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Central Limit Order Book

a.k.a. CLOB, Order book

A single shared list of all buy and sell limit orders on a venue, matched by price and then by time.
In plain English

A single shared list of all buy and sell limit orders on a venue, matched by price and then by time.

A central limit order book (CLOB) collects everyone's resting limit orders in one place. Bids are stacked from highest down, offers from lowest up. When a new order crosses the best price, it is matched, with the best price first and the earliest order first at each level.

Stock and futures exchanges, many crypto exchanges and some forex ECN venues work this way. It is transparent: everyone sees the same queue.

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