What is a taker?
A taker is the party that immediately matches and trades against a quote already in the order book. The order book records unfilled buy and sell quotes and their quantities. A taker accepts one of these quotes and trades the corresponding quantity instead of posting a quote and waiting.
How does a taker execution happen?
One party first posts a quote in the book, and another submits an order that can match it. The trading system pairs them. The party that submits later and takes the existing quote has a taker execution.
For example, suppose the book contains a sell order for 2 units at 100 USDT. A trader submits an order that can buy 1 unit at that price. After execution, 1 unit remains on the original sell order. The buyer is the taker for this trade; the party that posted the sell order first is the maker. USDT is the quote asset here. The example assumes unchanged quotes and executable orders; the figures are not live market data.
Sellers can also be takers: when a sell order matches an existing bid, the seller is the taker. Taking describes accepting an existing quote, not necessarily buying.
An execution consumes the corresponding quoted quantity in the book, so this is also called taking liquidity. Liquidity here means the ability to trade at the relevant prices; it does not mean the asset disappears from the entire market.
Which orders have taker executions?
A market order attempts to execute as quickly as possible at currently available quotes. Executions that immediately match existing quotes are taker executions. A limit order also takes liquidity if its price permits.
For example, when the lowest ask is 100, a buy order with a limit of 101 can immediately match a sell order at 100. That portion is a taker execution. The limit is the buyer’s maximum acceptable price, not a requirement to wait in a queue first.
An order may also first have a partial taker execution, with the remainder entering the book to wait and later having a maker execution. Market and limit describe an order’s price requirements; maker and taker describe actual execution roles. They are not interchangeable.
How are taker fees calculated?
Taker executions incur the applicable taker rate, with the amount calculated from the executed quantity, price or contract specifications. Account tiers and trading products may have different rates. The label “taker” alone does not imply a fixed percentage.
If an order has several executions, fees may be recorded separately in the execution details. Unfilled quantity does not incur execution-based fees. Being a taker also does not guarantee completion of the entire order: quoted quantities and trading restrictions still affect the outcome.
If an order uses several price levels, its average execution price may differ from the reference price before submission. This price deviation is discussed under slippage; it is not an additional taker fee. The distance between the bid and ask is the bid-ask spread, not a charge calculated at the taker rate either.
Related terms
Explore makers, market orders and limit orders, or return to the crypto glossary.
References
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