# Seeking Advice on Avoiding Fractional Holdings **URL:** \ **Category:** Getting Started with Alpaca\ **Created:** [August 1, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744 "2024-08-01T16:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Philip\_Isles](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.alpaca.markets/philip_isles/32/6236_2.png) [@Philip\_Isles](https://forum.alpaca.markets/u/Philip_Isles)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744/1 "2024-08-01T16:01:08Z")
Hi All, I am hoping someone might have some advice for me regarding how to avoid losses due to fractional holdings of assets–specifically crypto. - I am trying to avoid market orders, which typically result in a large loss due to taker fees - I am trying to only use limit orders, which have less fees and therefore less loss - Limit orders do not work with fractional amounts - My algo only purchases whole number quantities of an asset so that I can place limit orders based on direction (to take profit or prevent losses) - However, when I purchase a whole number quantity of an asset (for example, 1, 2, 3 etc shares) I often receive slightly less (.985, 1.985, 2.985) etc. - The result is that my limit orders are placed for the whole number amount, leaving me with a fraction of a share as seen below. - Because I do not wish to incur market order fees, I’m pretty much stuck with a fraction of an asset that, combined with similar holdings, is adding up to a significant loss, due to the fact that my algo cannot sell it via limit order - I cannot place a limit order for, say, 1.015 of an asset, to bring my holdings to a whole number after accounting for fees, because we cannot place fractional limit orders. Has anyone encountered this issue? Does anyone have a strategy for dealing with this scenario? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/alp/original/2X/c/c190abd59c826c9a50a12cb409232140098235ae.png) ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Whitnable\_Alpaca](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.alpaca.markets/dan_whitnable_alpaca/32/1658_2.png) [@Dan\_Whitnable\_Alpaca](https://forum.alpaca.markets/u/Dan_Whitnable_Alpaca)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744/2 "2024-08-01T17:23:42Z")
@Philip_Isles You stated _" \* Limit orders do not work with fractional amounts. I cannot place a limit order for, say, 1.015 of an asset … because we cannot place fractional limit orders."_ That’s not correct. One can place fractional limit orders. Below is an example from the dashboard (the API s similar) where I’m selling 0.002929641 of BTCUSD (my entire holdings) and have set a limit price of $62,685. The UI is a bit wonky in that it rounds the display of the entered quantity, but you can enter the full 9 decimals. This is seen in the ‘Review your order’ section. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/alp/original/2X/0/080e5adde2ba1823bd1ed4ee6362c844ddde3bba.png) What are you experiencing which makes you feel you cannot place a fractional limit order? ---
**Author:** ![Philip\_Isles](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.alpaca.markets/philip_isles/32/6236_2.png) [@Philip\_Isles](https://forum.alpaca.markets/u/Philip_Isles)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744/3 "2024-08-01T19:16:23Z")
I’m specifically referring to the API documentation for Create an order which says that qty can be fractional for market and day order types only: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/alp/original/2X/0/0fe012302263b1b7d60223c9376a5dd6b5f9549e.png) ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Whitnable\_Alpaca](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.alpaca.markets/dan_whitnable_alpaca/32/1658_2.png) [@Dan\_Whitnable\_Alpaca](https://forum.alpaca.markets/u/Dan_Whitnable_Alpaca)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744/4 "2024-08-01T19:44:29Z")
@Philip_Isles Ah, that documentation refers to equity orders (and needs to be updated). There is an overview of crypto orders here. There it states > The following order types are supported: `market`, `limit` and `stop_limit` Apologies for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Philip\_Isles](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.alpaca.markets/philip_isles/32/6236_2.png) [@Philip\_Isles](https://forum.alpaca.markets/u/Philip_Isles)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://forum.alpaca.markets/t/seeking-advice-on-avoiding-fractional-holdings/14744/5 "2024-08-01T20:33:55Z")
It’s good news, in the long run. Guess I have some logic to comment out. Thank you