Best Bitcoin exchanges with low fees in 2021

With all the exchanges in the crypto industry, people may feel confused at first without knowing which one and what type of exchange to use – Spot or Futures. One of the most important aspects for traders and first-time Bitcoin buyers are the low fees. Since people want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with the lowest possible fees, they start searching for the fee structures of dozens of exchanges. We have compiled the best exchanges with the lowest fees in 2020 to make the search process much easier for everyone. 

Here are the top Bitcoin exchanges with lowest fees in 2021:

Spot Trading Exchanges:

• Bitpanda – 0.10%
• Cex – 0.25%
• Gemini – 0.35%
• Coinbase – 0.50%

Margin Trading Exchanges:

• Deribit – 0.05%
• Basefex – 0.06%
• Bybit – 0.075%
• Bitmex – 0.075%

Spot and Margin Trading Exchanges:

• Binance – 0.10%
• Kucoin – 0.10%
• OKcoin – 0.10%
• Bitfinex – 0.20%
• Huobi – 0.20%
• Kraken – 0.26%

Spot Trading Exchanges with Low Fees:

1. Bitpanda

With a low fee of 0.10%, Bitpanda takes the lead on the spot exchanges in this list, although the fee is only one of the reasons why it is at the top. Bitpanda comes with one of the most user-friendly interfaces, accompanied by numerous tools and unique investment options. You can trade over 20+ cryptocurrencies, buy and sell Bitcoin for fiat currencies like dollars and euros. There are several deposit and withdrawal methods available on Bitpanda, such as Bank Transfers, EPS, Debit and Credit cards and much more.

Bitpanda applies a volume-based trading fee structure, which offers the possibility of reducing the fees to 0.0500% for Taker and Maker. In addition, you can pay the fees via your BEST token and reduce the fees as low as 0.0375% for both Maker and Taker.

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2. Cex 

The base fees for Taker and Maker on CEX are higher than those of some of the competitors on this list, but overall they are among the lowest on the market. The basic fee for takers is 0.25% and 0.16% for makers. Cex also has a volume-based system for reducing fees. The more volume you have in 30 days, the lower the trading fee. You can get 0.10% for Taker and 0% for Maker if you trade over 6000 BTC in 30 days. 

Cex is mainly a spot trading exchange that offers deposits and withdrawals on 4 fiat currencies in addition to cryptocurrencies. It is possible to trade on 7 pairs with up to 10x leverage. 

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3. Gemini

Gemini is one of the most secure and regulatory compliant crypto exchanges based in the USA. The fees are higher compared to competitors like Kraken. With Gemini, you can reduce fees by trading more, i.e. the higher the volume in 30 days, the lower the fees. The basic fee for Taker is 0.35% and the basic fee for Maker is 0.25%. Reducing the fees to 0.10% for Taker and 0% for Maker, requires a trading volume of $15 million in the last 30 days. 

The US-based exchange offers a very user-friendly interface, renewable purchases, and multiple investment options. Unfortunately, the exchange currently has only a fairly limited list of cryptocurrencies, so there are fewer options available for those who choose Gemini as their primary exchange. Although this is compensated for by other trading and investment products and the high-security measures offered by the broker.

4. Coinbase 

Industry renowned Bitcoin exchange that has been providing a user-friendly experience since it’s inception. Buying and selling Bitcoins on Coinbase is super simple. The trading fees are higher with a spread fee of 0.50%, and depending on your location and the payment method you choose, additional fees may apply. For example, if you are from the U.S. and wish to deposit and withdraw via a bank account, the fee is 1.49%, and for credit and debit cards the fee is 3.99%. Even though the fees are higher, the security that Coinbase offers is unparalleled. It is one of the most reliable Bitcoin exchanges available.

Coinbase offers buying and selling against different fiat currencies for 10 crypto assets, crypto to crypto, and several investment opportunities. The exchange has also introduced a stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), which is pegged 1 to 1 to the dollar. For traders looking for a platform for advanced trading activities, Coinbase offers a Pro version for experienced traders.

Margin Trading Exchanges with Low Fees:

1. Deribit 

Deribit is another trading platform dedicated to margin trading that is quite limited in its offering compared to the others. As the platform offers trading in futures, perpetual contracts, and options, it also applies different fee structures for each of them and these also depend on the asset you choose to trade from the two available (BTC and ETH). 

The trading fees for trading in BTC futures are 0.02% for Maker and 0.05% for Taker. For ETH futures, the trading fee for Maker is 0.025% and 0.075% for Taker. The trading fees for perpetual contracts are 0.025% maker and 0.075% taker for BTC and ETH futures. A big disadvantage for Deribit is that it offers trading instruments only for BTC and ETH, while competitors in the same niche offer up to 10 trading instruments, crypto pairs.

no Deposit Bonus

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2. BaseFEX

BaseFEX is a newer futures trading platform that offers low fees and a volume-based system. The basic fees for Maker and Taker are 0.020% and 0.060% respectively. With the volume-based system you can get as low as 0.0050% for Maker and 0.0300% for Taker. BaseFEX offers a market-making program where you can receive up to (rebate) -0.05% maker fee for providing market liquidity.

As a newer trading platform, BaseFEX offers a higher number of trading pairs than most of its competitors. You can trade with up to 100x leverage on the BTCUSDT contract and up to 20x leverage on the rest of the available trading pairs.

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3. ByBit

With one of the lower fees for platforms offering unlimited contracts, Bybit is the preferred trading platform after Bitmex. With a Maker fee of 0.025% and a Taker fee of 0.075%, Bybit creates a favorable environment for trading. Financing rates are also low at 0.0447% for BTCUSD and ETHUSD and 0.0100% for EOSUSD and XRPUSD. 

Bybit is a dedicated leveraged trading platform where you can trade up to 100x on BTCUSD. You can trade USDT perpetual contracts and inverse perpetual contracts, which offer different opportunities to all traders with no-KYC requirements.

Min. Deposit: 1$

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4. Bitmex 

Bitmex is the leveraged trading platform where it all began. It is still the number one leverage trading platform, although there are better next-generation trading platforms. The fees are low, as one would expect with a Maker fee of -0.0250% and a Taker fee of 0.0750%. Every 8 hours there is a financing fee, which is 0.0100% for a long position and -0.0100% for financing a short position. For ETH the financing fee is 0.1604% for long and -0.1604% for short. 

On Bitmex you can trade 8 cryptocurrency pairs against the USD with up to 100x leverage. The platform offers a less user-friendly trading environment compared to newer trading platforms. You can see from a distance that the entire design logic is old and in dire need of updating. 

no Deposit Bonus

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Spot and Margin Trading Exchanges with Low Fees:

1. Binance

Binance is one of the most aggressive crypto exchanges in the crypto industry, constantly introducing new instruments and adding more and more trading options to its portfolio. This also applies to its fee structure, which is combined with its native token – BNB. Binance has a basic fee for Makers of 0.1% and Takers of 0.1%. With the volume-based fee structure, you can get as low as 0.020% for Maker and 0.040% for Taker. Depending on how much BNB you have, you can get to 0.015% for Maker and 0.030% for Taker. 

In terms of trading opportunities, Binance is the most densely packed exchange in the crypto industry and offers something for everyone. Within a very short time frame, new instruments were introduced that may look good, but carry their own risks related to quality, performance, and security. 

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2. Kucoin

Kucoin is a cryptocurrency exchange that is very similar to Binance, although it offers a smaller number of trading pairs and instruments, its performance is good. The trading fee is 0.1%, which is mid-range compared to other crypto exchanges. Kucoin is another exchange that uses a volume-based system in combination with a native token (KCS). The more you trade, the lower the fees. You can get as low as 0.0125% for Maker and 0.03% for Taker. 

Kucoin is an exchange that has gradually improved in the short time of its existence. By offering a good trading environment, high security and a wide range of trading options, Kucoin has taken its place among the better-known Bitcoin exchanges and trading platforms.

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3. OKcoin 

On OKCoin you can buy and sell over 10 cryptocurrencies with USD and EUR. For margin trading, you have 3x leverage on 6 crypto pairs starting with BTC, LTC, ETH, BCH, XRP against USD. 

OKCoin offers one of the most competitive trading environments with multiple trading instruments and low fees. There is a volume-based fee structure of 0.10% for Maker and 0.20% for Taker. You can go down to -0.01% for Maker and 0.03% for Taker if you have traded over 30 million in the last 30 days. 

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4. Bitfinex

Bitfinex is a controversial trading exchange because of its involvement with Tether, yet they offer a good trading platform and have been improving it since 2012. Trading fees are low and suitable for daily trading sessions, a volume-based tier system is also available on Bitfinex in combination with a token. The basic fee for the Maker is 0.1% and 0.2% for Taker, depending on how much you trade in USD you can lower the fee to 0% for the Maker and 0.055% for the Taker.

Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading options as it offers spot, margin and derivatives trading. For spot trading, you have more than 70 cryptocurrencies at your disposal. You can deposit and trade cryptocurrencies for USD, EUR, JPY, and GBP. In derivatives trading, you can trade with up to 100x BTC and ETH. 

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5. Huobi 

The exchange fees on Huobi are slightly higher than those of most competitors. With a basic fee of 0.2% for Maker and Taker, there is also a native token on Huobi called HT, which you have to hold in order to reduce the fees even further. The more HT tokens you have, the lower the fee. For example, if you have more than 5000 HT tokens, the fee for Maker and Taker is 0.0700%.

On Huobi you will find several trading options and the possibility of spot trading with multiple cryptocurrencies, margin trading with up to 3x, futures trading with up to 20x on multiple pairs. There is also an OTC desk for customers wishing to exchange large quantities of fiat for Bitcoin. 

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6. Kraken

Since 2011 Kraken is one of the most reliable exchanges in the crypto industry. It survived 2 bear markets and has managed to adapt to the ever-changing industry and build on top of its base. With one of the lowest fees and reliability Kraken takes the torch from many other exchanges. The Kraken base fee for Maker and the Taker are 0.16% and 0.26% respectively. Kraken has a volume-based fee structure where you can reduce the fees to 0% for Maker and 0.10% for Taker if you have had a trading volume of over $10 million in the last 30 days.

The opening fee for margin trading is 0.01% – 0.02% depending on the asset. There is also a rollover fee every 4 hours, which again depends on the asset traded and varies between 0.01% – 0.02%.

The impact of high fees vs low fees over a long period of time

High fees have a huge impact on how traders use a platform. When fees are high, people are less likely to trade actively on an exchange, especially over a long period of time. Another reason to consider a platform with low fees is that you can save much more over a long period of time. The difference can be significant in some cases, especially if you do day trading. If you choose an exchange with low fees, you may be able to save hundreds of dollars.