Cowswap lets you choose between a quoted swap and a limit order.

Swaps, Limit Orders, and Scheduled Trading

A swap and a limit order differ mainly in how you choose the acceptable execution price. Market conditions can change while either order awaits settlement. A quoted swap must fill in full in one settlement, while a limit order can fill across several settlements if partial fills are enabled.

Quoted Swaps and Target Prices

A quoted swap presents an expected exchange outcome for the selected tokens and amount. Its slippage tolerance defines how much adverse movement the order permits. Signing authorizes execution within those terms; it doesn’t reserve the displayed quote indefinitely. The expected amount is an estimate; the minimum received amount sets the lowest acceptable output for the specified sell amount.

A limit order expresses a price boundary directly. A buy limit sets the maximum acceptable purchase price; a sell limit sets the minimum acceptable sale price. Its validity period determines how long the instruction remains available for execution. A stricter price can mean a longer wait or no fill before expiry.

Trading in Scheduled Parts

Time-weighted average price, or TWAP, orders divide a trade into parts over time. This can reduce the price impact of executing the entire amount together, while exposing later parts to later market conditions. The TWAP interface requires a Safe wallet with the required fallback handler. Its settings include the number of parts, total duration, and price protection. Each part must satisfy the applicable execution conditions; scheduling doesn’t promise a better final average price.

What Does Signing an Order Authorize?

Signing a standard token order authorizes execution under its specified terms, while token approval separately permits the designated contract to spend the sell token. These permissions have different jobs. An approval alone doesn’t select the purchase token or complete a trade. Before signing, review the token amounts, recipient, expiry, and price boundary. The spender address belongs to the approval check; the recipient belongs to the order check.

For standard ERC-20 orders, the settlement contract checks the signature and execution conditions before the vault relayer pulls tokens. A broad allowance can remain available beyond one trade. Its size therefore deserves a separate decision from whether the particular order looks acceptable.

Why Can a Limit Order Stay Open at Its Target Price?

A limit order can remain open because executable liquidity must cover its price requirement and execution costs. A market chart touching the target doesn’t establish that the specific order can settle. The interface’s execution-price estimate reflects changing network fees, order size, and market conditions. Your signed limit remains the order’s boundary, while that estimate can move. A brief price touch may also disappear before execution becomes possible.

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Batch Auctions and Execution Costs

Solvers search for ways to satisfy orders through available liquidity and compatible trades. CoW Protocol uses batch auctions in which solvers compete to settle trades. Matching opposing trading needs can reduce reliance on liquidity pools. Orders that don’t find such a match can still use external liquidity. This structure provides protection against certain forms of maximal extractable value, or MEV, without making an unfavorable market price favorable.

Execution costs also affect the choice between order types. Protocol fees can include volume-based charges and charges linked to surplus or quote improvement. The applicable policies determine how much improvement reaches the trader. Fees can appear within the executed token amounts rather than as separate wallet transfers. Compare the net exchange outcome for the same tokens and amount; a gasless signature doesn’t establish a cost-free trade.

Delivery Across Networks

Cross-chain swaps add a destination-network transfer after the source-network swap. Their completion therefore requires more than a successful source transaction.

Destination Availability

The selected source token affects which destination networks the interface offers. On a different destination network, the bridge provider determines the available output tokens. A familiar token symbol doesn’t establish that every network combination works. The documented cross-chain interface supports swap orders between different tokens on different networks. It excludes limit orders, smart contract wallets, and same-token bridging.

The quote separates the swap outcome from bridge costs and estimated delivery time. Those estimates depend on the selected route and provider. The destination minimum received amount is the relevant boundary when the task requires funds on another network.

Swap Settlement and Destination Receipt

Bridging starts after a successful swap. Once the bridge deposit has been submitted, the transfer can’t be canceled through the swap interface. It completes or follows the provider’s refund policy. If a refund arrives in your Account Proxy, the helper contract used for bridging, recover it to your wallet before retrying with those funds. A completed source swap can therefore coexist with delivery still in progress. The destination receipt establishes arrival; a source settlement alone doesn’t.

Native Tokens and Wrapped Balances

Selling a network’s native token adds a different authorization path because standard CoW Protocol orders sell ERC-20 tokens. Wrapping requires an on-chain transaction and gas, and creates an ERC-20-compatible balance that can use the ordinary approval and order flow. The alternative Eth-flow contract combines wrapping with order placement through an on-chain transaction. That path requires upfront gas, which doesn’t return if the trade fails. The interface offers Eth-flow for swaps rather than limit orders, and doesn’t offer it for smart contract wallets.

A native-token deposit into Eth-flow establishes order placement before the purchased tokens arrive. Failed orders can refund the deposited native tokens, while transaction gas remains spent. The next decision therefore starts with the balance you hold and the order type you need: a wrapped balance for a limit order, or an available native-token swap path with its transaction requirements.