Bust an erroneous trade
Propose a trade bust inside the bust window, have a distinct approver decide it, and let the platform execute the compensating reversal that returns both legs, refunds the fee, and corrects statistics and published prices.
Trade busting is the operator's remedy for an erroneous trade that already settled. The original settlement stays final and irrevocable on-chain; the bust executes a compensating reversal, a second transaction that returns both legs through the tokens' compliance path and refunds the fee from the operator fee account. Both transactions stay in the audit trail. Every bust passes maker-checker approval, and a bust that cannot complete is refused at proposal, never left half-done.
Before you start
- You hold the venue-operator role: platform administrator or organization owner.
- Two distinct operators are available: the proposer cannot approve their own bust.
- The trade is inside the venue's configured bust window, measured from the trade's execution. Both the proposal and the approval must land inside it.
Eligibility and the pre-check
The platform pre-checks a bust twice: at proposal, where a failure refuses the request with the reason and records nothing, and again in full at approval, because balances and eligibility can move between the two.
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Both orders fully closed (filled, cancelled, or expired) | A trade whose order is still working cannot be unwound cleanly. |
| The fill is chain-confirmed | The reversal anchors to the settled on-chain fill. |
| Inside the bust window | The remedy is for prompt error handling, not historical revision. |
| Not already busted or already proposed | One reversal per trade. |
| Counterparty balances cover the return legs | The buyer must still hold the base quantity, the seller the quote quantity. |
| The fee account covers the refund | The refund comes from the operator fee account. |
| The compliance path can move the tokens | The reversal runs through the tokens' own transfer rules; if compliance blocks it, the bust is refused rather than forced. |
Propose and approve a bust
Propose
Go to Venue operations, open the trade in the market's trade history, and choose Propose bust. Enter the reason; it is recorded on the audit trail. The pre-check runs immediately: on failure you see the failing check (for example, the buyer no longer holds the purchased tokens) and no proposal is created.
Decide as a distinct approver
A different operator opens Bust proposals, reviews the trade, the legs, and the recorded reason, and approves or rejects. The platform refuses a proposer deciding their own proposal and refuses a second decision on a decided one.
The platform executes the reversal
On approval, the pre-check re-runs and the compensating reversal executes: both legs return through the compliance path from an operator-held custodian identity, and the fee refunds from the fee account. The reversal and the refund complete atomically or not at all. A failed reversal marks the record failed with no leg applied, and the trade can be proposed again.
What a completed bust changes
| Surface | Effect |
|---|---|
| Trade history | The trade stays visible, flagged as busted with the bust timestamp. Both counterparties see the flag in their own blotter. |
| Candles, ticker, trade tape | Recomputed excluding the busted trade. |
| Published feed price | Corrected by a new, marked observation. Feed submissions cannot be retracted, so the correction is additive. |
| Official closing price | If the busted trade set the session's official close, the close recomputes and republishes. |
| Stops and bands | Stop triggers and band evaluations that already fired on the busted print are not reversed. |
| Balances | Both legs returned, the fee refunded. The original settlement transaction remains on-chain, untouched. |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| The proposal is refused for counterparty balance | A counterparty moved the tokens after settlement. The compensating reversal needs both return legs funded; there is nothing to approve until they are. |
| The proposal is refused for the window | The bust window covers proposal and approval. An older trade is out of remedy by design. |
| Approve is refused | You proposed this bust yourself, or the record was already decided. A distinct operator must decide it. |
| The approval failed after the decision | The re-run pre-check or the reversal failed; the record is marked failed and no leg was applied. Resolve the named cause and propose again. |
| A trader asks why a fill disappeared from the candles | The fill was busted. It stays in trade history flagged as busted; statistics exclude it. |
Related operations
- Administer desks for the same maker-checker approval store applied to desk limits
- Trading venue market structure for the busting model beside the other market structures
- Trading venue compliance model for the bust trust boundary stated for reviewers
Administer Trading Venue desks under maker-checker
Propose trading authorizations and desk limits for institutional desks, and approve them with a distinct approver so limits take effect at order intake.
Monitor Trading Venue health
Read the venue health panel: settlement failures, reconciliation state, feed publishing, and the settlement submitter's gas budget, with the response each severity asks for.