What you need to know about crypto good till cancelled orders in 2026

A good till cancelled order is an instruction you place with an exchange that stays active until it either fills or you cancel it. In crypto, where trading runs 24/7 and price moves can be sudden, this type of order helps you target a specific price without sitting in front of the screen all day. It links naturally with wider strategies such as swing trading, grid trading, and automated bots that rely on clear rules about how long orders should live.

This guide is for anyone who places manual orders on exchanges, uses trading bots, or builds on-chain strategies. You will see how good till cancelled orders work, when to use them, what trade-offs they involve, and how to integrate them into automated trading.

Understanding how a good till cancelled order works

A good till cancelled order is not a separate way to buy or sell. It is a time instruction attached to an order, usually a limit order or a stop order. You define the price and size, and you mark it as good till cancelled. The exchange keeps the order resting on the book until one of two things happens. Either the market trades against your price and fills the order, or you step in and cancel it.

In centralized exchanges, the order lives inside the exchange’s matching engine database. It does not settle on-chain until the trade executes and the exchange updates its internal ledger. On decentralized exchanges that use on-chain order books, such as some perps platforms, the order itself is a transaction recorded on the blockchain. Cancellation is a second transaction. In systems that use off-chain order books with on-chain settlement, like some rollups, the order may be stored off-chain but settle on-chain when matched.

On protocols that focus on intent-based trading, such as CoW Swap, the idea is similar but the mechanics differ. You sign an order that expresses your desired outcome and that order can remain valid for a period you define. Solvers try to execute it under those conditions. Functionally it behaves like a good till cancelled instruction, because the order persists until filled or expired, but the execution is handled through routing and batch settlement rather than a classic central order book.

The main difference between this time-in-force instruction and others is its duration. A day order expires at the end of the trading day on traditional markets. Immediate or cancel and fill or kill orders expire as soon as they cannot be filled on the spot. A good till cancelled order remains valid over many sessions or, in crypto, across arbitrary time until the platform’s maximum allowed period or your own manual cancellation.

When to use a good till cancelled order

A good till cancelled order works best when you have a clear price in mind and are willing to wait. Swing traders often set buy orders well below the current price to catch pullbacks and set sell orders above to take profit from spikes. Position traders may enter a long-term buy order at a key support level and leave it in place for weeks.

Institutions and funds use this type of order to build or unwind positions gradually. They may layer multiple good till cancelled limit orders at different prices, letting the market come to them over time. Market makers often use persistent orders as part of their quoting strategy, though they usually adjust and cancel them frequently as conditions change.

Bots and algorithmic systems also rely on this instruction. A grid bot, for example, can create a series of good till cancelled limit orders at predefined price intervals. A mean reversion strategy may park resting orders at statistically important levels. In these cases, the persistence of the order is part of the logic: once the bot posts an order, it expects it to stay active without expiring randomly.

Common parameters include the price, quantity, and sometimes an explicit expiration time. Many exchanges still label orders as good till cancelled even if they cap the lifetime at 30 to 90 days. On-chain systems might encode a block number or timestamp after which the order can no longer be executed. As a trader you should always understand the actual lifetime rules of your platform.

Advantages and trade-offs

The main advantage is convenience. You can define your target price and let the order sit until the market hits it, instead of resubmitting the same order every day. This is especially useful in crypto, where price can reach your level in the middle of the night. It also supports discipline. Once you set a good till cancelled order for taking profit or cutting loss, you are less tempted to change your mind in the heat of the moment.

There are trade-offs. A long-lived order can become inappropriate if the market structure changes. An old buy order far below current value may suddenly fill after a crash when the asset is no longer attractive. Forgotten orders are a real risk. Platforms that auto-expire after a fixed period try to protect users from this, but that can conflict with strategies that expect orders to last longer.

Because the order rests on the book, it is visible to other participants on most centralized and on-chain exchanges. This can invite front-running or adverse selection, especially in thin markets. In contrast, some order types that demand immediate execution may face less exposure but at the cost of fewer fills.

Compared with day orders, good till cancelled orders increase reliability for longer strategies because you do not depend on daily renewals. Compared with immediate or cancel and fill or kill, they sacrifice speed and certainty of immediate outcome in favor of patiently waiting for the right price. The flexibility comes from your control over both price and duration, but that also increases the need for careful setup.

How good till cancelled orders fit into automated trading

In automated trading, the good till cancelled instruction is a core building block. Algorithmic strategies define conditions for placing and canceling orders. Once the bot posts an order as good till cancelled, it treats it as open until one of its rules triggers a cancellation or modification.

On centralized exchanges, bots use the API to create and cancel these orders. They monitor the order book and trade feed to see if the order fills. On decentralized exchanges, smart contracts might post on-chain orders or sign off-chain expressions of intent. The strategy then waits for executors or solvers to fill those orders when prices reach the specified levels.

Market makers lean on persistent orders to maintain two-sided markets. Aggregators route flow by scanning available resting orders across many venues and matching user trades against the best ones. A good till cancelled order can sit at a competitive price and capture this routed flow over time.

Time-in-force flags, such as good till cancelled, work together with price triggers and liquidity routing. A stop-limit order, for instance, may have a trigger price that converts it into a live limit order, which then remains good till cancelled until filled. In intent-based systems, your signed order can include both price boundaries and an end time, after which solvers must ignore it.

Comparing good till cancelled orders to other order types

To place this order in context, think of two dimensions: execution condition and lifespan. Market orders focus on immediate execution at the best available price, with no need for a lifespan instruction. Limit and stop orders focus on price, and time-in-force settings define how long they remain valid.

A day limit order behaves like a good till cancelled order with a very short fuse. It suits intraday traders who do not want positions opened overnight. Immediate or cancel orders cancel any unfilled portion immediately. They are useful for grabbing liquidity without leaving leftover size resting on the book. Fill or kill orders only execute if they can be filled in full at once, which suits some large trades that avoid partial exposure.

Choose a good till cancelled order when price is more important than immediate execution and you are comfortable waiting. Choose shorter-lived instructions when timing, session boundaries, or execution style matter more.

Practical tips for using good till cancelled orders effectively

Keep a clear record of all open good till cancelled orders. Review them regularly, especially after major market moves, to confirm they still match your view and risk tolerance. If the fundamentals or volatility of an asset change, revisit your resting orders.

When setting prices, avoid leaving orders at obvious round numbers where many others are likely to cluster. Slight adjustments can improve fill priority and reduce crowding. For on-chain orders, factor gas fees and potential front-running into your decision. Very small resting orders can be uneconomic if fees are high.

For risk management, pair good till cancelled entries with good till cancelled exits. If you place a buy order that might fill while you are offline, also define a take-profit and a stop strategy so that the position is not unmanaged. Advanced users can link their bots to automatically adjust or cancel orders when volatility or liquidity shifts beyond predefined thresholds.

Beginners should start with small position sizes and a limited number of open orders. This keeps the system understandable and reduces the chance of surprise fills. More advanced traders can experiment with layered grids, but should always log their rules and test them on historical data where possible.

Conclusion

A good till cancelled order keeps your instruction active until it is filled or you cancel it. In crypto’s continuous markets, it helps you catch price levels that might appear at any time and supports disciplined, rule-based trading.

Understanding how this time-in-force setting interacts with limit and stop orders, with on-chain and off-chain execution, and with automated strategies can improve your execution quality. You gain better control over when and how your trades happen, rather than reacting to every move in real time.

If this concept is clear, the next step is to explore other order instructions such as immediate or cancel, fill or kill, and various stop and trigger designs. Knowing when to use each one is a key part of building a robust trading approach.

FAQ

What is a good till cancelled order?

A good till cancelled order is a time instruction attached to an order (usually a limit or stop order) that stays active on the exchange until it either gets filled at your specified price or you manually cancel it. Unlike day orders that expire at the end of a trading session, good till cancelled orders can remain open for weeks or even months, making them ideal for crypto's 24/7 markets where price movements can happen at any time.

When should I use a good till cancelled order instead of other order types?

Use a good till cancelled order when you have a specific target price in mind and are willing to wait for the market to reach that level. This is particularly useful for swing trading strategies, catching pullbacks, taking profits from price spikes, or building positions gradually over time. Choose this over shorter-lived orders when price is more important than immediate execution and you're comfortable waiting for the right market conditions.

What are the main risks of using good till cancelled orders?

The primary risks include forgotten orders that may fill inappropriately after market conditions change, and old orders becoming unsuitable if the asset's fundamentals shift. Since these orders rest visibly on the order book, they can also be subject to front-running or adverse selection in thin markets. Additionally, an old buy order set far below current prices might suddenly execute after a crash when the asset is no longer attractive.

How do good till cancelled orders work in automated trading systems?

In automated trading, good till cancelled orders serve as core building blocks for algorithmic strategies. Bots use APIs on centralized exchanges or smart contracts on decentralized platforms to create these persistent orders. The automated system monitors for fills and applies programmed rules to cancel or modify orders when conditions change. This is essential for strategies like grid trading, market making, and mean reversion, where orders need to remain active without random expiration.

What practical steps should I take when using good till cancelled orders?

Keep a detailed record of all open orders and review them regularly, especially after major market moves. Avoid placing orders at obvious round numbers where many others are likely to cluster. Slight adjustments can improve fill priority and reduce crowding. For on-chain orders, factor gas fees and potential front-running into your decision. Very small resting orders can be uneconomic if fees are high.