Why did my Margin Auto Close (TP/SL) trigger at a different price than I expected?

Summary
This article explains why your margin Auto Close ("Take-Profit" or "Stop-Loss") might trigger at a price different from the last traded price. Auto Close monitors the order book's best bid or ask instead of the last traded price to ensure the best possible execution. Learn how this works, review a practical example, and understand what happens during a liquidation.

When trading on margin, you might notice that your Auto Close orders trigger at a price that does not exactly match the last traded price on the Bitvavo exchange or external charts. This happens because Auto Close monitors the order book rather than the last traded price.

How Auto Close monitors the order book

Auto Close does not watch the last traded price. Instead, it watches the order book. Specifically:

• For a short position, your "Stop-Loss" and "Take-Profit" are checked against the best ask (the lowest price someone is currently willing to sell at).
• For a long position, they are checked against the best bid (the highest price someone is currently willing to buy at).

This is a small but important difference, and it can explain two things customers often ask about:

• Why the closing price does not match the price on the Bitvavo exchange or an external chart (CoinMarketCap, TradingView, etc.). These candle charts plot the last trade price, not the order book.
• Why the price that triggered the close does not appear anywhere in the market's trade history. The best bid or ask can briefly reach a level without a trade actually happening there.

Spread and slippage protection

Regular "Take-Profit" and "Stop-Loss" orders benefit from the exact same spread and slippage protection applied to manual position opens and closes. This ensures your order is settled under the most favorable market conditions possible.

Why use the best bid or ask?

The last traded price only tells you what someone else paid a moment ago. It does not tell you what price is actually available to you right now. The order book provides this real-time availability.

Using the best bid or ask is also the more conservative, protective choice:

• It reflects the price your position could realistically be closed at if the market moved that far.
• For most customers, this works in their favor. Your "Stop-Loss" or "Take-Profit" checks the price at which you could get the best execution, rather than waiting for a trade to print at an unfavorable level.

Worked examples

Transaction history explanation

When a position is closed or liquidated, you receive a transaction overview. Here is the exact meaning of each label in the overview:

• Top (€8.40 / 0.01729249 BTC): This is the residual value of the trade. This is the amount that remained from your original investment after the liquidation and the deduction of all fees.
• "Status" (Liquidated): The trade was not voluntarily closed by you, but automatically by the system. The value of the position dropped so far that your own investment (margin) was almost depleted. The system closed the position to protect the borrowed funds.
• "Realized returns" (-€91.60): Your actual, final loss on this trade. You started with €100, and you had €8.40 left. Your loss is therefore exactly €91.60. This amount is the sum of the price loss plus all paid trading fees and interest.
• "Received" (€8.40): The remaining amount that was actually refunded to your balance after the closure.
• "Selling amount" (0.01729249 BTC / €997.50): The size of the position (in Bitcoin) at the moment it was sold (liquidated), and the total value of that in euros at that moment.
• "Type" (Long 10x): The type of contract. You speculated on a price increase (Long) and used a leverage of 10.
• "Margin" (€100.00): Your own, initial investment. The amount with which you started the trade yourself.
• "Borrowing fee" (11.32 EURC / €11.32): Because you used a 10x leverage, you borrowed €900 from the exchange. You pay interest on that borrowed amount as long as the trade is open. Between July 22 and August 14, this borrowing cost you €11.32.
• "Repurchase cost" (0.01729249 BTC / €0.00): Because this was a Long position, you bought first and sold at the end. This field shows €0.00 because you did not have to repurchase any assets (which only applies when closing a Short position).
• "Opening fee" (€2.50): The one-time trading fees charged by the exchange at the moment you opened this position.
• "Closing fee" (€18.77): The trading fees for closing the position. Note: these are relatively high. In the event of a forced liquidation, exchanges almost always charge an extra liquidation penalty or higher liquidation clearance fee on top of the normal trading fees.
• "Position opened" (22 Jul 2026 at 14:34): The date and time you started the trade.
• "Position closed" (14 Aug 2026 at 10:24): The date and time the trade was liquidated by the system.

What happens during a liquidation?

A liquidation occurs when the market moves against your position to the point where your account falls below the required maintenance margin. During a liquidation, the process differs from a standard "Stop-Loss":

• Immediate closure: The primary objective during a liquidation is to close the position as quickly as possible to prevent further losses.
• Maximum balance protection: In margin trading, you can never lose more than your initial investment (the margin you allocated to the position).

Frequently asked questions