How maker and taker work
Every trade on an order book has one of each. A limit order priced away from the market waits in the book: when another order hits it, the waiting order is the maker. The incoming order, a market order or a limit order priced to trade at once, is the taker.
The same customer can be a maker on one trade and a taker on the next, and one order can be both: a limit order that fills partly on arrival and rests for the remainder. A post-only order is rejected if it would take, so it only ever makes.
Why exchanges price maker and taker differently
Resting orders are what other customers trade against, so exchanges pay for them with lower fees, and some pay a rebate at the highest volume tiers. Takers pay more for immediate execution.
The matching engine labels each side of every fill, and the fee engine applies the account's tier for that role. Reports and statements show the role, because it explains the fee.
The other meaning of market maker
Market maker also names a firm whose business is to quote buy and sell prices continuously and earn the spread. Such a firm is a maker on most of its trades, but the two uses differ: one is a role in a trade, the other a profession. On decentralised exchanges, an automated market maker is a smart contract that quotes prices from a pool of assets by formula.
Where maker and taker shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Matching engineA low-latency order book for spot markets, with market makers and outside liquidity.
- Market dataLive and historical prices for crypto, stocks and FX, from the data vendors you choose.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.