Slippage
The difference between the price you expected on a trade and the price it actually executed at.
Slippage is the gap between the price you saw and the price you got. It happens when a market moves between order and fill, or when your order is too large for the available liquidity and eats deeper into the book. A buy fills higher than planned; a sell fills lower.
It bites hardest in fast markets and thin coins. Decentralized exchanges let you set a slippage tolerance, often 0.5% to 1%, to cap the damage; set it too tight and the trade fails, too loose and bots can sandwich you. Either way, slippage is a real, recurring cost.
Related terms
How easily an asset can be bought or sold near its current price without moving that price much.
Market OrderAn instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best price currently available in the market.
SpreadThe gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask, a basic measure of trading cost and liquidity.
Automated Market Maker (AMM)A pricing algorithm that lets a token pool quote and settle trades automatically, replacing the traditional order book of buyers and sellers.