Order Book

Master orderbook trading with Market, Limit, and Grid Trading orders.

Lightbeam operates as a high-performance orderbook DEX, providing professional-grade trading tools with deep liquidity and ultra-low latency on Keeta's blockchain network.

What is an Order Book?

An order book is a real-time list of buy and sell orders for a specific trading pair, organised by price level. Unlike AMM-based DEXs that use liquidity pools, orderbook exchanges match buyers and sellers directly, providing:

• Precise price discovery through active market participation
• Deep liquidity with transparent market depth
• Advanced order types for sophisticated trading strategies
• Professional trading experience similar to centralised exchanges

Order Book Structure

The order book displays two sides:

• Bids (buy orders) — orders to purchase tokens at specific prices
• Asks (sell orders) — orders to sell tokens at specific prices

Orders are matched when a bid price meets or exceeds an ask price, executing trades at the best available prices. The difference between the highest bid and the lowest ask is called the spread — tighter spreads indicate higher liquidity and more efficient price discovery.

Visual Representation

An order book depth chart dynamically shows the bids and asks for a specific trading pair. Buys are typically shown in green on the left, and sells are shown in red on the right. The horizontal axis represents unit price, and the vertical axis shows cumulative order depth.

Order Types

Lightbeam supports three primary order types, each designed for a different trading strategy.

Market Orders

Market orders execute immediately at the best available price in the order book.

Key features:

• Instant execution — trades execute immediately
• Price impact — may move the market price on large orders
• Best for — quick entries and exits when speed matters more than exact price

How it works:

1. You specify the amount you want to buy or sell.
2. The order matches against the best available prices.
3. Execution happens instantly at current market rates.

Market orders guarantee execution but not price. In volatile markets or with large orders, you may experience slippage from the expected price.

Limit Orders

Limit orders let you set a specific price at which you're willing to buy or sell.

Key features:

• Price control — you set the exact execution price
• No guarantee — may not execute if the price isn't reached
• Best for — patient traders who want specific entry or exit prices

Types of limit order:

Buy limit orders:

• Execute at your specified price or lower
• Only fill when the market price drops to your target
• Great for buying dips or entering positions at support levels

Sell limit orders:

• Execute at your specified price or higher
• Only fill when the market price rises to your target
• Perfect for taking profits at resistance levels

Order management:

• Partial fills — large orders may execute across multiple smaller trades
• Time in force — orders remain active until filled or cancelled
• Cancel anytime — unfilled orders can be cancelled with no fees

Grid Trading (Automatic Liquidity)

Grid trading automates your strategy by placing multiple buy and sell orders across a price range.

Key features:

• Automated trading — continuously buys low and sells high
• Range-bound strategy — profits from price oscillations
• Hands-off approach — works 24/7 without manual intervention

How grid trading works:

1. Set the price range — define upper and lower price boundaries.
2. Grid distribution — the system places multiple orders across the range.
3. Automatic execution — when orders fill, new orders are placed automatically.
4. Profit capture — each completed cycle captures the spread as profit.

Grid trading benefits:

• Market making — provides liquidity to the market
• Consistent returns — profits from volatility in sideways markets
• Risk management — positions are automatically managed
• Compound growth — profits are reinvested into new grid orders

Best markets for grid trading:

• Range-bound assets with regular volatility
• Markets with predictable support and resistance levels
• Pairs with sufficient trading volume and liquidity

Grid trading works best in volatile but range-bound markets. Trending markets may leave the grid behind if prices move significantly outside the range.

Order Book Terminology

Bid-ask spread — the difference between the highest bid and the lowest ask price. Tighter spreads indicate better liquidity.

Market depth — the total volume of orders at various price levels. Deeper markets can handle larger trades with less price impact.

Top of book — the best bid (highest buy order) and best ask (lowest sell order) prices currently available.

Price levels — specific prices where orders are grouped. Multiple orders at the same price create a price level.

Order size — the quantity of tokens in an order. Larger orders may require multiple matches against smaller orders.