Crypto Trading Fee Glossary
A comprehensive dictionary of all trading fee terms. Understand exactly what each fee type means and how it affects your trading costs.
Maker Fee
A trading fee charged when you add liquidity to the order book by placing a limit order that doesn't fill immediately. Maker fees are typically lower than taker fees because you're helping provide liquidity to the exchange.
If you place a limit buy order at $50,000 for Bitcoin when the market price is $50,100, you're a maker because your order sits in the order book waiting to be filled.
Taker Fee
A trading fee charged when you remove liquidity from the order book by placing an order that fills immediately. This includes market orders and limit orders that match existing orders.
If you place a market buy order or a limit buy at $50,100 when the market is at $50,000, your order fills immediately, making you a taker.
Spot Trading Fee
The fee charged for buying or selling actual cryptocurrency. Spot trading means you're exchanging one asset for another at the current market price.
When you buy 1 BTC for $50,000 USDT on the spot market, you pay a spot trading fee (e.g., 0.1% = $50).
Futures Trading Fee
Fees charged for trading cryptocurrency derivatives (futures contracts). Futures fees are often lower than spot fees but come with additional costs like funding rates.
Trading a BTC/USDT perpetual contract with 10x leverage. The fee is charged on the notional value of your position.
Slippage
The difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual executed price. Slippage occurs due to market movement and liquidity constraints, especially for large orders.
You expect to buy BTC at $50,000, but due to slippage, your average fill price is $50,025 (0.05% slippage).
Funding Rate
A periodic payment exchanged between long and short position holders in perpetual futures contracts. It keeps the perpetual price aligned with the spot price.
If the funding rate is 0.01% every 8 hours and you hold a $10,000 long position, you pay or receive $1 at each funding interval.
Liquidity
The ability to buy or sell an asset quickly without significantly affecting its price. High liquidity means tighter spreads and lower slippage.
Binance has very high liquidity for BTC/USDT, so you can execute large orders with minimal price impact.
Spread
The difference between the highest bid price (what buyers will pay) and the lowest ask price (what sellers want). Tighter spreads indicate better liquidity.
If BTC bid is $50,000 and ask is $50,010, the spread is $10 or 0.02%.
VIP Tier
A fee discount level based on your trading volume. Higher trading volumes unlock lower fees on most exchanges.
At VIP Level 1 on Binance (>1M BUSD monthly volume), spot taker fees drop from 0.1% to 0.09%.
Withdrawal Fee
A fee charged by exchanges when you transfer cryptocurrency to an external wallet. This usually covers blockchain network fees.
Withdrawing BTC from an exchange might cost 0.0005 BTC as a withdrawal fee.
Deposit Fee
A fee charged when depositing funds to an exchange. Most crypto deposits are free, but some fiat deposits may have fees.
Most exchanges offer free crypto deposits, but credit card deposits might charge 2-3%.
Perpetual Swap
A type of futures contract with no expiration date. Traders pay or receive funding rates to keep the contract price close to the spot price.
BTC-PERP on Bybit is a perpetual swap that lets you trade with leverage without an expiration date.
Leverage
The ability to control a larger position with a smaller amount of capital. Higher leverage means higher potential profits but also higher risk.
With 10x leverage and $1,000, you can control a $10,000 position. A 10% move doubles your money or wipes you out.
Notional Value
The total value of a leveraged position. Fees are typically calculated on the notional value, not your margin.
With $1,000 margin and 10x leverage, your notional value is $10,000. A 0.05% fee = $5, not $0.50.
Order Book
A real-time list of all buy and sell orders for a trading pair, organized by price level. It shows market depth and liquidity.
The BTC/USDT order book shows all pending limit orders at different price levels.
Market Order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. Market orders always pay taker fees and may experience slippage.
A market buy order for 1 BTC will fill at whatever price is available, which may be higher than expected in volatile markets.
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. Limit orders may become maker or taker orders depending on market conditions.
A limit buy at $49,000 when BTC is at $50,000 will only fill if the price drops to your target.
Fee Rebate
A refund of part of your trading fees, often given through referral programs, promotions, or holding exchange tokens.
Using a referral code might give you a 20% rebate on all trading fees for the first 30 days.
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