Iceberg Order
Market Microstructure glossary · Limit Order Book Mechanics & Order Routing Logic
Definition
An order that displays only a portion of its total size, with the remainder hidden.
Iceberg Order in plain English
An iceberg order is a big order that only lets a small slice of itself show in public, keeping the rest hidden underwater — hence the name. If you wanted to buy 10,000 shares but revealed all of it, other traders would see the huge demand and push the price up before you finished; so you display maybe 500 at a time, and each time that slice fills, another quietly surfaces to replace it. It's like buying up concert tickets a few at a time so scalpers don't notice you're clearing out the whole section. You still get your full order done, but without broadcasting your true size and moving the market against yourself.
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