Matching Logic for Individual and Institutional Limit Orders
As long as your limit order price crosses with the counterparty’s market or limit price meaning your bid is greater than or equal to their ask, or your ask is less than or equal to their bid the system automatically completes the match based on the price-time priority principle. The exchange’s matching engine does not differentiate between retail and institutional orders.
The Core of Matching: Price Time Priority
Price Priority: The highest buy bid and the lowest sell ask get filled first.
Time Priority: At the same price point, the order that hits the exchange first gets filled first.
Retail and institutional orders are treated as equals under these rules. The only institutional advantages are faster execution speeds, earlier order placement, or using algorithms to split large orders into smaller ones. They do not have a “VIP lane” regarding priority.
Step 1: Immediate Check for the Best Price
When the matching engine sees your buy limit order, it is immediately matched and filled against a sell order issued by our institution.
When the matching engine sees your sell limit order, it is immediately matched and filled against a buy order issued by our institution.
Step 2: Order Execution Triggered by Price Overlap
Once an individual buy limit order is submitted, the institutional account issues a sell limit order at a price lower than the bid to ensure the match and execution. Once an individual sell limit order is submitted, the institutional account issues a buy limit order at a price higher than the ask to ensure the match and execution.
