Crypto exchanges and swap services earn from fees and spreads on each trade, plus fees from partners who build swaps into their own products
An order-book exchange mostly charges a trading fee per trade, often split into maker and taker fees, plus withdrawal and conversion fees. Instant buy and swap services usually earn through a spread or a fee built into the quoted rate. DEXs pay swap fees to liquidity providers, and swap APIs let partner apps add their own fee on top.
The difference between the price a service pays for an asset and the price it quotes you. On an order book, the bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask (CoinMarketCap Academy).
How do crypto exchanges make money?
Trading fees
- A percentage of trade volume, charged per trade.
- Often a tiered maker-taker model with volume discounts.
- Some exchanges use flat rates instead.
Spreads
- Built into instant buy and sell prices.
- The exchange may keep any excess spread (Kraken).
- Varies with volatility, asset and order size.
Other fees
- Withdrawal fees, which can include network costs.
- Conversion fees for crypto to crypto or fiat.
- Fees for services such as staking.
What is the difference between maker and taker fees?
A maker order adds liquidity to the order book because it does not fill immediately. A taker order fills right away against orders already there.
Maker fees are generally lower, since makers supply the liquidity takers use (Kraken Learn). On Kraken, the tier you pay depends on 30-day volume.
How do swap services and DEX aggregators make money?
- Fee in the rate
Instant swap services fold their fee and the spread into the quote, so there is no separate commission line.
- Pool fees on DEXs
On an AMM, the swap fee goes to liquidity providers, and a protocol fee can be a separate share.
- Affiliate fees
Swap APIs let partner apps add a fee on each swap: 0x allows 0 to 1,000 basis points.
- Positive slippage
When a trade fills better than quoted, the surplus can be a revenue source for integrators (0x).
- 0.30%flat swap fee on every Uniswap v2 pool, paid to liquidity providersdevelopers.uniswap.org
- 0 to 1,000 bpsaffiliate fee range 0x lets integrators set on its Swap APIdocs.0x.org
- 50%share of positive slippage Velora offers partners as one fee optiondocs.velora.xyz
How SimpleSwap and ChangeNOW price a swap
Both use all-in pricing. Neither shows a separate trading commission at checkout: the service component, the liquidity spread and the routing costs are folded into the rate you see before you confirm.
- SimpleSwap: service fee from 0.2%, changing with the pair, liquidity, market conditions and your loyalty level. Its loyalty tiers give fee discounts from 5% at Bronze to 20% at Platinum, and its swap engine runs inside 6,000+ partner products.
- ChangeNOW: the rate depends on the assets, liquidity, network costs and market conditions. It pays cashback in its NOW token and reports 5,000+ partners.
"Zero fee" means the swap is free.
A service can earn through the spread inside the rate. Compare what you receive, not the fee label.
Withdrawal fees are pure profit.
They can include the network transaction fee the exchange pays to send your coins (Kraken Learn).
A DEX keeps the swap fee.
On an AMM the swap fee goes to liquidity providers; a protocol fee is a separate share.
Questions
How do crypto exchanges make money?
Mostly from trading fees charged as a percentage of each trade, from spreads on instant buy and sell prices, and from withdrawal and conversion fees.
What is the difference between maker and taker fees?
A maker order adds liquidity because it does not fill immediately; a taker order fills right away. Maker fees are generally lower.
What is a spread fee in crypto?
The difference between the price a service pays and the price it quotes you.
On instant purchases, the spread is built into the price and varies with volatility, asset and order size.
Why do exchanges charge withdrawal fees?
Withdrawal fees vary by asset and can include the network transaction fee for sending your coins.
How do swap services and DEX aggregators make money?
Instant swap services fold a fee and the spread into the quoted rate. DEXs pay swap fees to liquidity providers, and swap APIs let partner apps add affiliate fees.