Stop-Limit Order

A stop-limit order combines a stop trigger with a limit order: when the market reaches your stop price, the exchange places a limit order at a price you chose, instead of a market order. This gives you control over the worst price you will accept, at the cost of possibly not being filled at all.

For example, suppose you hold ETH bought at $3,000 and set a stop-limit with a stop at $2,850 and a limit at $2,830. If ETH trades down to $2,850, a limit sell at $2,830 is placed; it fills only at $2,830 or better. If the price crashes straight through $2,830 without filling you, the order rests unfilled while your losses continue to grow.

That failure mode is the key difference from a plain stop-loss, which triggers a market order and fills at whatever price is available. Stop-limits suit situations where a brief wick might trigger your stop and you would rather not sell into a momentary spike of bad prices. A common misconception is that a stop-limit is simply a "safer" stop-loss; it protects against bad fills but not against no fill, which in a fast crash can be the more expensive outcome.