Crypto trading fees quietly eat your profits. If you trade often, the difference between a cheap and expensive exchange — or between a walk-in account and one with a referral discount — adds up to real money. Here’s how crypto trading fees actually work, and you can cross-check the maker/taker concept on Investopedia’s explainer on maker and taker fees.
Maker vs taker
A maker order adds liquidity to the order book (a limit order that waits to be filled). A taker order removes liquidity (a market order filled instantly). Exchanges reward makers with lower fees because they help the market. Typical futures rates are around 0.02% maker and 0.055–0.06% taker.
Why it matters more than you think
Suppose you trade $10,000 of volume a day as a taker at 0.06%: that’s $6/day, ~$180/month, ~$2,190/year — before you’ve made a cent of profit. Trading as a maker, or with a referral fee discount, can cut that meaningfully.
Four ways to pay less
- Use limit orders when you can, to qualify for maker fees.
- Sign up with a referral code — it applies a standing fee discount (it can only be added at registration).
- Hold the exchange token (e.g. BGB on Bitget) for extra reductions.
- Climb VIP tiers as your volume grows.
Bybit vs Bitget fees at a glance
Both sit at roughly 0.02% maker; Bybit’s taker is ~0.055% and Bitget’s ~0.06%. Both are among the cheapest in the industry, and both offer a referral discount on top.
The crypto trading fees beginners forget to count
Maker and taker rates get all the attention, but they are not the only crypto trading fees that touch your balance. On futures you also pay the funding rate — a small recurring payment exchanged between longs and shorts every few hours — which can quietly add up if you hold a position for days. Then there are withdrawal fees, which vary by coin and network: pulling stablecoins out over an expensive network can cost far more than over a cheaper one, so always check the network before you withdraw. Spread, the gap between the buy and sell price, is effectively a hidden fee too, and it widens on thinly traded coins.
The practical habit that saves the most money is simple: before you place a trade, add up the round-trip cost — entry fee, exit fee, expected funding, and spread — and compare it to your profit target. If fees eat a third of your expected gain, the trade is barely worth taking. High-frequency strategies are especially punishing because every trade pays the toll twice. Keeping a standing referral discount, favouring limit (maker) orders, and trading liquid pairs are the three levers that most reduce total crypto trading fees over a year. For more ways to protect your capital, read our beginner risk management guide.
Lock in your fee discount — only available at sign-up.
Risk & affiliate disclosure: Leveraged crypto futures carry a high risk of total loss. Not financial advice. Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no cost to you, and you still get the referral discount.