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Ladder trading on Kraken Desktop
Last updated: August 19, 2025
Ladder trading is an order submission method that has been widely adopted in the financial markets due to its ability to enable quick, precise order entry across various price levels.
The Ladder is designed to streamline the trading process by allowing you to place or modify multiple orders with just a few clicks. In the Ladder module, you are provided with a visual representation of market depth, with price levels displayed vertically along with the corresponding buy and sell orders. This setup enables traders to see liquidity at different price levels and place orders directly from the Ladder.
The Ladder module on Kraken Desktop includes several key columns that provide vital information:
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Orders Column: Displays your active orders, indicating the side (buy or sell), order size, and price.
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Bid Column: Shows all buy orders in the order book at each price level. The green numbers show the volume being bid at each price level.
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Price Column: This is a static column that displays the grouping of price levels on each rung of the ladder. It can be configured to show different price increments based on user preference.
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Ask Column: Shows all sell orders in the order book at each price level. The numbers in red indicate the volume being offered at each price level.
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Volume at Price (VAP) Column: Indicates the most recently traded quantity at each price level.
The sidebar located on the left side of the Ladders is where you can access various order types, a quantity calculator for adjusting trade sizes, and key market data. This includes daily volume, opening, high and low prices, and available funding. This streamlined interface makes it easy to manage and execute trades efficiently.
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Order type: Select the type of order you wish to place (e.g., Limit, Market), allowing for different execution preferences.
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Quantity calculator: Use predefined multipliers (1, 5, 10, 50, 100) to quickly adjust order quantities, facilitating efficient order placement.
For example, let’s say you’d like to place sell orders staggered by multiples of 10, here is how you’d use the Ladder:
Notice how the Quantity value increases by factors of 10 each time the “10” multiplier button is clicked.
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Quantity: The quantity of your order. This can be manually entered, or quick multiplications can be made with the Quantity Calculator.
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Order Shortcuts: If you’ve created any Order Shortcuts, they will display here with useful information such as the type of shortcut, as well as anything in regards to the order types or settings. Here is where you’d activate the shortcut, indicated by a purple highlight.
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Price: Determines the intervals for the price levels displayed in the ladder.
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Display Lot Size: Set the lot size for the orders displayed on the ladder, helping to visualize the order quantities in a standardized format.
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Market Summary (1D, V, O, H, L, CT): View key market statistics such as daily volume (V), open price (O), high (H) and low (L) prices, and the current time (CT).
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Available Funding: Check your available balances for the selected trading pair, ensuring you have sufficient funds (e.g., XRP, USD) to place orders and manage your trades effectively.
Order Shortcuts are a powerful feature of the Ladder module on Kraken Desktop, designed to enhance trading efficiency and precision. They allow traders to pre-configure a variety of order types, sizes, and formations, making it possible to place orders quickly without manual entry for each trade.
How to create order shortcuts:
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Access the Order Shortcuts menu: Navigate to the Ladder module and locate the "Order Shortcuts" section on the left sidebar. Click the question mark (?) icon to open the Order Shortcuts menu.
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Create a new shortcut: Click on "Add Shortcut" to create a new order shortcut. You will need to select the type of operation you wish to configure.
Auto join: The Auto-Join operation is a feature designed to help you quickly place orders at strategic points in the order book. This tool automates the process of joining the bid or ask side of the market at specific levels, enhancing trading efficiency and precision.
Scaled order: The Scaled Order operation enables traders to create structured order placements based on various scaling profiles like Exponential or Triangle. It allows you to place multiple orders at once, distributing them across different price levels according to your preferred scale, making it efficient to submit large sets of trades simultaneously.
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Configure order parameters:
Based on the operation you choose, you will have the following settings to adjust.
Auto-join:
"Side" means which side of the order book your order will be placed, either the buy or sell side. You will need to select one of the following options:
Bid: Place the auto-join order on the buy side.
Ask: Place the auto-join order on the sell side.
Double sided: Place orders on both the buy and sell sides.
Independent: Allows independent configuration for each side.
"Method" determines the location (price or volume level) your order will be placed at on the side you've selected.
Price: Orders are placed based on the nth highest or lowest price level. For example, selecting level 4 on a buy side order would place an order at the 4th highest price.
Volume: Orders are placed based on the nth highest or lowest VAP level. For example, selecting level 4 on a buy side order would place an order at the 4th highest volume.
Levels: Determines the specific level at which the order will be placed. For example, selecting level 4 on a buy side order would place an order at the 4th highest price or volume at price (VAP).
The "Offset" settings allow you to apply an offset to your selected settings above. You can opt for an offset before, or after your chosen entry point.
Before: Place the order a specified number of levels before the selected level.
After: Place the order a specified number of levels after the selected level.
Offset Level (1-20): Sets the number of levels for the offset. For example, if you choose level 5 with an offset of 1 before, the order will be placed one level before the 5th highest or lowest price/VAP.
Scaled orders:
Scaling profile: This option determines the pattern in which orders are placed. The graphical representation on the right side provides a visual cue of how the orders will be scaled. For example, a "Triangle" profile would place larger orders at the center price levels and smaller ones at the edges.
Lot sizing: This setting dictates how the order sizes are distributed. "Spread" means the orders are spread out in the chosen scaling profile, while "Replicate" duplicates the orders at different price levels.
Level skip: This setting allows traders to skip a specified number of levels when placing orders. For instance, if "Two Levels" is selected, the system will place orders while skipping every two levels.
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Use the shortcut: The shortcut will already be appearing in the Order Shortcuts section of the left side panel. Scaled orders are activated with two clicks, while auto joins are activated with one.
A total of 4 Order Shortcuts can be saved at once.
Let’s say you want to set up a scaled order to sell 10 units of BTC at different price levels:
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Operation: Scaled Order
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Scaling Profile: Uniform (evenly distributes the order quantity across the selected price range)
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Lot Sizing: Spread
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Level Skip: None
This setup will create a series of sell orders starting from the current market price, evenly distributing the 10 BTC across the specified price levels.
Order Shortcuts make it faster to execute complex trading strategies. By pre-configuring orders, traders can focus on analyzing the market rather than inputting trade details.