# Spot Trading

Spot markets trade a base asset against USDC on Pacifica's performant orderbooks.

### Order types

Spot markets accept Market, Limit, Stop Market, and Stop Limit orders with TIF settings GTC, IOC, ALO, and TOB. See [Order Types](https://pacifica.gitbook.io/docs/trading-on-pacifica/order-types) for more. Orders flagged `reduce_only` on a spot market are rejected.

### Fees

Spot fees are deducted from the received asset at the end of a trade.

```
buy:  received_base = (usdc_spent / price) * (1 - fee_rate)
sell: received_usdc = (base_sold * price)  * (1 - fee_rate)
```

Fee tiers follow the perpetual fee schedule. See [Trading Fees](https://pacifica.gitbook.io/docs/trading-on-pacifica/trading-fees).

### Balance locks

Placing a spot order locks the relevant balance until the order fills or is cancelled.

| Side | Locked balance         | Effect on cross margin                                                       |
| ---- | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Buy  | `size * price` in USDC | Reduces `available_to_spend` and `available_to_withdraw` by the locked USDC. |
| Sell | `size` in base asset   | Reduces `spot_collateral_value` by the locked units' LTV-adjusted value.     |


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