Order Book
List of all active buy and sell orders — the heart of every exchange.
The order book is a list of all active limit orders to buy (bid) and sell (ask) a specific pair on an exchange, sorted by price.
Structure:
•Asks (sell orders) — red, above market price, sorted from lowest to highest
•Bids (buy orders) — green, below market price, sorted from highest to lowest
•Spread — difference between best ask and best bid price
•Mid price — midpoint between ask and bid
What the order book reveals:
•Where liquidity is — "walls" are order concentrations that can slow the price
•Imbalance — many more bids = upward pressure
•Spoofing — fake orders quickly withdrawn (manipulation)
On CEX (Binance): every order visible. On DEX: AMM automatically determines price through liquidity pools.