What is instant buy?

The one-click purchase flow that sells you crypto at a quoted price instead of placing an order on the exchange's book.

It is the simplest way to buy and normally the most expensive, because the quote carries a markup that the published fee schedule may not show. The same account can usually trade the same asset on the order book instead.

Almost every major exchange runs both. The simple flow is the default view in the mobile app, and the order book sits behind a tab labeled something like advanced, pro, or trade. Switching between them costs nothing and requires no extra verification, which is why the price difference is worth understanding once.

How it works

In an instant buy, the exchange or its brokerage arm quotes you a price and you accept or decline it. There is no order book interaction on your side. The venue takes the other side and hedges its own exposure however it chooses.

The total cost has up to three components, and only the first is always disclosed clearly.

1. A stated fee, sometimes a flat amount for small purchases and a percentage above a threshold.
2. A spread built into the quoted price, meaning the rate you are shown is already worse than the market mid. This is where the bulk of the cost usually sits, and many venues describe it in help documentation rather than on the fee page.
3. A payment method charge, which for card purchases is typically the largest single component.

The order book route replaces all of that with an explicit maker or taker fee plus whatever spread the market itself shows. For liquid assets that market spread is a few basis points, against a built-in spread that can be a hundred times larger.

What you get in exchange for the markup is genuine: an instant fill at a known price, no order types to understand, and no risk of an order sitting unfilled. For a small purchase the absolute difference may be a couple of dollars.

Example

Illustrative arithmetic on a $500 purchase. Through a simple buy flow with a 1.5 percent quoted spread and a 1.0 percent stated fee, you pay $12.50 in total cost and receive about $487.50 of the asset. Through the same account's order book, paying an illustrative 0.40 percent taker fee and crossing a 0.05 percent market spread, you pay about $2.25 and receive roughly $497.75. The difference on one $500 purchase is around $10. Repeated monthly for a year, it is about $120 on $6,000 deployed.

Why it matters when you buy

This is the single largest avoidable cost for most first-time buyers, and it is invisible unless you compare the quote to the market price at the same moment. The fee comparison estimates all-in cost by venue and purchase size, the liquidity view shows the real spread on each exchange we measure, and how crypto exchanges make money explains where the markup goes.

Related terms

• spread: the markup hidden inside a quote
• order book: the cheaper route on the same account
• market order: the order type that replaces an instant buy
• limit order: setting your own price instead
• maker taker fee: the explicit fee on the book
• broker: the model an instant buy flow follows

Questions

Why is the price different from the chart?

The chart usually shows the order book market. An instant buy quote adds a spread on top of it, so the two are not expected to match.

Is the order book harder to use?

It has a few more controls, and for a straightforward purchase you need one: a market order, or a limit order at a price you choose. The limit versus market orders guide covers the difference.

Does the markup ever make sense?

For very small purchases the absolute difference is small, and the simpler flow avoids mistakes. As the amount grows, the percentage cost grows with it and the case weakens quickly.