Crypto futures fees compared: a guide to cost-effective trading

Futures emerged as a new opportunity for traders to gain exposure to crypto and grow their portfolios. For daily volume, some exchanges now attract higher volume on futures trading than on spot or other markets.

While most major exchanges offer futures trading, the fees and features encountered may vary. And, if you’re not careful, the fees can easily ad up and eat into your gains. To help you avoid this loss of value, this article will examine the various fees involved with trading crypto futures and what the most popular exchanges charge. 

What are cryptocurrency futures exchange fees?

Every cryptocurrency exchange charges a fee to provide futures trading, either directly or indirectly. Various fees are involved at different stages of futures trading, and your chosen exchange’s support function will provide an overview of the fees you’ll encounter. 

At the same time, some exchanges have a tiered fee structure that incentivises large traders. The more you trade, the bigger your discounts. Other exchanges even offer discounts on these fees if you meet certain criteria, and some will run limited-time promotions to attract new users. 

Types of crypto futures fees

Cryptocurrency exchanges have multiple fees for different types of activities. We’ve compiled some of the most common fees you’ll encounter below. 

Maker and taker fee

The most common fee charged by exchanges is the maker and taker fees. Almost every major cryptocurrency exchange charges it while incentivising liquidity to flow into the order books. 

If you place a limit order, the maker fee is the fee charged on your order. Similarly, the taker fee is the fee on your order if you place a market order. Usually, the maker fee is cheaper than the taker fee. 

Limit orders provide liquidity for the exchange to have a healthy order book with good spreads. However, market orders remove that liquidity from the market instantly. So, exchanges incentivize limit orders by charging a cheaper fee for them. When an exchange requires more liquidity, it lowers or sometimes removes the maker fee completely. 

Leverage fees

A leverage fee is applied while trading cryptocurrency futures with leverage. A fee can be charged at the time of taking the leverage and closing it. Some exchanges also charge a daily or hourly fee as an interest to maintain your leveraged position. 

Leverage fees can quickly add up if you intend on taking leveraged trades, especially over long periods of time. 

Spread fees

Some exchanges offer no-fee crypto trading but do make money in the spread. In this situation, when you’re looking to buy a cryptocurrency, the price offered will be slightly higher than the market price. Similarly, when you sell, the price would be lower than the market price. The spread fee is the money exchanges make from this difference in the platform and the market price. 

Often, the spread fee is higher than the maker and taker fee system. Meanwhile, this system isn't transparent as the user isn't shown the ‘fee’ they pay to the exchange. It's recommended to use an exchange that has a clear fee structure. 

Funding rate for perpetual futures

Perpetual futures is the most popular form of futures contract traded on the cryptocurrency market. In short, they're contracts that don't have an expiry date. Perpetual futures use a funding rate mechanism to make sure the futures contract price is close to the market rate. And depending on the type of trade you’ve taken, you periodically pay or get paid the funding rate. 

A positive funding rate is applied if the futures contract price is higher than the spot price. It incentivises traders to take short positions. The funding rate is paid to those who open short positions by traders who take long positions. 

Similarly, a negative funding rate applies if the futures contract is lower than the spot price. Traders with short positions pay the funding rate to those with long positions. This incentivises ‌long positions when the futures market is bearish. 

The funding rate isn't exactly a fee paid to the exchange and isn't fixed. It's calculated every eight hours on most exchangers, and depending on ‌market conditions, you periodically pay or get paid the funding rate.

Deposit and withdrawal fees

Some exchanges charge a fee to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies. A fee may apply when you deposit and withdraw from the exchange using payment methods such as cards or bank transfers. 

Most exchanges don't charge for the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies. However, a network fee will apply, depending on the cryptocurrency and the network you use. This is paid to the network and not to the exchange. 

Comparing fees on crypto futures exchanges

Now you understand the various fees involved when trading futures, let's compare them across the top exchanges. 

OKX

OKX is a leading crypto futures platform that offers a comprehensive set of trading tools for both beginners and experienced traders. We also provide bots and pre-defined strategies such as futures spread, among other advanced tools. We offer ‌a range of expiry futures contracts for popular cryptocurrencies with various expiration dates. 

Our futures trading product comes with competitive trading fees, which you can view below. 

We also provide a tiered fee system where our users can enjoy trading discounts. Users are categorized as either regular users or VIP users. Regular users are further categorized into tiers by their total OKB holdings, while VIP users are categorized by their 30-day trading volume and daily asset balances. Depending on your tier, your fee can go as low as -0.005% for the maker and 0.015% for the taker. You can learn more about the different tiers on the OKX fee page. 

Binance

Binance is a major crypto futures exchange with high daily volume. The exchange offers 300+ perpetual futures contracts and another 22 regular futures pairs with expiry. 

The Binance futures fees for regular users are outlined below. 

Binance has a tiered fee structure. Regular users can progress up to VIP level 9 based on their 30-day trading volume or for holding the exchange’s token, BNB. Depending on your VIP level, you can get a discount on your trading fee. Additionally, Binance offers an additional 10% fee discount if you choose to pay the fee with BNB. 

Bybit

Bybit has more than 300 cryptocurrencies available on its futures market, placing it among the leading platforms by this metric. Fees are all settled in USDT and USDC. However, expiry futures contracts are limited and available only for BTC and ETH. 

Here’s the breakdown of the fees for futures trading by regular users on Bybit.

The tiered fee system from ByBit is based on either the balance maintained on the exchange, or the 30-day trading volume. You only have to meet one of these criteria areas to move up the discount ladder. 

Bitget

Bitget is a new futures trading platform which has become popular for its trading tools. However, the cryptocurrencies available to trade aren't as comprehensive as other exchanges. Around 200 trading pairs are available as perpetual contracts, and BTC and ETH are available as expiry contracts. 

Bitget’s fee structure for regular traders is as follows.

Bitget also has a tiered fee structure up to VIP level 5. Fee discounts are available if any of the following conditions are met: 30-day trading volume, daily asset balance, or holding BGB tokens. However, the fee is slightly higher for both regular and VIP users than other exchanges. 

BitMEX

BitMEX invented perpetual futures contracts, which has become an industry standard. However, the exchange only has 100 perpetual pairs and six cryptocurrencies with expiry 

For regular traders, the fee for futures trading on BitMEX are as follows.

BitMEX has a complex discount system that combines 30-day trading volume, BMEX staked, and participation in VIP programs. 

Looking beyond the fees

Generally, the fees charged by most exchanges is competitive and closely matched. For most regular traders, the fees structure won’t make a significant difference if they were to change platforms. That’s why many believe fees are the last thing you should consider if you're a regular trader. Instead, you should look for the following features.

• Cryptocurrencies listed: The more cryptocurrencies listed by an exchange, the more options you have to trade. Greater choice can also mean more opportunities to find promising projects and their related tokens to trade and grow your portfolio.  

• Better liquidity: More liquidity results in faster order matching and execution, meaning you’re more likely to lock in the exact prices you’re targeting. 

• Leverage: Some exchanges offer up to 200x leverage. Although leverage can bring both greater reward and higher risk, it’s worthwhile to have the option of applying leverage — if you’re confident doing so.

• Availability: With complex cryptocurrency regulations, not all exchanges are available worldwide. Choose an exchange that's available in your jurisdiction and provides the products you want to trade with. 

• Other tools: Exchanges such as OKX offer advanced trading tools like bots and order types. These tools can be powerful while trading and give you the edge to trade futures successfully. 

Learn more about the top crypto futures platforms.

The final word

One of the fundamental steps before trading cryptocurrencies is to understand the fees involved. With different types of fees offered by platforms, such as the maker fee, taker fee, leverage fees, and funding rates, what you pay out to trade can quickly add up. And if you’re a high-volume trader, the fees incurred could eat into your earnings. Meanwhile, you can explore the best futures trading strategies to help you get started.

Due diligence is therefore necessary to understand what you might need to pay, but keep in mind that fees are generally similar across exchanges. It’s therefore important to look at various other factors alongside fees before deciding which platform to trade with. These factors include the cryptocurrencies listed, leverage, and liquidity. By doing so, you’re well placed to select the most cost-effective platform that also meets your trading needs.