Why limit orders inside Telegram matter
On-chain markets don't close. A token you're watching can move 40% while you sleep, and the trader who set a resting order captures it while the trader who planned to "check back later" doesn't. Limit orders are how you make decisions once, in a calm moment, and let execution happen without you.
Most Telegram bots treat limit orders as an afterthought. Cove treats them as a first-class part of the trading panel: limit buys, take-profit orders, stop-loss orders, an Active Limits dashboard to manage them, and Auto TP/SL so every market buy ships with exits already attached. All of it runs from the same card you trade from, across every supported chain, funded from the same unified USDC balance, with gas sponsored on the fill.
The four order types
DCA ladders have their own page — see DCA orders. This page covers the three single-trigger orders and Auto TP/SL.
Limit buys
A limit buy deploys capital at a specific price target when the market comes down to it. You use it when you like a token but not at the current price, or when you want to scale into a pullback without watching the chart.
Creating a limit buy
- Open the token's Buy panel by pasting the address or opening a link.
- Tap Limit to open the order-type menu and choose the limit buy flow.
- Enter the target price and the amount of USDC to deploy. Cove calculates the expected tokens you'd receive at that price.
- Confirm. Cove monitors the market and executes when the target is hit.
The order is funded from your unified USDC balance at execution time, not reserved up front. Make sure the balance will be there when the order fires — an order that triggers against an insufficient balance can't fill.
How execution works
Cove watches price continuously. When the target is reached, it routes and submits the buy exactly as if you had tapped a preset: same route logic, same guardrails, same gas sponsorship. The fill arrives as a Buy Executed receipt in your chat with the route, your new position and a Close action.
Because the fill is a market execution at trigger time, the actual price can differ slightly from your target on fast-moving tokens. Your slippage setting governs how much difference Cove will accept. If the move is too violent for your slippage, the order doesn't fill at a bad price — it waits or fails safely.
Take-profit orders
A take-profit order sells a specified amount of a position once it has gained a specified percentage. It is how you lock in gains without staring at a candle.
Creating a take profit
- Open the Sell panel for a token you hold.
- Tap Create Take Profit.
- Enter the target percentage gain (for example +80%) and the amount of tokens to sell (for example 50% of the position).
- Confirm. Cove attaches the order to the position.
You can create several take-profit orders on one position at different levels — 50% of the position at +80%, another 25% at +200%, the rest left to run. Each is independent and shows separately in Active Limits.
The percentage is measured against your entry, which Cove tracks per position. The panel shows your entry market cap and cost basis so you can sanity-check the level before confirming.
Stop-loss orders
A stop loss sells if the position falls by a specified percentage. It is the order that saves accounts. On-chain tokens can lose most of their value in minutes, and a resting stop is the only protection that works while you're not looking.
Creating a stop loss
- Return to the Sell panel for the position.
- Tap Create Stop Loss.
- Enter the target percentage loss that should trigger the sell (for example −25%).
- Confirm. Cove confirms both limits are created when you have set a take profit as well, and attaches them to the position.
When a stop fires, Cove sends a Stop Loss Executed receipt with the route and your updated positions.
Stop losses on thin liquidity
A stop loss is a market sell at trigger time. On a token with thin liquidity, a sharp drop and your stop firing into it can produce a worse price than the trigger level — that's the nature of stops everywhere, not something Cove can prevent. Two ways to manage it: size positions relative to liquidity in the first place, and set slippage appropriately for the token. Liquidity is shown on every panel for exactly this reason.
Auto TP/SL
Auto TP/SL is the setting that makes exits the default instead of an afterthought. Turn it on in Settings → Trade panel → Auto TP/SL, define your levels, and every future market buy automatically ships with those take-profit and stop-loss orders attached the moment it fills.
What you configure
- Take-profit levels — one or more percentage-gain targets, each with the share of the position to sell.
- Stop-loss level — the percentage loss that triggers a protective sell.
A common configuration: TP1 sells 50% at +50%, TP2 sells 25% at +100%, TP3 sells the rest at +200%, SL at −30%. Every buy you make from that point carries this structure without a single extra tap.
Why it works
The moment after a fill is the moment traders are least likely to set exits. Excitement, the next token, the group chat — the stop doesn't get set, and then it's too late. Auto TP/SL removes the decision from the heat of the moment. You decide your risk framework once, in Settings, and Cove applies it every time.
You can still edit or cancel the auto-created orders from Active Limits on a per-position basis. Auto TP/SL sets sensible defaults; it doesn't lock you in.
Active Limits dashboard
Every pending order lives in Limit Orders on the main menu. If you have no active orders, Cove shows an empty state. Otherwise the dashboard lists each order with its status, trigger condition and target.
Tap an order to manage it. Depending on the order type you can:
- Edit the trigger level or amount.
- Cancel the order before it executes.
- Review the position it's attached to.
Active orders are also visible from the token's trading panel, so you can see what's resting on a position without leaving the card. Active DCA orders appear in the position card and active order views alongside single-trigger orders.
Fees and gas on limit fills
A limit order that fires is a normal trade. The platform fee is charged on the fill — 1% on most chains with the standard minimum, tiered on Ethereum and HyperEVM — and gas is sponsored up to $5. If gas at fill time exceeds the cap, your Gas Surplus Budget applies: within budget, the fill proceeds automatically; with the budget off, Cove asks before charging a surplus.
Nothing is charged while an order is resting. Cancelling costs nothing.
Orders and multiple accounts
Limit orders are created per account. When you set a take profit from a Sell panel, it attaches to the position in the account that holds it. If the same token is held in several accounts, each position needs its own orders — or, more practically, Auto TP/SL on future buys handles this automatically across every account you buy from.
Order strategies that work in practice
Ladder your exits
One take profit at a single level is a coin flip on where the top is. Three or four take profits at rising levels, each selling a slice, capture the move whether it stalls early or runs. Auto TP/SL makes this the default.
Set the stop before you size
Decide the stop level first, then size the position so the loss at that level is an amount you're comfortable with. The panel gives you liquidity and market cap; the stop tells you the risk. Together they give you the size.
Use limit buys for the retest
Launches spike and pull back. A limit buy placed at the level you actually want, rather than a market buy into the spike, means you either get the entry you planned or you don't get filled — both fine outcomes. The bad outcome, buying the top because you didn't want to miss it, is the one limit buys prevent.
Don't move stops down
The stop was your decision made with a clear head. Moving it down when the price approaches it is the emotional override the order was designed to prevent. Cancelling a stop is one tap in Active Limits; that's a feature for when the thesis changes, not for when the price does.
Common questions
What if the price gaps through my level? Cove executes at market when the trigger is met, within your slippage. On a violent move the fill can be worse than the trigger level. That's true of every stop on every venue.
Can I have a take profit and a stop loss on the same position? Yes — that's the intended setup. Cove confirms both are created and attached.
Do orders survive if I close Telegram? Yes. Orders run on Cove's infrastructure, not on your device.
Can I set orders on a token I don't hold? Limit buys, yes — that's their purpose. Take profits and stop losses require a position.
Limit orders and Auto TP/SL are the difference between a trading tool and a trading system. The panel gets you in; these get you out on your own terms.
Editing and cancelling orders
Open Limit Orders from the main menu, or the position's details view, and tap the order. Depending on the type you can adjust the trigger level, change the amount, or cancel outright. Edits take effect immediately; there is no cost to editing or cancelling a resting order. Cancelling one take-profit on a position leaves the others and the stop in place.
If a position is fully sold — by a manual sell, a stop, or the last take-profit — any remaining orders on it are cleared automatically. You don't need to tidy up.
Order behaviour across accounts and chains
Orders belong to the account whose position they're attached to and fire from that account's balance. A limit buy set from your Sniper account fills into Sniper. Orders work identically on every supported chain; the only difference is fee tier and gas — on Ethereum and HyperEVM, set a Gas Surplus Budget so a fill during congestion doesn't stall on a surplus prompt.
Worked example: a complete plan
You buy $200 of a Base token at $1.5M market cap with Auto TP/SL enabled at TP1 +50% (sell 40%), TP2 +150% (sell 40%), SL −30%.
- The buy fills. Three orders attach instantly: two take-profits and one stop.
- The token runs to $2.3M (+53%). TP1 fires, selling 40% for roughly $122. You've recovered more than half your cost with 60% of the position still open.
- It pulls back to $1.9M. Nothing fires; the stop is at $1.05M.
- It runs again to $3.9M (+160%). TP2 fires, selling another 40% for roughly $208. Total realised: about $330 on a $200 entry, with 20% of the position still running and the stop still in place.
- You move the stop up manually from Active Limits to +50%, locking in the runner as profit.
Every step after the first was automatic. That's the shape of a system, not a series of decisions.
Frequently asked
Is there a fee to place an order? No. Fees apply only when an order fills, as a normal trade.
How many orders can one position have? Multiple take-profits at different levels plus a stop is the normal setup. Add as many rungs as your plan needs.
Do orders expire? DCA ladders carry an expiry shown in the preview. Single limit, TP and SL orders rest until filled, cancelled, or the position is closed.
Will a stop fire on a wick? A stop triggers when the position's loss reaches the level. Sharp wicks can trigger stops; set the level with the token's volatility in mind.