How to trade on Cryptowatch
This guide explains how to submit trades using Cryptowatch's trading interface. Learn how to use the trading form and edit existing orders.
Interact with markets in real-time using the trading form (right).
A major benefit to trading on the Cryptowatch platform versus the interface of your exchange's site is the ability to submit trades and do technical analysis at the same time.
Before placing an order, you will need:
- Multi-factor Authentication. You will need to set up MFA before trading - it only takes a minute and helps to secure your account. Set up MFA on Cryptowatch now.
- An API connection to your exchange. If you have not connected your exchange account to Cryptowatch, you'll need to import an API key — this is a lot easier than you might expect.
To place an order:
- 1.Go to the chart for a market you want to trade, like BTC/USD on Kraken.
- 2.Expand the trading panel located on the far right side of the window
- 3.Enter the details of your order in to the form and click
Review & Buy/Sell.
Below is an ordered list of the fields and functions found in the trading form.
Keep in mind that the options available on Cryptowatch's trading form conform to the trading features of the exchange/market. Some features present on Kraken's BTC/USD market, for example, may not be present elsewhere.
The trading panel is available via the utility belt (right) or the hotkey P.
1. Action — Buy or Sell
Action | Function |
Buy |
|
Sell |
|
2. Type — determines the order type, which varies depending on the exchange. Note: not all order types supported by exchanges are currently available on Cryptowatch.
3. Leverage — determines the amount of leverage used for a margin order. Note: not all exchanges support leveraged trading.
4. Funds — calculated based on your account balance. Any funds locked up in open orders will be reflected in the amount displayed in the Funds field. Funds displayed here pertain to the market you are viewing and the direction of your order.
Example: The order is to
BUY and you are in BTC/USD = USD Funds are displayed. Switching the order to SELL will display your BTC funds available for selling.The Funds box may display an icon in it visualizing your available funds vs your total wallet balance. Available funds are not being used for margin or held to cover open orders. Hover over the pill for more details, as shown below.
Cryptowatch can differentiate between total and available funds.
5. Quantity — determines the volume of the asset to be traded. Can be adjusted with
↑ and ↓ keys.6. Price — determines the specific price for the order. With certain order types (e.g. limit, stop loss, take profit), you are able to input a specific price in this input field. If opening a market order, the best available price will auto-populate the input field. Can be adjusted with
↑ and ↓ keys.There are a number of ways you can input a price into the trading form. The depth chart and order book methods are described in more detail below:
Method | Description |
Manual entry | Type a price in the price field manually |
Price Chart | Shift+click any point on the price chart to enter that price into the trading form |
Depth Chart | Click any point on the depth chart to enter that price into the trading form |
Order book | Click any point in the order book to enter that price into the trading form |
You can also use the Price Offset function instead of a static price. The
+ or - buttons let you program your order to trigger at a price or percentage relative to the current market price.7. Total — calculates the total cost of the order. In short: Quantity x Price = Total (trading fees are not included in this calculation).
You can use the total field as an input when you're creating your order. When you do, a small 
will appear next to the field that has been adjusted to meet the new total amount:
In this image, the Quantity is being calculated from the Price and Total fields.
8. Advanced (toggle switch) — toggles advanced trading features if any are available.
9. Conditional Close — creates an opposing order for closing a position at the same time that the order for opening the position is created. The conditional close order's direction is always opposite the primary order (e.g. if the primary order is a buy, the conditional close will be a sell).
The conditional close option creates a new order after the primary order triggers. It does not allow two trigger conditions for a single order.
10. Start — set a custom time for the order to become active. Until an order is active, it cannot be filled or have its trigger conditions met (such as with a stop loss order). The Start options are
Now and Custom. Selecting Custom opens a calendar for date and time selection. 11. Expiry — set a custom time for the order to cancel (expire). Options include:
Expiry | Description |
Good until cancelled | No expiry — you must cancel the order manually |
Good this day | Order cancels at the end of the day |
Good this week | Order cancels at the end of the week |
Good this month | Order cancels at the end of the month |
Custom Expiry | Order cancels at a specific date and time. Set this date/time during order creation |
12. Fee Currency — Available on Kraken markets. The fee currency selector lets you choose which currency you prefer to pay exchange's fees with. Options are limited to the base and quote currency of the current market.
Keep in mind that fee currency selection is a preference. The system will retrieve fees from your account in another currency if the options presented are not available.
13. Reset — Clear the fields in the trading form.
14. Review & Buy/Sell — Once you click the
Review & Buy or Review & Sell button an order confirmation screen will appear by default. You can use this opportunity to review the order for any errors. Order confirmations can be disabled in the Trading Preferences menu, in the top-right of the trading form.Once you confirm the order, it becomes active. You may need to wait for the market to satisfy the conditions of your order before it is filled (market orders are virtually instantaneous).
You can submit orders quickly by clicking on any price level in the depth chart and order book.
You can click anywhere on the depth Chart to create an order at that price. Keep in mind you will still have to program the rest of the order manually:
Clicking anywhere on the Depth Chart (left-most panel) will auto-fill the price of your order.
You can also click on other orders in the order book to create an order at that price:
Clicking anywhere in the Order Book (middle panel) will auto-fill the price of your order, too.
You can edit an open order by clicking the order's circle on the price chart or depth chart, then clicking
Replace Order in the trade panel. - 1.Select the open order you would like to edit from under the Orders tab. The details of the order will appear.
- 2.Next, click the
Replace Orderbutton. The order details will become editable in the trading from. - 3.Input the details of the new order and click the
Replace Buy/Sellbutton. - 4.Your part is done! The initial order will be canceled and replaced with this new, revised order.
Use the replace order button to adjust orders on the fly.
You can change the price of an open order by clicking its dot on the price chart's y-axis and dragging up or down.
- 1.Find the open order on the chart's y-axis.
- 2.Next, click and drag the order up or down the axis. Notice the how the price updates in the trading form.
- 3.Continue to revise your order using the trading form.
- 4.Click the
Replace Buy/Sellbutton, orEnteron your keyboard. The system will cancel your previous order and replace it with the revised version.
The My Orders option, found under the settings menu in My Activity, must be enabled to edit open orders via the chart.