Bitcoin Slippage Varies Widely Across Exchanges, Depth Matters
The slippage on Bitcoin orders can be significant and varies greatly between exchanges. The difference in price between the initial order and the actual execution is due to the depth of the order book, not a fee.
A recent analysis by CryptoTicker measured the slippage on five major exchanges: Kraken, Coinbase Exchange, Bitstamp, Bitvavo, and Bitfinex. The study found that for a purchase of 100,000 euros, the markup in slippage ranged from 10.50 euros to 329.86 euros between September 14, 2026, at 15:51-15:53 UTC.
The analysis showed that the spread and depth of the order book have a significant impact on slippage. The spread is the distance between the highest bid and the lowest ask, while the depth refers to the amount of capital available within half a percent of the mid price in the book. On large orders, the depth effect can be substantial.
The study found that Bitfinex had the shallowest euro order book among the five exchanges, with a spread of 0.3707-0.4590% and a depth of 0.58-0.84 million euros. In contrast, Kraken's euro order book was much deeper, with a spread of 0.0001-0.0041% and a depth of 12.98-13.97 million euros.
The analysis also compared the slippage between Bitcoin against euro (EUR) and US dollar (USD) pairs on these exchanges. The study found that the euro order books were significantly shallower than the corresponding USD pairs, with factors ranging from 2.5 to 17.5.