If you noticed your trade filled at a slightly different price than displayed, had trouble buying or selling a particular coin, or saw a message about price movement — this article explains why that happens and what you can do.
Why did my trade fill at a different price?
This is called slippage. It happens when the price moves between the moment you place a trade and when it actually executes. The larger your trade, or the thinner the market, the more slippage you may experience.
Coinstash sources prices from multiple liquidity providers in real time. For popular coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum, prices are very stable and slippage is rarely noticeable. For smaller or less-traded coins, prices can move more quickly.
Why is it harder to buy or sell some coins?
Every coin has a different level of liquidity — essentially, how many buyers and sellers are active in the market at any given time.
High liquidity coins (e.g. BTC, ETH) — millions of dollars of orders on both sides of the market at all times. Large trades fill easily at predictable prices.
Low liquidity coins — far fewer active orders. A relatively small trade can move the price noticeably, making it harder to buy or sell at the price you expected.
Think of it like a busy supermarket versus a small market stall. At the supermarket, buying in bulk barely makes a dent. At the market stall, buying everything on the table immediately changes what is available and what the seller will charge next.
What is market depth?
Market depth shows how much buying or selling interest exists near the current price:
+2% depth — the value of buy orders sitting just below the current price
-2% depth — the value of sell orders sitting just above the current price
A coin with only a few thousand dollars of depth on each side is considered thin. A trade worth more than roughly 5-10% of the available depth is likely to experience noticeable slippage.
Common situations and what they mean
My trade filled higher than the price I saw — the price moved slightly while your order was processing, or your order size pushed through the available liquidity. This is normal for smaller coins.
I can only buy a small amount of this coin — the coin has low liquidity and Coinstash limits trade sizes to protect you from significant slippage.
The price changed right after I bought — your trade may have consumed available sell orders, temporarily moving the price. This is a sign of a thin market.
I cannot find this coin to buy — the coin may not be listed on Coinstash, or may be temporarily unavailable due to network or liquidity issues.
What can I do?
For smaller coins, consider breaking large trades into smaller amounts over time to reduce slippage.
Check the coin's current availability and any notices on the Coinstash app before trading.
If your trade filled at a price significantly different from what you expected, contact our support team and we can investigate.
Still have questions?
Our support team is available via the chat icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. When you reach out, let us know the coin you were trading, the amount, and the approximate time of the trade — this helps us look into it quickly.