An open order is a limit order that you've placed but hasn't been fully matched yet. These orders sit in Polymarket's orderbook, waiting for another trader to accept your price—or they stay open until you cancel them.
An open order is a limit order that you've placed but hasn't been fully matched yet. These orders sit in Polymarket's orderbook, waiting for another trader to accept your price—or they stay open until you cancel them.
An open order is any limit order you've placed on Polymarket that hasn't yet been fully executed. When you create a limit order—specifying a price at which you're willing to buy or sell a prediction market share—that order enters the orderbook and waits there. The order remains open as long as it's still waiting for a match and hasn't been canceled or completely filled. This is distinct from a market order, which executes immediately at the best available price, or from a filled order, which has already been completely matched.
Open orders are fundamental to how prediction markets function. Unlike traditional financial markets where you can place orders on stocks or crypto and walk away, prediction markets move quickly as new information emerges. Your open order represents a specific belief about a market's future probability—it's a commitment to trade at your chosen price. If the market is trading at 55¢ but you believe the true probability is lower, placing an open order at 50¢ allows you to scale into your position patiently rather than market-buying at the higher current price. This mechanism encourages efficient price discovery because open orders in the orderbook reflect traders' true convictions about different probabilities.
On Polymarket, you can view all your open orders in the My Activity panel under Open Orders. When you place a buy order at a specific price, that order appears there immediately. You'll see the market name, the side you're trading (yes or no), the price you specified, and the size. As traders in the market fill parts or all of your order, you'll see the size matched update in real-time. You can also partially cancel an open order if you change your mind—reducing the remaining size that's still waiting to be matched. This flexibility lets you adjust your position as the market evolves and as new information changes your conviction.
A frequent misconception is that open orders are urgent or time-sensitive. In reality, an open order on Polymarket will sit in the orderbook indefinitely until it's matched, canceled, or the market resolves. Another pitfall is placing open orders at prices that are unrealistic relative to the current market—if you're trying to buy at 20¢ when everyone is trading at 60¢, your order may never fill. Additionally, traders sometimes forget about their open orders, only to be surprised when they execute hours or days later after market movements. It's important to monitor your open orders and cancel them if your thesis changes, rather than leaving stale orders lingering in the book.
Open orders are closely related to several other trading concepts on Polymarket. The orderbook itself is the collective record of all open orders waiting to be matched. Market orders, by contrast, execute immediately against the best open orders already in the book. Partially filled orders are a special case of open orders—they've had some but not all of their size matched, and the remainder continues waiting. Understanding the difference between these concepts helps traders use Polymarket more effectively.
Suppose you believe the market 'Will Bitcoin reach $100,000 by end of 2026?' is overpriced at 65¢, and you think it should be trading at 60¢. You place an open order to sell 50 shares at 60¢. Your order sits in the orderbook waiting for a buyer willing to pay that price. Two hours later, another trader places a market buy order that matches against your open order, and your 50 shares are sold at 60¢.