What is reference price protection? – Bitvavo Help Center

Bitvavo's reference price protection ensures your orders do not fill at prices far from the wider market. This article explains how the protection works, which order types it applies to, and what you can do if your order is affected.

Bitvavo's order book represents just one view of the market. When trading volume is low, or during sudden price moves, our prices can briefly drift from where the rest of the market is trading. Reference price protection checks for this before your order fills.

What reference price protection does

The reference price shows where an asset is trading across the market as a whole, rather than on Bitvavo alone. We calculate it using price data from several external exchanges. In the app, we call this the "wider market".

Before your order fills, we check that the price it would fill at is close enough to the reference price. If it is too far away, your order will not fill.

Note: This is a separate check from spread price protection, which only looks at Bitvavo's own order book. Reference price protection can trigger even when the spread on Bitvavo looks normal.

Why it exists

Without this check, your order could fill at a price well away from the rest of the market. This protection stops that from happening.

Which orders it applies to

Reference price protection applies to market orders, "Price guarantee" orders, and limit orders. It is most likely to trigger in brief moments when Bitvavo's price and the wider market drift apart.

What happens if it is triggered

Market orders

The part of your order that is within the allowed range fills, and we cancel the rest. You will see this as a partial fill. If none of it is within range, nothing fills and your balance is unchanged. Anything that does not fill stays in your account.

Price guarantee orders

The check runs before you see a price. If Bitvavo cannot offer a price within range, "Price guarantee" is not available for that trade. You can use a market order instead, but the same check applies.

For some assets, "Price guarantee" is the only order type available. If the check fails for one of those, trading is temporarily unavailable until the price settles.

Limit orders

The check also runs when your limit order fills. Setting your own price does not skip this protection. If Bitvavo's price and the wider market are far apart, your order may not fill until they align again.

An example

Note: The numbers below are made up to show how it works. The actual allowed range differs per market.

Suppose Bitcoin is trading at around €100,000 across the rest of the market, making that the reference price. On Bitvavo, the price has briefly jumped higher. If the allowed range is 2%, your order can fill at up to €102,000. Anything above that is too far from the market.

If you place a market order to buy 5 BTC on Bitvavo:

2 BTC are available at €101,500. That is within the range, so these fill.
3 BTC are available at €102,500. That is too far above the reference price, so these do not fill.

You end up with 2 BTC. We cancel the rest, and the funds for those 3 BTC stay in your account.

Nothing was wrong with Bitvavo's spread here. Our buy and sell prices sat close together, so spread price protection had no reason to trigger. It was Bitvavo's price as a whole that moved away from the rest of the market, and that is what this check picks up.

If you had used a "Price guarantee" order in this situation, you would not have seen a price at all. Because €102,500 is outside the range, "Price guarantee" is not offered until the price settles.

What you can do

If your order is affected by reference price protection, you can:

Try again in a moment, once the price settles.
Set your own price with a limit order and wait for the market to reach it, keeping in mind that this check still applies when the order fills.