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What is a take-profit order?
A take-profit order is an order to close a position automatically once the price reaches a target in your favour. For a coin you hold, it works as a sell limit order placed above the current price: it fills only at the target price or better.
What it means for you
A take-profit fills only if the market actually reaches your price. If the price stops just short and turns, nothing happens. Once it fills, any further rise is not yours. Some platforms link it to a stop-loss so that one cancels the other and some do not; check which, or both can stay live.
How it works
Mechanically it is a limit order. A sell limit order can only execute at the limit price or higher, and a buy limit order, used to take profit on a short position, only at the limit price or lower. A limit order is not guaranteed to execute: it can be filled only if the market price reaches the limit price. Unlike a stop order, it does not turn into a market order when triggered, so it cannot fill at a worse price than the one you set.
An example
Say you buy a coin at $100 and set a take-profit at $130. If the price touches $130, the order sells at $130 or better. If the price peaks at $129 and falls back to $95, the order never fills.
Sources: SEC Investor Bulletin: Understanding Order Types, CFTC Glossary · checked 4 October 2026
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Educational content, not financial advice. Written by hand and checked against the source named above. Something wrong? Tell us and we reply within two business days.