What are crypto fees?

This content is for general educational purposes and is not intended as financial, legal, investment, or tax advice and should not be relied on as such. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information found in this post.

Summary

• Crypto fees, like fees in other financial markets, are the costs you pay to move, trade, or hold cryptocurrency. They vary across platforms. 

• Crypto fees can come in a few different forms, including trading fees, spreads, maker and taker fees, network fees, and withdrawal fees. The exact costs can vary based on factors like order size, trading activity, and the blockchain being used. 

• Lower fees can help reduce overall costs, but it’s still important to consider the full picture, including how prices can move and how different platforms operate.

• Fees can also vary across platforms and networks, and they may increase during periods of high activity, so it’s helpful to review the fee structure before making transactions.

Buying cryptocurrency can feel overwhelming at first, especially when you see different types of fees. You might notice trading fees, network fees, or withdrawal fees, and it’s not always obvious how they work or what you’re paying.

This guide walks through the main types of crypto exchange fees, where they go, and how they show up in your total cost. It’s designed to help you understand what to expect so you can make more informed decisions.

What counts as a crypto fee

Crypto fees are the costs associated with using or transacting with cryptocurrency. A transaction can include actions like buying, selling, sending, or interacting with digital assets. These fees typically show up in a few main areas:

• When you buy or sell cryptocurrency on a platform.

• When you trade one coin for another.

• When you send coins to a wallet or to someone else.

• When you withdraw coins or fiat money, like USD, from a platform.

Broadly, you’ll run into:

• Trading fees that apply when you buy or sell on crypto exchanges.

• Network fees that go to the blockchain itself.

• Withdrawal fees that apply when you move funds off a platform.

Investor.gov explains that crypto trading platforms can charge a mix of fees and spreads.

Regulation is still actively evolving for crypto markets, so fee models may be less standardized from platform to platform.

Trading fees on crypto platforms

Crypto platforms typically make money through trading fees, spreads, or a combination of both. The exact cost depends on how you trade.

There are two main ways to trade crypto:

• Simple trading (quoted-price experience)

• Advanced trading (order book)

Simple trading vs. advanced trading

Some platforms offer a simple experience where you’re shown a price and can choose to buy or sell at that quote. This is often the most straightforward way to trade.

In this setup, you may not see a separate fee. Instead, the platform builds its cost into the price you’re quoted, often by adding a small margin to the market price (sometimes referred to as the spread).

Other platforms offer a more advanced experience with a live order book. Here, buyers and sellers place orders at specific prices, and trades happen when those orders match.

These are two separate trading flows. A trade typically goes through one or the other, not both.

Fees vs. spread

• A fee is a clearly stated charge, usually a small percentage of your trade.

• A spread is the difference between the price you’re offered to buy and sell.

With simple trading, you’ll usually pay through the spread. With advanced trading, you’ll typically pay explicit fees.

Maker and taker fees

On order-book platforms, trading fees often follow a maker and taker model.

A maker fee applies when your order adds liquidity to the market. This usually happens when you place a limit order that doesn’t fill right away.

A taker fee applies when your order removes liquidity. This happens when your order fills immediately at the current price.

This model only applies to order-book trading, because it depends on how your order interacts with other orders in the market. Simple quoted-price trades generally do not expose maker/taker pricing directly to users.

Many platforms charge lower fees for makers than takers to encourage more liquidity.

How fees can vary

Trading costs can change based on a few factors:

• Your trading volume over time

• The size of your trade

• The specific asset you’re trading

On many platforms, fees start as a small percentage and decrease as your trading activity increases.

Why this matters

Understanding whether you’re paying a fee, a spread, or both can help you estimate the true cost of a trade.

Even small differences can add up over time, especially if you trade frequently.

How crypto trading fees are structured

The fee structure on many crypto exchanges includes:

• A base maker fee.

• A base taker fee.

• Discounts if you trade large volumes or use certain products.

Some platforms also give rebates to market makers. A rebate is a small payment back to the trader who posts resting orders, which are orders placed on the exchange that are not filled right away and remain open until another trader matches them, helping provide liquidity. This can encourage more activity on the platform, but it can also make fees harder to track.

On top of posted fees:

• Some platforms use spreads instead of a direct fee. A spread is the gap between the price you can buy at and the price you can sell at.

• In a “zero-fee” promotion, the platform may reduce or remove visible trading fees on some pairs, but spreads or other costs might still exist.

Maker and taker models can reward patient traders who add liquidity with lower fees or rebates. However, complex fee structures can make it hard for beginners to see their true cost per trade, especially when spreads and rebates come into play.

Network fees and blockchain costs

Network fees are what you pay directly to blockchain operators, not to the exchange. A blockchain is a shared database that records transactions in blocks. Miners or validators on the network process transactions and receive network fees for doing so.

For Bitcoin (BTC), the network fee is sometimes called a mining fee. For Ethereum (ETH), people usually call it a gas fee. Gas is the fee that covers the cost of running transactions and smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

Network fees:

• Change based on how busy the network is.

• Depend on the size and complexity of your transaction.

• Can jump during times of high trading volume, when many people want to use the same network.

Ethereum gas fees can vary from a small amount to higher costs during periods of heavy network activity, while Bitcoin fees can also change with demand and transaction size.

Other networks exist, like Solana (SOL), BNB Chain (with a main token called BNB), XRP, LTC (Litecoin), BCH (Bitcoin Cash), and DOT (Polkadot).

Network fees also apply when you move stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, or similar tokens. Stablecoins are tokens that aim to track the price of a fiat currency, often the USD. Even though the price is designed to stay stable, transfer fees can still vary based on network conditions.

How withdrawal fees work

When you move cryptocurrency from an exchange to your own wallet, or when you move fiat money like USD back to a bank account, you often see withdrawal fees.

Withdrawal fees can:

• Be a flat amount in the coin you send, such as a fixed number of BTC or ETH.

• Vary by coin, network, and platform.

• Include both an exchange fee and a network fee, or just pass through the network fee.

Some platforms use “dynamic” withdrawal fees that try to match current blockchain costs. Others charge a fixed fee that may be higher than the raw network fee.

Clear withdrawal fees help you see the cost to move assets to your own wallet, which can support self-custody if that fits your preference. But high withdrawal fees can discourage small withdrawals and can eat into your total if you move funds often.

How payment method affects fees

Your payment method also affects what you pay. Payment method means how you bring money in or take money out.

Common methods include:

• Bank transfers in fiat currencies.

• Card payments.

• Third party payment apps.

Some methods, like certain bank transfers, may offer relatively low deposit costs. Other methods, such as some card purchases, may come with higher fees and foreign exchange spreads, especially if your bank treats the purchase as a cash-like transaction.

When you sell cryptocurrencies and withdraw fiat, you may also see:

• Withdrawal fees for sending funds to a bank.

• Currency conversion costs if you move between different national currencies.

How advanced features can affect fees

Many crypto exchanges offer an application programming interface, or API. An API lets software connect to the exchange so you can automate trades or track data. These tools are typically used by more experienced or high-volume traders and are not necessary for most beginners.

Traders who use APIs and higher volumes sometimes:

• Reach lower trading fees through volume tiers.

• Qualify for rebates as market makers.

APIs and discounts can help advanced users manage costs and speed. However, automation and higher volume can encourage frequent trading, which increases exposure to volatility and can amplify losses, even if the fee per trade looks low.

Comparing crypto fees to other investing costs

It can help to compare crypto fees to costs in more familiar areas, such as investing in stocks or ETFs.

For example:

• Stock and ETF trades may charge a commission, a spread, or both.

• Funds may also include an expense ratio, which is a yearly fee expressed as a percentage of the money in the fund.

Crypto trading uses a similar mix of trading fees, spreads, and sometimes product-specific fees. However:

• Crypto markets are open 24/7.

• Crypto regulation varies significantly by jurisdiction and continues to evolve.

• Crypto assets often show more volatility than large, broad stock indexes.

Investor.gov stresses the importance of understanding fees and risks before trading any asset, and highlights that crypto assets can operate with fewer protections than traditional securities.

Understanding staking and related fees

Some networks let you take part in staking, which means locking coins in the network to help secure it and sometimes earn rewards. This feature appears often in proof-of-stake systems like Ethereum, and in other chains like Solana and Polkadot.

With staking:

• You may pay network fees to stake or unstake assets.

• Platforms may charge a service fee on any rewards you earn.

Staking can offer on-chain participation and potential rewards. However, you may face extra fees, and you still bear all price risk on the underlying asset, which can drop sharply in a short time.

Putting crypto fees into perspective

Now that you have a clearer understanding of cryptocurrency fees, you can use that knowledge to ask more informed questions and decide how crypto may fit into your broader financial picture.

Some questions people often explore include:

• How do fees change with order size and trading volume?

• Which part of the total cost comes from trading fees, and which part comes from network fees?

• How do fee choices line up with my own risk tolerance and comfort level with volatility?

You might also compare crypto to other areas, like stocks or ETFs in a traditional brokerage account, to understand how all these costs stack together. None of this tells you what’s right for you, but it can help you make more informed choices later, with or without a professional.

What to expect from OnePay Crypto

If you’re exploring crypto, it helps to understand how fees fit into your overall experience. OnePay is designed to keep things simple by bringing your crypto activity into one place.

Buy, sell, and hold crypto in one app

OnePay lets you buy, sell, and hold supported digital assets directly in the app, without needing multiple platforms. This can make it easier to track your activity and understand how fees apply to each transaction.

See your crypto alongside your finances

Your crypto activity appears alongside your other OnePay financial services, so you can view everything in one place. Having a single view can help you better understand your overall activity, including any costs associated with using crypto.

Start with small amounts over time

You can get started with as little as $1. Features like roundups let you gradually build exposure by using small amounts from everyday transactions, which can also help you get familiar with how fees work over time.