Spoofing
Glossary · Market Structure
Spoofing is placing large orders with no intention of filling them, to make one side of the book look heavier and push traders into reacting, then cancelling them before they trade. It is illegal on regulated venues and common on unregulated ones. The tell is size that appears, moves price by its presence and vanishes when approached.
"A wall of bids appears three ticks below, everyone feels safe, then price dips, the wall disappears and the safety was never there."
Order books are watched by algorithms that trade against visible imbalance, so a fake 300 BTC bid can lift price a few ticks purely by existing. The spoofer sells into that lift and pulls the bid. The pattern repeats at round numbers and just outside the current range, where it is most visible. Modern spoofing is layered — several orders at staggered prices — and short-lived, which is why a static depth chart flatters it.
The defence is to trade what fills, not what is displayed: taker flow and actual prints tell you who is really buying; the depth chart tells you who wants you to think so. A level defended by real absorption keeps filling and refreshing; a spoofed level evaporates the moment price gets close. Our whale tape only counts executed prints for exactly this reason.
Executed whale prints, not displayed size
Related jargon
Questions
- What is Spoofing in crypto trading?
- Spoofing is placing large orders with no intention of filling them, to make one side of the book look heavier and push traders into reacting, then cancelling them before they trade. It is illegal on regulated venues and common on unregulated ones. The tell is size that appears, moves price by its presence and vanishes when approached.
- How would a trader say it?
- A wall of bids appears three ticks below, everyone feels safe, then price dips, the wall disappears and the safety was never there.
Part of the Crypto Jargon glossary — every term, decoded the way a trader would say it.
Crypto Jargon
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