Considering you've got to pay a network fee every time you want to transfer cryptocurrency, you'd be justified in wanting to avoid excessive exchange fees. It's bad enough that the dollar value of Bitcoin transaction fees can be upwards of double digits, so there's no need to get gouged on withdrawal and trading rates by your favorite exchange. That's why we compiled this handy list of low-fee exchanges so that you can get the best bang for your buck investing that crisp Benjamin your granny gave you for Christmas.
GDAX is Coinbase's exchange counterpart, and conveniently, if you have an existing Coinbase account, you can automatically link it with GDAX. The exchange charges 0% for maker trades, 0.25% for Bitcoin taker trades, and 0.30% for Litecoin and Ethereum taker trades (maker trades provide liquidity by creating a new buy/sell offer that is not immediately filled, while taker trades remove liquidity by taking a standing buy/sell offer and are filled immediately). GDAX does not charge for deposits or withdrawals.
Coinbase, on the other hand, charges a 1.49% fee for currency purchased using a bank account and 3.99% (yikes) for purchases using a credit/debit card. When we compare the two – and factor in the fact that you can use GDAX with your Coinbase account – GDAX is a no-brainer for fiat-to-crypto trading pairs.
BINANCE
Once you've got your wallet loaded with some coins, Binance is a great exchange option if you're looking to take that Ethereum or Bitcoin and turn it into some altcoins.
Binance offers incredibly low rates, charging a flat 0.1% for all buy and sell orders with no deposit fee. Withdrawal fees vary on a coin-by-coin basis.
Even better, if you're trading with Binance's own coin (BNB), all exchange fees are cut in half to 0.05%. That's hands down the lowest you'll see an exchange charge for trading on its platform.
Like Binance, HitBTC is another solid choice for low-fee trading. While it may not be as popular as other exchanges and includes fewer markets, HitBTC only charges a 0.1% fee on buy/sell orders.
For deposits, HitBTC does not charge a fee, but rates for withdrawals vary by coin.
Bitfinex charges a bit more than Binance and HitBTC do, but not by much. This exchange charges a 0.1% maker fee and a 0.2% taker fee. This is compared to Bittrex, which charges a constant 0.25% for both taker and maker trades.
As you probably guessed by now, Bitfinex has no deposit fee, but like those before it, there's a withdrawal fee that varies from coin to coin.
These two are at the bottom of our list because while they still have lower fees than some of the other choices out there, the exchanges we've listed so far have them beat.
On Poloniex, maker fees come in at 0.15%, while taker fees will run you 0.25%. Funnily enough, Kraken is just 0.01% higher on both fronts, with 0.16% and 0.26% for maker and taker trades, respectively.
You already know what's coming, don't you? Yep: no deposit fees, and withdrawal fees vary.
