Order Book & Depth
An order book is a live list of buy orders (bids) and sell orders (asks) at different price levels. It works like a CEX “central limit order book”, except on Hyperswap it’s fully on-chain and match…
What is an order book?
An order book is a live list of buy orders (bids) and sell orders (asks) at different price levels. It works like a CEX “central limit order book”, except on Hyperswap it’s fully on-chain and matches orders using price–time priority (best price first, then earliest order).
In the Terminal, the Order Book table helps you see:
- The best bid (highest buy) and best ask (lowest sell)
- The spread (ask − bid): tighter spread usually means better liquidity
- Where liquidity is stacked at each price level
What is “Order Book Depth”?
Order Book Depth is a visual way to understand market liquidity.
Instead of showing individual levels like a table, the depth view shows the cumulative size of orders:
- Bid depth = total buy liquidity available as price moves down
- Ask depth = total sell liquidity available as price moves up
A depth chart is essentially a graph of the order book, showing how much volume is waiting to buy/sell at each price zone.
Why depth matters (the practical part)
Depth helps you estimate slippage and market impact before you place an order:
- Thick depth near the current price → large orders fill with less slippage
- Thin depth → price moves more easily, fills can be worse
- Liquidity “walls” (big stacks) → potential support/resistance zones
- Imbalance (more bids than asks, or vice versa) → short-term pressure signals
How to read the depth overlay quickly
- Steep curve = lots of liquidity packed close to price (good for execution)
- Flat curve = low liquidity (expect slippage)
- Sudden steps = concentrated liquidity at specific levels (“walls”)
- Wide spread + thin depth = higher execution cost risk