BULK Exchange Order Types: Market, Limit, ALO, IOC, and Conditional Orders

BULK Exchange supports market orders, limit GTC, IOC, and ALO (post-only), plus a full suite of conditional orders. The conditional order system is more sophisticated than most DEXes — trailing stops, on-fill triggers, and OCO range orders are all available.

This guide explains each order type, when to use it, and the fee implications.

Base Order Types

Market Order

Executes immediately at the best available price. Takes liquidity from the order book.

Fee: Taker fee (3.5 bps at Tier 1, lower at higher tiers). No maker rebate.

Use when: Speed is the priority. You need to enter or exit a position immediately regardless of price.

Risk: Slippage on thin order books. The execution price may differ from the displayed mid-market price, especially for large orders.

Limit GTC (Good Till Cancelled)

Rests on the order book at your specified price. Fills when the market reaches your price.

Fee: Maker fee when resting (2.0 bps at Tier 1 post-Genesis; 0 bps during Genesis). Taker fee if the order immediately crosses the book on submission.

Use when: You have a target entry or exit price and are willing to wait. This is the standard order type for most active traders.

Note: If your limit order would immediately execute against the book (i.e., your bid is above the best ask), it executes as a taker. Use ALO to prevent this if you specifically want maker-only execution.

IOC (Immediate or Cancel)

Executes as much as possible immediately at the specified price. Any unfilled portion is cancelled.

Fee: Taker fee for the filled portion. No charge on the cancelled remainder.

Use when: You want to trade at a specific price or better, but don’t want the order resting if it can’t fully fill immediately. Useful for large orders where partial fills at your target price are acceptable.

ALO (Add Liquidity Only / Post-Only)

Executes only if it adds liquidity (rests on the book as a maker). If the order would immediately cross the book (execute as taker), it is cancelled entirely rather than filled.

Fee: Maker fee always. Never taker fee.

Use when: You specifically want maker economics. Essential during the Genesis Phase when maker fees are 0 bps — the ALO order guarantees you never accidentally pay taker fees.

Within the fair ordering system: ALO orders occupy a higher structural priority queue than regular orders. In every batch, ALO orders are processed before regular market and limit orders. This means maker liquidity is on the book before any taker can cross it.

Conditional Orders

Conditional orders are trigger-based orders that stay dormant until a mark price level is reached, then submit to the order book. They run off-exchange until triggered.

Stop-Loss (SL)

A reduce-only market order triggered when mark price reaches the stop level.

Purpose: Close a position automatically when it moves against you.

Example: Long BTC at $65,000, stop-loss at $62,000. If BTC mark price falls to $62,000, your long position closes at the next available price.

Important: The stop-loss triggers on mark price, not last-traded price. This prevents manipulation via small trades that temporarily move the last price without affecting the oracle mark.

Take-Profit (TP)

A reduce-only order (usually limit) triggered when mark price reaches the profit target.

Purpose: Close a position automatically at your target gain level.

Combined use: Almost always used together with a stop-loss as a bracket order. Open position, set SL below entry, set TP above entry. The position manages itself.

Range Order (OCO — One-Cancels-Other)

Sets both a stop-loss and a take-profit simultaneously. When either trigger price is reached, the triggered order executes and the other is cancelled automatically.

Use when: You want to define both maximum loss and target gain for a position at entry. This is the “set it and forget it” approach — you define your risk/reward and the system handles the rest.

Trailing Stop

A stop-loss that moves dynamically with price in your favor.

How it works: Set in basis points from the current price. As price moves in your favor, the trailing stop moves with it. If price reverses by more than the set number of basis points from its high, the stop triggers.

Example: Long BTC at $65,000. Set a trailing stop of 200 bps. BTC rises to $68,000 — your trailing stop is now at $66,640 ($68,000 × 0.98). BTC then falls to $66,500 — the trailing stop triggers and closes the position.

Use when: You want to let winners run while protecting accumulated profits. The trailing stop gives you upside participation while capping your drawdown from the recent high.

On-Fill Orders

Conditional orders that activate only after a parent order fills.

Use when: You want conditional orders to immediately activate the moment a new position opens. Without on-fill orders, you’d need to manually set stops after your entry fills.

Example workflow:

1. Submit a limit buy for BTC at $64,000
2. Attach an on-fill stop-loss at $62,000 and an on-fill take-profit at $67,000
3. When the BTC buy fills, both the stop-loss and take-profit automatically activate

This creates a fully automated entry-to-exit workflow without manual intervention.

Fee Summary by Order Type

Genesis Phase strategy: Use ALO orders for entry. Set conditional orders (stop-loss, TP) for exit. This way, entry is at 0 bps maker cost; only conditional exits pay taker fees. For the first 30 days of mainnet, this is the maximum fee-efficiency approach.

Place your first order → early.bulk.trade

Last updated: June 5, 2026