Looksrare
Looksrare Order Reversibility, On-Chain Settlement, and Exit Evidence
Looksrare separates order authorization from settlement: a signed, unfilled order can still be invalidated, while successful execution on Ethereum changes on-chain ownership. Canceling an order does not undo that settlement. After execution, the practical questions are whether the transaction succeeded, which wallet received the asset, and whether a separate transfer is needed.
That distinction places the decision boundary at execution, not at the first signature. Nonces, expiry, approvals, receipts, and token-contract records reveal which options remain available.
Control Across Signatures, Nonces, and Transactions
The order system assigns different jobs to a maker signature, its nonces, and the transaction that matches it. A maker order describes the signer, collection, item, currency, price, validity window, and execution strategy. Signing creates authorization under those terms, but it does not itself transfer the NFT or payment.
Looksrare V2 uses a hybrid order system in which maker orders are EIP-712 signatures stored off-chain and matched trades execute on-chain. This arrangement keeps order creation separate from settlement. A buyer may match a listing, while a seller may match an offer, provided that the order remains valid and the required assets and approvals are available.
Order validity combines durable protocol rules with conditions that can change before execution. The signature and nonce structure define what was authorized. Ownership, token approval, currency balance, order expiry, and any earlier nonce invalidation determine whether that authorization can still be used at a particular block. A marketplace display can lag behind one of those conditions, so visibility alone does not establish executability.
Before a match succeeds, the signer may still have an exit. After settlement, that exit no longer applies to the completed exchange.
When Can a Signed Order Still Be Stopped?
A signed maker order can be stopped while it remains unfilled by invalidating the relevant nonce before a matching transaction succeeds. Canceling an order nonce invalidates every order that shares it, so a unique nonce limits the cancellation to one order. A subset nonce can invalidate a chosen group, while the separate global bid and ask nonces provide broader cancellation scopes. Each on-chain cancellation must succeed before it changes the order state.
Expiry can also make an order non-executable without a manual cancellation transaction. Other failures, such as missing NFT approval, changed ownership, or an insufficient currency balance, may prevent a fill at that moment without permanently invalidating the signature. Restoring the missing condition could make the order executable again if its time window and nonces remain valid. A pending cancellation therefore creates a race, not a completed exit.
The On-Chain Commitment Boundary
A single successful match settles the exchange atomically: the transaction either records the required transfers or reverts without completing the sale. Once the receipt reports success and the NFT contract records the recipient’s ownership or balance, that sale has settled. A later cancellation cannot rewrite that transaction or restore the previous owner.
Returning the asset requires a separate on-chain transfer or another agreed transaction initiated by the wallet that now controls it. Any return of payment is also a distinct action. Order cancellation and token approval are separate controls as well. Invalidating a listing does not automatically revoke an existing operator approval, while revoking approval may affect other orders that depend on the same authorization.
Two Possible End States for One Listing
This hypothetical example uses an invented NFT, seller wallet, buyer wallet, and transaction order. The listing has a hypothetical 14-minute validity window remaining. It compares a cancellation that confirms first with an edge case in which the buyer’s matching transaction confirms first.
- The entry state shows an unexpired signed listing whose nonce is still valid. The seller still owns the NFT, and no successful matching transaction appears in the wallet history or chain records.
- On the normal path, the seller submits the appropriate nonce cancellation. A successful cancellation receipt and the resulting invalid nonce establish the exit: the old signature can no longer settle that order.
- Under the edge condition, the buyer’s matching transaction confirms before the cancellation. Ownership moves to the buyer, and the seller’s later cancellation cannot reverse the completed sale, even if the interface briefly shows both actions as pending.
- That successful execution ends the cancellation path. Returning the NFT now requires a new transfer from its recorded owner. A successful receipt and the updated ERC-721 owner record provide completion proof for that separate action.
What Proves That a Sale Completed?
A completed sale is proved by a successful transaction receipt together with the NFT contract’s resulting state. For an ERC-721 token, the owner record for the token ID should identify the recipient. For an ERC-1155 token, the relevant wallet balance for the token ID should increase by the transferred amount. Transfer logs help explain the event, but contract state confirms the resulting ownership or balance.
A wallet prompt, submitted transaction hash, or marketplace success message is not equivalent to confirmed execution. The transaction may still be pending or may revert. Payment transfers, protocol events, and the order nonce status can help reconcile the trade, but they should describe the same successful transaction. If the receipt failed, the sale did not change chain state.
Chain-State Reconciliation and Exit Paths
A display conflict should be resolved from the transaction outward. First inspect whether the sale or cancellation transaction succeeded. Then check the relevant nonce and the NFT contract’s owner or balance record at a block after confirmation. An invalid nonce with no completed transfer supports cancellation. A successful sale and changed ownership support settlement, even when a cached listing remains visible.
Reverted execution does not necessarily consume the maker order. If its nonce remains valid, its end time has not passed, and its ownership, balance, and approval requirements are restored, another taker may still be able to match it. That is why a failed purchase attempt and a confirmed cancellation lead to different next actions. One calls for a new validity check; the other closes the old signature.
Batch purchases add another reconciliation detail. An atomic batch reverts every included match if one required execution fails. A non-atomic batch may preserve successful matches while skipping failed ones. Each NFT transfer must therefore be checked separately before deciding that the entire batch settled or failed. The appropriate exit follows the recorded state of each order, not the appearance of the batch as a single action.
Key questions about Looksrare
Does Canceling a Looksrare Listing Revoke NFT Approval?
No. Canceling a listing invalidates the applicable signed order or nonce, while NFT approval is a separate authorization recorded by the token contract. Removing an operator approval requires its own on-chain transaction. That broader change may also prevent other valid orders from transferring NFTs through the same operator, so its scope differs from canceling one listing.
Can the Same Nonce Cancel More Than One Order?
Yes, multiple maker orders can share a nonce and become invalid together. An order nonce can be reused across related orders, a subset nonce can group selected orders, and global bid or ask nonces cover a wider class. The effect depends on which nonce the cancellation changes, so one confirmed transaction may close more orders than the visible listing that prompted it.
Why Did a Cancel Transaction Fail After I Submitted It?
A submitted cancellation does not take effect unless its transaction succeeds on-chain. A matching sale may confirm first, or the cancellation itself may remain pending, be replaced, or revert. Compare the receipts and their block ordering. If execution succeeded before invalidation, the sale stands and canceling the old order cannot recover the NFT.
What Happens If a Sale Transaction Reverts?
A reverted sale does not transfer the NFT or complete payment. The underlying maker order may remain executable if its nonce is still valid, its end time has not passed, and the required ownership, balance, and approvals are available. Recheck those conditions instead of treating the failed attempt as either a completed purchase or a permanent cancellation.
Can a Buyer Return an NFT by Canceling the Completed Order?
No. Cancellation applies to an order that has not already settled and cannot reverse a successful NFT transfer. A return requires the recorded owner to authorize a new on-chain transfer or sale. If payment also needs to move back, that is another distinct transaction. The original receipt remains part of the chain history after either action.
When Does an Offer Expire Without Manual Cancellation?
An offer stops being executable after the maker order’s specified end time. Expiry does not require the maker to submit a cancellation transaction, although a marketplace display may take time to reflect the change. The signed data and current block time govern that boundary. A newly signed offer would have its own terms, nonces, and validity window.
Are ERC-1155 Sale Results Checked Differently From ERC-721 Results?
Yes. An ERC-721 token has one owner for a given token ID, so its owner record identifies the recipient after settlement. ERC-1155 tokens can have multiple units and holders, so verification uses the recipient’s balance for the relevant token ID and transferred amount. In both cases, pair the token state with a successful transaction receipt.
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