submitting
- Have you chosen the correct contract, direction and quantity?
- Are you opening, reducing or closing a position?
- Have you checked the live bid, ask and available depth?
- For a market order, do you accept multiple prices and a possible cancelled remainder?
- For a limit order, is your price a ceiling or floor you can genuinely accept?
- Could the limit cross the spread and become taker?
- If using post-only, is rejection preferable to immediate execution?
- If using IOC, do you accept that unfilled quantity will not rest?
- Would reduce-only prevent an accidental increase in exposure?
- Have you checked margin, open orders and the difference between mark price and execution price?
- After submission, will you verify the actual fill and resulting position?
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