# How to Trade on Liquid

> Place and manage your first trade on Liquid. Learn how to choose a market, read size and margin, set exit orders, confirm a fill, and close a position.

- Canonical: https://www.liquid.trade/learn/how-to-trade-on-liquid
- Published: 2026-10-05
- Updated: 2026-10-06
- Category: Education
- Tags: Guide, Beginner, Trading, Perpetuals, Spot

---

**To place a trade on Liquid, open Trade, choose a market, and complete the order form beside the chart.** Before you submit, check what you are trading, how much exposure you are taking, and how you plan to exit. After you submit, check what filled.

This guide follows a **BTC perpetual trade in the web app**, from market selection to closing the position. The recordings show the controls in use. Their prices, sizes, and exit presets are examples, not suggested trade settings.

A perpetual future, or **perp**, lets you trade an asset's price without owning the asset. Spot trading lets you buy and sell the token itself. A BTC perp does not put Bitcoin in your wallet, and a stock perp does not give you company shares.

If this is your first trade, the [beginner guide](/learn/the-beginners-guide-to-trading) explains how to practice with simulated funds. This tutorial uses the web layout at [app.liquid.trade](https://app.liquid.trade); mobile layouts and controls can differ.

## 1. Open Trade and check your balance

Sign in to the account you want to use, then open **Trade** or the [trading terminal](https://app.liquid.trade/trade). If you need to add funds, follow the [funding guide](/learn/how-to-fund-your-liquid-account) first.

The terminal has four main areas:

- **Market selector:** the asset name at the top-left. Use it to change markets.
- **Chart:** price history for the selected market.
- **Order form:** the controls beside the chart for direction, order type, size, and exits.
- **Account tabs:** Positions, Balances, Open Orders, and history below the chart.

<Image
  src="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/s1-pick-a-market.png"
  alt="Liquid's BTC trading terminal. An arrow points to the market selector at the top-left. The order form is on the right, with account tabs below the chart."
  width={1600}
  height={1000}
  className="not-prose my-10 w-full rounded-xl border border-white/[0.06]"
/>

<p className="not-prose -mt-6 mb-10 text-center text-sm italic text-muted">Start with the market selector at the top-left.</p>

Check **Available to Trade** after you select your market. This is the balance available for that order. Complete any trading setup or balance transfer the app requests before you continue.

## 2. Choose the right market

Select the asset name at the top-left. You can also open search with **⌘K on Mac** or **Ctrl+K on Windows**. Enter an asset name, such as BTC, or use the category filters.

**Check the market type before you select a result.** Search can show different products for the same asset. A leverage badge shows the market's maximum leverage, not the leverage you have chosen for your order.

<CompareTable
  caption="Choose the product that matches your trade"
  columns={["Market", "What you trade", "Check before you enter"]}
  rows={[
    { label: "Crypto perp", values: ["A contract on a token's price; you can go long or short", "Margin mode, leverage, funding, and liquidation estimate"] },
    { label: "Spot", values: ["The token itself; selling uses tokens you hold", "Exact token, available balance, and liquidity"] },
    { label: "Stocks or Pre-IPO", values: ["Price exposure through a contract, rather than company shares", "Contract details, venue, and live market status"] },
    { label: "FX, Commodities, or Indices", values: ["Price exposure to a currency pair, commodity, or index", "Pair direction, trading hours, and leverage cap"] }
  ]}
/>

Prediction markets use event contracts and a separate trading flow. For those, follow [How to trade prediction markets](/learn/how-to-trade-prediction-markets). For more detail on other products, read [What every market on Liquid actually is](/learn/what-every-market-on-liquid-is).

<Clip
  src="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c1-pick-a-market.mp4"
  poster="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c1-pick-a-market.png"
  alt="Open the market selector, search for BTC, and select the BTC perpetual result with the 40x maximum-leverage badge. The market loads its chart, order book, and order form."
  caption="Search for BTC, then select the perpetual market rather than the spot result."
/>

For the steps below, select **BTC perp**. Check that the asset name above the chart and in the order form is BTC. Minimum size, order types, margin rules, and trading hours can differ by market.

## 3. Build, review, and submit your order

### Choose your direction and entry price

On a perp, **Buy / Long** opens or increases exposure that gains when the price rises. **Sell / Short** opens or increases exposure that gains when it falls. If you already hold a position, an opposite order can reduce or reverse it, depending on size. Check **Current Position** first.

Select **Market** or **Limit**:

- **Market** attempts to trade now at available prices. The fill can differ from the chart price because of the spread and slippage. Check the result for the price and quantity that filled.
- **Limit** sets your price boundary. A buy can fill at your limit or lower; a sell can fill at your limit or higher. It can fill at once if matching orders are available, or remain in **Open Orders**. A fill is not guaranteed.

For example, a BTC limit buy at **$80,000** can fill at $80,000 or less. It does not buy at $81,000. Even if the chart reaches $80,000, your order can remain partly or fully unfilled.

The **Advanced** menu contains other order types for the selected market. Learn the Market and Limit controls before using them.

### Set size, leverage, and margin mode

Enter **Size** and check its unit. In Liquid's BTC perp form, **USD size sets the margin you commit**. Leverage turns that margin into a larger position. If you switch to BTC, size is the token quantity of the position. Check **Order Value** and **Margin Required** after changing the unit or leverage.

On a perp, leverage sets how much margin supports that exposure. Adjust leverage, then read **Margin Required** and **Est. Liquidation**. The liquidation estimate is the price at which insufficient margin can cause the position to be closed. It can change as the position and account change.

<Callout variant="info" title="Size and margin are different numbers">
In the BTC perp form, entering $100 in USD Size at 5x leverage shows $100 Margin Required and $500 Order Value. A 1% price move changes gross profit or loss by about $5, or 5% of that margin, before costs. If you keep USD Size at $100 and raise leverage to 10x, exposure rises to $1,000. Use the live form's estimates for your actual trade.
</Callout>

Check the margin mode where offered. **Isolated** allocates margin to that position. **Cross** shares collateral across positions in the relevant margin account, so one position can affect the others. See [cross vs isolated margin](/learn/cross-margin-vs-isolated-margin) before you change it.

Leave **Reduce Only** off for a new position. Enable it when an order must only reduce an existing position. It prevents that order from opening exposure in the opposite direction.

### Set your take-profit and stop-loss

Enable **TP/SL** to add exit orders where supported:

- **Take-profit (TP):** attempts to close at a profit when its trigger is reached.
- **Stop-loss (SL):** attempts to close when the price moves against you to its trigger.

Use a preset or enter a price or percentage. Then read the resulting **trigger prices** and estimated profit or loss. Check those values after changing direction, size, or leverage. A percentage alone does not tell you the dollar loss or exact trigger.

In the BTC perp form, the percentage includes leverage. At 5x, a **5% stop-loss** corresponds to about a **1% adverse price move**. With $100 of margin and $500 of exposure, that is about $5 of loss before costs. It does not mean waiting for BTC to fall 5%.

For a long, a typical take-profit is above entry and a stop-loss is below it. For a short, the directions reverse. The basic entry-form exits use market orders when triggered. Where offered, the position's **TP/SL** editor also supports limit prices and partial exits.

<Callout variant="warn" title="A stop-loss does not guarantee your exit price">
A market stop can fill worse than its trigger price. A limit stop can remain unfilled. Liquidation can occur before an exit completes. Compare your stop trigger with the liquidation estimate, and choose a size whose possible loss you can accept.
</Callout>

### Review before you select Buy or Sell

Check the **market, direction, order type, size unit, order value, margin, leverage, exit triggers, and displayed fee**. For a limit order, check the limit price too.

In the BTC market-order flow below, selecting **Buy BTC** submits the order without a separate confirmation dialog. Finish your review before you select the button.

<Clip
  src="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c2-place-an-order.mp4"
  poster="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c2-place-an-order.png"
  alt="Enter a $12 USD size in the BTC order form, enable TP/SL, and select the 10% take-profit and 5% stop-loss presets. Select Buy BTC. A fill notification appears, followed by the position row and exit markers."
  caption="The recording shows an example order. Check your own values before you submit."
/>

Read the result notification. Check **Positions** for filled perp exposure and **Open Orders** for any unfilled amount. Use **Trade History** to check the execution price and size. For a spot purchase, check **Balances** for the token you bought.

**Confirm your exits too.** Check the position's TP/SL controls and Open Orders for the exit orders. After a partial fill or cancellation, check that the remaining position has the exits you intended. Do not submit the entry again just because the screen has not updated.

## 4. Manage and close your position

Find your perp in **Positions** below the chart. Check its size, profit or loss (**PnL**), margin, liquidation price, and funding where shown. PnL is still unrealized while the position is open.

Perpetual positions can pay or receive funding while you hold them. Read the market's rate and payment timing; these can vary by venue. Funding, execution fees, spread, and slippage affect your result. Check the [fee schedule](https://docs.liquid.trade/trading/fees) for your route. Spot can have venue fees even when Liquid adds no fee.

Use **TP/SL** on the position row to review or change exits. Confirm that the new orders appear after you save.

To close a position:

1. Select **Close** on its row.
2. Choose **Market** to attempt an immediate exit, or **Limit** to set an exit price.
3. Check the quantity. Use **100%** for the full position or a smaller percentage for a partial close.
4. Review the details and submit the close order.
5. Confirm the fill in **Trade History** and check the remaining size in **Positions**.

<Clip
  src="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c3-close-a-position.mp4"
  poster="/images/blog/how-to-trade-on-liquid/c3-close-a-position.png"
  alt="Select Close on the BTC position row. In the Close Position dialog, keep Market selected and the close size at 100%, then select Market Close. A close notification appears and the BTC position row disappears."
  caption="Choose a full or partial exit, then confirm the fill."
/>

**A submitted close order is not the same as a closed position.** A limit close can remain in Open Orders while the position stays open. After a partial close, review the exits for the remaining size. After a full close, check for orders you no longer want, including unfilled entry orders that could open exposure again.

## If an order needs attention

- **Buy or Sell is disabled:** check the minimum, size unit, Available to Trade balance, required fields, and market status. A limit order needs a price.
- **A limit order has not filled:** check Open Orders and the remaining quantity. Review its price before changing or canceling it.
- **No new position appears:** check the result notification, Open Orders, Trade History, and Order History before trying again. For spot, check Balances.
- **TP/SL is missing:** review the position's exit controls and Open Orders. If no exit order exists, set it from the position row and check again.
- **Direction or size is wrong:** use Close to reduce or close the position. If you use the order form, select Reduce Only and check the quantity.
- **The close order is pending:** the position can still be open. Check its remaining size and the unfilled close order before submitting another exit.

If the result remains unclear, use **Support** in the app or [Liquid support](/support). Include the market, order type, size, approximate time, and order ID if available. Never share a private key or recovery phrase.

You have completed the trade when you have confirmed the entry, checked the exit orders, and verified the final close. Use the same checks each time.

[Open Trade and review your order →](https://app.liquid.trade/trade)