The chart shows a single price, but the market always runs on two: the bid and the ask. One represents buyers, the other represents sellers — and the real price you pay or receive depends on which side your trade interacts with. If you want the full foundation behind why these two numbers exist, begin with What Is Trading?.
When you place an order, you’re not trading with the chart — you’re trading with other participants. Your buy order lifts someone’s ask; your sell order hits someone’s bid. To understand how your order actually gets matched, explore How Orders Work, which breaks down the moment your button-press becomes a real transaction.
The small space between the bid and ask is the spread. That gap changes your cost, your fill quality, and your trading expectations. Spreads are tight in liquid markets and wide when volatility spikes — and they silently shape every trade you take. For a clear view of how this friction affects your entries and exits, see Understanding the Spread.
All of these forces — the bid, the ask, the spread, the push and pull between buyers and sellers — build the price movement you see on charts. Every candle forms because orders walk through these levels and shift the balance. For a deeper look at how these mechanics produce real market motion, read Basic Concepts of Price Movement.
Once you understand the bid and ask, prices stop feeling random. You can finally explain why fills differ from the chart, why spreads widen, and why price reacts sharply in thin conditions. Real pricing becomes predictable — because you understand how it’s built.