Last, Mark and Index Price: Which Reference Are You Seeing?
Identify the price label, source and timestamp before comparing a chart, trigger and execution record. Includes a blank reference sheet.
Recognize the price label before comparing numbers
A screen can show several prices for the same instrument without any of them being a recording error. A chart may follow recent trades, a position panel may use a mark reference, and a conditional order may name another trigger source. Start by copying the label beside the number. Comparing unlabeled values removes the information needed to explain the difference.
Separate the observed price, selected trigger and actual fill
Read a trigger as a condition attached to an order, rather than a receipt for an execution. A price series reaching a threshold and an order obtaining a particular fill are separate events. Record the selected reference next to the threshold, then keep any actual execution price in a different field. This prevents a chart observation from becoming an invented fill.
Record venue, instrument, reference source and observation time
A useful reference record identifies the venue, exact instrument, quoted unit and observation time. Two screenshots taken at different moments can disagree because the market moved. A spot symbol and a perpetual contract can also describe different products. Keep the original reference label even when you use a simpler description in your notes; it remains the link to the documentation.
Read the hypothetical three-price example
In the example below, each number is deliberately hypothetical. The useful result is a labeled record, rather than a preferred price. If a display does not identify its reference or time, write unknown instead of choosing the nearest familiar label. Another person should be able to tell which observation came from which source without reconstructing your screen from memory.
Use the reference-field checklist
Use one row for each observed reference. The CSV provides separate spaces for the price text, source and selected trigger reference; the TXT supplies questions to review alongside it. Leave the sheet blank until you have your own evidence. When reviewing a later execution, add its record separately so that your original observations retain their original meaning.
Documented venue distinctions
These statements apply to the named provider and documented product. They do not imply identical rules elsewhere.
- Bybit defines last traded price from the latest executed trade. Official reference.
- Bybit mark and index prices are separate documented references; index construction cannot be assumed to be identical on every venue. Official reference.
- Bybit trigger fields can select LastPrice, MarkPrice or IndexPrice for the documented products. A trigger reference is not a promised fill price. Official reference.
Hypothetical case
Hypothetical records show last 101, mark 99.5 and index 100 at a stated observation time. A threshold of 100 can be reached by those series at different moments; the sheet records their labels without selecting a trade.
Six questions for your record
- Which exact product and venue is this?
- Is the label last, mark, index or unknown?
- What documented field names this reference?
- When was each value observed?
- Is the threshold a trigger rather than a fill record?
- Which values or labels remain unknown?
Keep your own record
The CSV contains column headings only. The TXT contains the review questions and blank note spaces. Keep original evidence separately, preserve identifiers as text and leave missing facts unknown. Neither file sends data or performs an account check.