Spot
In short: Spot refers to a contract or transaction that buys or sells cryptocurrency at the current market price, with payment and delivery happening in real time.
Spot refers to a contract or transaction that buys or sells cryptocurrency at the current market price, with payment and delivery happening in real time. The price used for such trades is called the spot price.
Why it matters
Spot trading is the most direct way to trade an asset: once an order fills, the coins are yours to hold, sell or withdraw. Derivatives such as futures and options work differently, because they track an asset's price or settle at a later time. Plain spot trading uses no borrowed money, so a position cannot be liquidated, although its value still moves with the market. On centralized exchanges, including EX5, spot markets match buyers and sellers through an order book.
Example
A trader places a market order to buy 0.5 ETH on an ETH/USDT spot market. The order fills against the best sell offers in the order book. USDT leaves the trader's balance and ETH arrives in it at once. The trader now holds the ETH outright and can keep it or withdraw it to a personal wallet.