You see a price, you hit sell, and the fill comes back a shade worse than the screen said. That gap is slippage in futures trading, and on stock futures it grows with the size of your order, which isYou see a price, you hit sell, and the fill comes back a shade worse than the screen said. That gap is slippage in futures trading, and on stock futures it grows with the size of your order, which is
Why Does a $100K Order Fill Worse Than $10K? Slippage in Futures Trading Explained
You see a price, you hit sell, and the fill comes back a shade worse than the screen said.
That gap is slippage in futures trading, and on stock futures it grows with the size of your order, which is why a $100K order rarely fills the way a $10K order does.
This guide shows how much, using third-party measurements of MEXC's stock futures, and what you can do about it.
Key Takeaways
- Slippage is the gap between the price you expect and the price your order fills at; it is not a fee.
- A market order eats resting orders level by level, so a $100K order reaches deeper into the book than a $10K order.
- Median slippage is the typical fill; P90 is the fill one order in ten is worse than, and the bigger you trade, the more P90 matters.
- In TokenInsight's August 2026 sample of five centralized exchanges, MEXC had the lowest median slippage on three of five stock futures at both $10K and $100K, and did not lead the other two.
- MEXC ranked first in cumulative order book depth within 0.01% of the price across the five sampled stock futures, and second at 0.05% and 0.10%.
- Limit orders, split orders and a look at the depth chart help keep a fill close to the quote.
What Is Slippage in Futures Trading?
Slippage on a futures order is the difference between the price you expected when you placed the order and the price it actually filled at.
MEXC's market order FAQ uses the same definition and names two causes: prices that move in the milliseconds before the fill, and orders large enough to eat through several price levels of the order book.
The second cause is the one you control, so it is the focus here.
Why does order size change slippage?
Order size changes slippage because a market order is not guaranteed to fill at one price.
It consumes resting orders level by level, starting at the best available price.
A small order, such as $10K on a liquid pair, can clear within the first level or two.
A $100K order has to reach further out, so its average fill lands further from the quote.
The orders at the best bid and ask are the touch, the only ones that fill at the price you saw; the size resting just beyond them is the near-touch depth, and once the touch is gone, your order steps to the next level, then the next.
Slippage runs both ways: a fill better than the quote is positive slippage, worse is negative, and the second is the one traders remember.
How do you calculate slippage on a market order?
To calculate market order slippage on a sell, subtract your average fill price from the price you saw when you sent the order, usually the best bid, then divide by that quoted price; for a buy, subtract the quote from your fill instead.
The result is shown as a percentage, which makes orders of different sizes comparable.
Take a made-up example: the best bid reads $100.00 and your market sell fills at an average of $99.95.
The gap is $0.05, or 0.05% of the quote, and that is your slippage on that order.
One order gives you one number; judging a venue takes hundreds.
What do median and P90 slippage tell you?
Median slippage tells you the typical fill: half of the sampled orders slipped less than the median and half slipped more.
P90 slippage tells you the tail: nine orders in ten filled better than it, and one in ten filled worse.
A venue can post a tight median because most fills land near the quote, then hurt you on the one order in ten that hits a thin book.
TokenInsight's report flags exactly this: tail execution risk increases materially at the larger order size.
Read both, and weight the P90 more the bigger you trade.
A P90 fill also changes the math on the total trading cost of a $100K trade once fees are added.
How much slippage do stock futures actually show?
MEXC's stock futures showed median slippage of 0.0008% to 0.0098% on $10K simulated sell orders and 0.0112% to 0.0218% on $100K orders across five pairs, measured by TokenInsight on weekdays from July 29 to August 6, 2026.
MEXC had the lowest median of the five exchanges sampled on three of those pairs at both sizes.
The numbers come from TokenInsight's Equity Perpetuals Market Report of August 26, 2026, which sampled five centralized exchanges every 30 minutes on five stock futures.
At $10K, every venue held its median below 0.02% and no P90 passed 0.035%.
MEXC led SKHYNIXUSDT, SOXLUSDT and SPCXUSDT with medians between 0.0008% and 0.0024%, and its 0.0032% on SNDKUSDT sat close behind the leader.
At $100K, MEXC led the same three pairs at 0.0170%, 0.0130% and 0.0112%, the only venue to lead more than one pair; its P90 there, 0.0241%, 0.0278% and 0.0230%, was the lowest in the sample, while several venues passed 0.06%.
MEXC did not lead INTCUSDT or SNDKUSDT at $100K; both sit in the table below.
Stock future | $10K median | $10K P90 | $100K median | $100K P90 | MEXC lowest median in the sample? |
SPCXUSDT | 0.0008% | 0.0058% | 0.0112% | 0.0230% | Yes, both sizes |
SOXLUSDT | 0.0022% | 0.0098% | 0.0130% | 0.0278% | Yes, both sizes |
SKHYNIXUSDT | 0.0024% | 0.0085% | 0.0170% | 0.0241% | Yes, both sizes |
INTCUSDT | 0.0098% | 0.0228% | 0.0179% | 0.0484% | No |
SNDKUSDT | 0.0032% | 0.0103% | 0.0218% | 0.0540% | No |
MEXC median and P90 slippage on simulated sell orders, weekdays July 29 to August 6, 2026. Source: TokenInsight Equity Perpetuals Market Report, August 26, 2026.
MEXC's results across every TokenInsight report, including BTC, ETH and silver futures, are collected on the MEXC liquidity page.
What does "what you see is what you get" mean in an order book?
In an order book, "what you see is what you get" means the price on your screen is the price your order fills at.
That only holds when enough resting orders sit at the best bid or ask to absorb your whole order, and the price does not move before it fills.
TokenInsight measured that depth as the median resting liquidity within 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.10% of the market price.
At the tightest band, 0.01%, MEXC ranked first with $0.52M of cumulative median depth across the five sampled pairs; at 0.05% and 0.10% it ranked second.
TokenInsight's reading is that MEXC concentrates more of its liquidity close to the touch, which fits the tight $10K fills in the same sample.
Learn how to read a depth chart before you trade size.
How to Reduce Slippage on MEXC? Five Fixes That Add No Fee
You can reduce slippage on MEXC with limit orders, split orders, a look at the depth chart before you size up, the right take-profit and stop-loss mode, and by avoiding thin hours.
None of them adds a fee; each trades speed or certainty for price control.
- Use a limit order. MEXC's guide to order types on MEXC futures is blunt: a limit order never fills worse than your price, but it may not fill.
- Split large orders. The market order FAQ warns that an oversized market order may fill only partly, with the rest canceled, so it suggests smaller or limit orders on thin pairs.
- Check the depth chart first, so you can see how much rests near the current price before you send size.
- Pick the right TP/SL mode. Per the take-profit and stop-loss FAQ, market TP/SL fills fast but can slip, while limit TP/SL holds your price but may not fill; MEXC's Price Protection setting, per the order types guide, helps prevent abnormal TP/SL triggers in extreme volatility.
- Mind the clock. Trading activity in stock futures thins out when the underlying stock market is closed, and MEXC's trading hours vary by contract, so check the schedule on the trading page and what happens to liquidity when Wall Street is closed before you trade off-hours.
FAQ
What is slippage in crypto?
Slippage in crypto is the gap between the price you expected when you placed an order and the price it filled at.
What causes slippage?
Slippage comes from prices moving between the moment you send an order and the moment it fills, or from an order big enough to eat through several price levels.
Is slippage a fee?
Slippage is not a fee; it is a price difference baked into your average fill, on top of the venue's trading fee.
How do I reduce slippage on a market order?
You cannot remove slippage from a market order, but you can reduce it by keeping the order small, splitting it, or switching to a limit order.
Is slippage worse on weekends?
Where a stock future keeps trading over the weekend, slippage can be worse because the underlying stock market is closed and trading activity thins out; on MEXC, trading hours vary by contract, and during a market close you can only cancel orders or add margin.
What is P90 slippage?
P90 slippage is the 90th-percentile reading in a sample: nine orders in ten slipped less than it and one in ten slipped more, so it measures tail risk.
How much slippage is normal on stock futures?
In TokenInsight's August 2026 sample, every exchange kept median slippage below 0.02% on $10K sell orders across five stock futures, and MEXC's $100K medians ran from 0.0112% to 0.0218%.
Does a limit order have slippage?
Conclusion
The screen price is a promise the order book has to keep, and the bigger your order, the harder that promise gets.
MEXC's stock futures kept it well in TokenInsight's August 2026 sample, leading three of five pairs on median slippage at both $10K and $100K.
Order size is also what your leverage tier caps, which stock futures leverage tiers and position limits reads off the live tables.
Check the depth chart, size your order to it, and see the numbers for yourself on MEXC's stock futures.
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This article is provided by Emma Williams for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency markets involve significant risk. Please conduct independent research or consult a qualified professional before making any investment decisions. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of MEXC or its affiliates.
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