How Target buys work on Stacked
Target buys let you set a price you want to buy bitcoin at, and we'll execute the order automatically when the market reaches it. You don't have to sit and watch the chart. It's like a limit order on an orderbook exchange, but with some differences.
This article explains how target buys work on Stacked, including a few details that are worth understanding before you set one up.
How a target buy works
When you set up a target buy, you tell us two things: how much NZD you want to spend, and the BTC price you want to buy at. Your target then sits in the background, waiting.
We check the market price against your target once per minute. When the market reaches your target, three things happen in sequence:
- Your target price activates the buy. Once we detect the market has touched it, your target buy fires.
- We initiate a payment request through Akahu. Once we get a positive response confirming your funds are on their way to our account, we move to the next step.
- We source the bitcoin at the market price available at that moment and credit it to your Stacked balance.
Target buys stay active indefinitely until they fire or you cancel them.
A note on your target price
Your target price acts as a trigger — the level at which your buy activates. When that happens, we execute at the best market price available at that moment, which is usually very close to your target but may vary slightly in fast-moving markets.
In practice, for most Stacked users — DCA, target-price stacking, opportunistic dip-buying — this rarely matters in dollar terms. What matters is that your buy fires when the market reaches the level you wanted.
How we check the market price
Because Stacked doesn't hold your funds in a balance on the platform, our target buy system works a little differently from exchanges that hold pre-funded accounts. We check the live market price against your target once per minute.
This means that if the price dips to your target and bounces back up again in less than a minute, it's possible we won't catch it, and your buy won't fire on that move. For very sharp, short-lived price wicks, this is something to be aware of.
In practice, this matters most if you're setting tight targets that you expect the market to only briefly touch. If you want to give your target buy the best chance of firing on a dip, consider setting it a little above the absolute bottom you'd accept, rather than right at it.
Settlement and your purchase limits
A couple of other things worth knowing:
Settlement waits for funds confirmation. Because Stacked works directly with NZ banking rails, your buy executes once Akahu confirms your payment is on its way. This usually happens quickly.
Target buys can partially fill against your account limits. If your daily or monthly purchase limit doesn't have enough headroom to complete the whole buy when it fires, we'll fill as much as your remaining limit allows, and the rest will sit waiting for your limits to reset.
Common questions
Can I cancel a target buy? Yes, at any time before it fires.
What happens if my account doesn't have enough funds in my account when the buy triggers? Any payment failures for any reason we send you an email to let you know.
How often do you check the market price against my target? Once per minute. This means very short, sharp price movements that reverse within a minute may not trigger your buy. Set your target with a little breathing room above the absolute bottom you'd accept.
What happens if I don't have enough room left in my daily or monthly limit when my target buy fires? We'll fill as much as your remaining limit allows, and the order will be closed, it will not remain open.
Do target buys expire? No, they stay active indefinitely until they fire or you cancel them.
Will I always get exactly my target price? Your target acts as the trigger that activates the buy. The actual fill price is the market price at the moment of execution, which is usually very close to your target but may vary slightly in fast-moving markets.
Can I set a target buy for selling bitcoin? Not yet — target buys are buy-only right now. Sell-side targets aren't supported at this stage.
What happens if my target buy is bigger than my remaining daily or monthly limit? Your buy will still fire when the market reaches your target — it just gets reduced to fit within the limit you have left. We fill as much as your remaining daily or monthly limit allows as a partial fill, and the remainder of the buy stays open, waiting for your limits to reset.
What's the difference between my daily/monthly limit and my soft limit? Your daily and monthly limits cap how much you can buy over those periods. Your soft limit is a separate threshold that affects when your bitcoin is released, not how much you can buy.
What happens if I hit my soft limit? If a target buy takes you over your soft limit, the buy still goes ahead — but rather than crediting your bitcoin straight away off the back of the Akahu confirmation, we hold it until your payment has been reconciled against our bank account. Once the funds have landed and reconciled, your bitcoin is released to your Stacked balance. This usually means a short wait rather than the near-instant crediting you'd see on a smaller buy.
Why do you hold funds above the soft limit? Because Stacked doesn't hold a pre-funded balance for you, smaller buys are credited as soon as Akahu confirms your payment is on its way. For larger amounts above your soft limit, we wait for the payment to actually land and reconcile before releasing your bitcoin. It's a safeguard that keeps the platform secure for everyone.
Can I increase my limits? Yes contact us directly or use the limit request function in your profile