What Is Slippage in Crypto Trading?

You place a trade expecting one price and it fills at a slightly worse one. That difference is slippage, and while it is usually tiny, it can quietly add up or, on the wrong coin at the wrong moment, bite hard. Here is what causes it and how to keep it under control.

Prices move constantly, and a market order fills at whatever price is available the instant it executes, not the price you saw a second earlier. If there is not enough volume sitting at your expected price, the order eats into the next available prices, and you end up paying a little more (or selling for a little less). That gap is slippage.

Slippage grows in three situations: thin liquidity (common on small altcoins), high volatility (during fast moves or news), and large orders (yours is big relative to what is available). Trade a low-volume token during a spike with a big market order and slippage can be brutal. Trade a major pair calmly and it is negligible.

Use a limit order instead of a market order when you can, since it only fills at your set price or better. Trade on exchanges with deep liquidity, which is one more reason liquidity matters when picking a platform. And break very large orders into smaller pieces rather than dumping them all at once. Small habits, meaningfully better fills.