DeFi

What is DeepBook?

DeepBook is a central limit order book (CLOB) primitive built natively into the Sui blockchain. Unlike automated market maker (AMM) DEXes, DeepBook supports limit orders, market orders, and full order-book transparency. DEXes built on DeepBook include Bluefin and others. Sui Wallet Desktop integrates DeepBook trading directly.

Last updated: 11 May 2026.

DeepBook explained — the basics

DeepBook is a base liquidity layer on Sui — a primitive that other applications build on top of. When you trade through a Sui DEX, you may be trading via DeepBook in the background. Sui Wallet Desktop also integrates DeepBook directly via the DeepBook tab.

DeepBook tutorial — how it works conceptually

A central limit order book (CLOB) is the trading model used by traditional exchanges and major centralized crypto exchanges. Two key features:

• Limit orders — post an order at a specific price; it executes when the market reaches your price
• Market orders — buy or sell immediately at the best available price
• Order book transparency — see the full depth of bids and asks at every price level

DeepBook brings this model on-chain. Orders, fills, and order book state all live on Sui.

DeepBook guide — for beginners

• Bid = an order to buy at a specific price
• Ask (or "offer") = an order to sell at a specific price
• Spread = the gap between the highest bid and lowest ask
• Depth = how much volume sits at each price level
• Fill = when your order matches another order and executes

DeepBook for beginners — comparison to AMMs

DeepBook step by step — trading from Sui Wallet Desktop

1. Open Sui Wallet Desktop and navigate to the DeepBook tab
2. Select a trading pair — SUI/USDC, SUI/USDT, etc.
3. Choose order type — Limit (specify price) or Market (execute now)
4. Enter quantity (and price for limit orders)
5. Review fees and expected fill
6. Confirm — the transaction signs locally (or via Ledger if paired)
7. Track fills in the Orders panel

DeepBook order types

• Limit order — buy or sell at a specific price
• Market order — buy or sell immediately at the best available price
• Post-only — limit order that cancels if it would execute immediately
• Immediate-or-cancel (IOC) — fills as much as possible immediately, cancels the rest
• Fill-or-kill (FOK) — fills entirely or cancels (no partial fills)

How to trade on DeepBook

1. Sui Wallet Desktop — built-in DeepBook trading
2. DEX frontends built on DeepBook — Bluefin and others route to DeepBook for execution
3. DEX aggregators that route through DeepBook for liquid pairs

DeepBook mechanism — how matching works

1. Matching engine pairs orders by price-time priority
2. The trade executes on-chain — assets transfer between the parties
3. Both orders update — partial fills remain in the book; fully-filled orders are removed
4. Fees are collected — paid in the trade asset or in DEEP token

DeepBook architecture

• Pool object per trading pair — holds the order book state
• Order objects — each open order is a Sui object
• Matching engine — runs on-chain when orders are placed
• Fee collection — paid into the protocol; partially distributed via DEEP tokenomics

DeepBook v3

DeepBook has evolved through versions, with v3 being the current major version (as of 2026). Key v3 improvements: better capital efficiency, support for more trading pairs, and improvements to the matching engine and fee mechanics.

Frequently asked questions