noYou may have placed a buy order on the "then" bid, but your order not likely to be filled until it has become the market's ask.
No what?
that scenario of yours is not reflective of what I am seeing. Very illiquid market, bids and asks very rarely move if ever. Yet fills happen in the mid.
that's my question - how are those trades being lifted?
" Spreads are also allowed to jump ahead of protected quotes"Fragmented markets from too many venues could be an issue - hard to tell without more details. Spreads are also allowed to jump ahead of protected quotes.