Read the chart,
place the order.
The trade screen is candles plus a handful of order buttons. Understand both and you know how to use the OKX app.
The four prices in a candle
Each candle covers a time period and shows open, close, high and low.
- Bullish candle: close above open.
- Bearish candle: close below open.
- Body: open-to-close range; longer means more decisive.
- Wicks: the high and low reached; long wicks mean a tug-of-war.
OKX lets you switch between green-up/red-down and red-up/green-down in settings. Check yours first.
Which timeframe?
| Timeframe | One candle = | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1m / 15m | 1 or 15 minutes | Scalping — not for beginners |
| 1h / 4h | 1 or 4 hours | Direction over a few days |
| Daily | One day | Beginners: the big picture |
| Weekly | One week | Long-term holders |
Use the daily chart for direction and the 4-hour chart for entries. Don’t trade off the 1-minute chart.
Reading volume
- Rising price, rising volume: real buying interest.
- Rising price, falling volume: momentum may be fading.
- Huge volume + long lower wick: a classic “wick” where panic selling was absorbed.
These are rules of thumb, not signals.
Limit vs market orders
| Limit order | Market order | |
|---|---|---|
| How it fills | Only at your price or better | Immediately at the best available price |
| Fees | Maker rate when resting on the book — cheaper | Taker rate |
| Pros | Price control, lower fees | Guaranteed, fast fill |
| Cons | May never fill | Slippage in fast markets |
| Use it for | Everyday buys, buying dips | Urgent exits, stop-losses |
Regular users pay 0.08% maker / 0.10% taker on spot. Rest limit orders and add the 20% referral discount: maker drops to 0.064%.
Sign up with the referral link or enter code OK66688 — practice free in demo mode, then trade live with 20% off fees for life
Setting take-profit and stop-loss
- Tick “TP/SL” on the order form (or add it to an open position).
- Take-profit trigger: sell automatically to lock gains.
- Stop-loss trigger: sell automatically to cap losses.
- Choose market or limit execution — market is safer for stops.
A simple rule: risk no more than 2% of your account per trade. With 1,000 USDT, a stop should cost at most 20 USDT; size the position from that.
Trigger, trailing and more
| Type | What it does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger order | Places an order once price hits a level | Buy a dip / chase a breakout |
| Trailing stop | Sells after price retraces by a set % | Let winners run |
| Iceberg | Splits a large order into small slices | Big trades, less impact |
| TWAP | Executes evenly over time | Building or trimming size |
| Price alert | Notifies you; places no order | Watching a level |
Try them all in demo mode first.
Charts & orders
FAQ.
01Why didn’t my limit order fill?
Price never reached your level. Cancel and re-place it at a new price if needed.
02Why was my market order filled at a different price?
Market orders take the best available prices; in fast markets or with large size, they walk the book and slip.
03Can a stop-loss fail?
In extreme moves, price can gap through your trigger; limit-executed stops may not fill. Market execution is safer.
04Is maker always cheaper than taker?
For regular OKX users, yes — and both are 20% cheaper for accounts opened with the referral link.
05Does technical analysis work?
It’s a probability tool for planning entries, exits and stops, not a prediction machine.
Keep reading,
related tutorials.
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