How Does an Opening Auction Work at a Token Listing, and Why Do Exchanges Ban Market Orders?

An opening auction collects buy and sell orders without executing them and, when the window closes, matches them at a single price — the one at which the most volume crosses. The first price thus comes from the whole order book, not from a random first trade. Market orders are banned in this phase because they carry no price: in an empty book they would fill at any level.

How did CT open for trading on September 30, 2026?#

As Cryptonomist describes, Concrete's CT token listed simultaneously on Coinbase and OKX, and both venues used an auction:

A dash means the source does not give that parameter. One more detail from Crypto Briefing: ahead of the launch, deposit addresses were live but nothing could be deposited until the issuer unlocked transfers. CT's total supply is 1 billion tokens.

How do orders turn into one price?#

The exchange ranks buy orders from highest price down and sell orders from lowest price up, then finds the level where cumulative buy and sell volume overlap the most. Example: buyers will take 100,000 tokens at up to 0.50 and another 200,000 at up to 0.40; sellers will give 150,000 at 0.40 or higher and another 300,000 at 0.55 or higher. At 0.40 there are 300,000 to buy and 150,000 to sell, so 150,000 match. At 0.50 or 0.55, no more than 100,000 match. The auction clears at 0.40, and every filled order gets that price, including buyers who bid 0.50.

What is the indicative price, and why not trust it until the window closes?#

The indicative price is the same calculation run on the orders in the book right now. While the window is open, orders can be added and cancelled, so a large order seconds before the close can shift the outcome. Watch the indicative volume as well as the price: a high price on a small matched volume is fragile.

Why ban market orders?#

A market order means "buy at any price". In the first minutes there are few sellers and the book has gaps, so such an order can fill at multiples of the last trade. A limit order sets the worst acceptable price and caps that risk. A five-minute ban after the open gives the order book time to fill in.

Which limits and risks remain?#

• An auction sets one price at one moment; normal trading follows, and moves of tens of percent in the first minutes remain possible.
• Supply on listing day is limited to what is unlocked and deposited on the exchange; it changes later with the unlock schedule.
• Opening prices on two venues can differ: the auctions run independently and at different times.
• A limit order may not fill at all.

The auction parameters are taken from media coverage; check each exchange's own documentation for its rules. This is not investment advice.