How Does a “Slippage” Occur When Trading a Low-Liquidity Altcoin?

Slippage occurs when a market order is executed at a price different from the expected price, which is common in low-liquidity markets. When a large market order is placed, it consumes all available volume at the best price and then executes against orders at successively worse prices in the order book.

The difference between the intended execution price and the actual execution price is the slippage. This is a major risk for altcoin traders.