Costs
In one sentence
A maker adds liquidity by resting an order in the book and pays the lower fee; a taker removes liquidity by hitting an existing order and pays the higher one.
The gap is not trivial. A venue charging 0.02% maker and 0.06% taker charges three times as much for impatience. Across a year of active trading that difference is often larger than the trader's entire edge.
Most exchanges tier fees by thirty-day volume or by holding their own token, which is how headline "0% fee" claims are usually constructed.
The mistake it causes: comparing exchanges on the advertised maker fee while placing nothing but market orders.
Takers remove liquidity and pay more. Makers rest an order in the book and pay less. On a $1,000 position traded twenty times a month:
| Rate | Round trip | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% maker | $0.00 | $0 | $0 |
| 0.02% | $0.40 | $8 | $96 |
| 0.05% | $1.00 | $20 | $240 |
| 0.10% | $2.00 | $40 | $480 |
| 0.60% instant buy | $12.00 | $240 | $2,880 |
For many retail traders the annual difference between the top and bottom of that table exceeds their entire profit for the year.
An order book only works if someone leaves orders in it. Makers provide the inventory that takers consume, so exchanges subsidise them. Some venues go further and pay a maker rebate on high tiers, meaning the fee is negative. None of this is generosity; it is the price of a functioning market.
Use limit orders for planned entries and exits. The trade-off is real: a limit order one tick away from a move that never returns leaves you watching the trade without you. The failure mode to avoid is chasing - cancelling and re-placing higher and higher until it has become a market order with extra steps and worse pricing.
Published rates exclude the spread, which you also pay on both sides, and the withdrawal fee, which is flat per transaction and punishes small amounts. Compare the all-in picture on the crypto fee calculator rather than the headline number.
This term is explained in context in the primer - and compared across venues on the fee calculator .
More in Costs: Slippage, Swap (overnight financing), Withdrawal fee.
Education only, not financial advice. Trading is high risk and most retail accounts lose money.
