Navigating trading fees is a fundamental aspect of participating in financial markets. Whether you're trading spot, futures, options, or margin products, understanding how commissions work is crucial for managing your costs and maximizing your returns. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about trading fees, from how they are applied to how you can check and calculate them.
What Are Taker and Maker Fees?
A taker order occurs when you place a trade that executes immediately against an existing order in the order book. Taker orders incur a fee based on the taker fee rate.
A maker order is created when you place an order, like a limit order, that rests on the order book until it is matched with a taker. Maker orders incur a fee based on the maker fee rate.
Maker orders provide liquidity to the market by adding depth to the order book. Taker orders remove liquidity by executing against existing orders. To incentivize liquidity provision, maker fees are typically lower than taker fees.
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How to Check Your Current Fee Tier and Rates
You can view your current commission level and the applicable fee schedule through your account.
On the web platform:
- Navigate to your Fee Rates page.
- Under My Fee Tier, you will see your current level and the detailed trading fee table for all instruments and trading pairs.
On the mobile app:
- Log in and go to User Center > Profile & Settings > Profile > Trading Fee Tier.
- Here, you can also review My Fee Tier and the complete schedule.
Finding the Fee for a Specific Trading Pair
To check the current maker and taker fees for a particular pair:
On the trading page:
- Go to the main trading interface.
- Select your desired trading pair.
- The current fee rates for that pair are often displayed in the Fees section within the order placement panel.
Alternatively, you can:
- Log into your account and go to Trade.
- Select More and then Fee Rules to see your fee level and the current pair's rate.
Reviewing Fees from Your Past Orders
You can easily find the commissions charged on your historical trades.
On the Web:
- In your Order History, you will see a column for the fee amount applied to each filled order.
- To see a detailed breakdown of how the fee was calculated, select Details and hover over the Commission field.
On the Mobile App:
- Go to the Trade section and select My Trades or Order History.
- Select the specific trade you want to review.
- The applied fee amount will be visible in Execution Details. Selecting the fee amount will show the calculation details.
How Your Trading Fee Tier Is Determined
Your fee level is determined by your account's overall activity and asset holdings. You can improve your tier by:
- Increasing your total asset balance.
- Increasing your 30-day trading volume.
- Holding the platform's exchange token, OKB.
Users are categorized as Regular or VIP. Regular user tiers are based on OKB holdings. VIP tiers are determined by your 30-day trading volume and total asset balance. Your level is calculated daily and determines your fees for the next trading day.
The system considers your 30-day volumes across:
- Spot trading
- Perpetual and delivery futures (across various margin types)
- Options trading
- Spreads trading
- Total assets
You will be granted the highest fee tier for which you qualify across all these categories, ensuring you get the most favorable rate possible.
How Trading Commissions Are Calculated
Fees are calculated differently depending on the product you are trading.
Spot and Margin Trading
Fee = Fee Rate × Quantity of Crypto Bought upon Order Execution.
- Example: You buy 1 BTC at market price as a taker with a 0.1% fee. Your commission is 0.001 BTC, so you receive 0.999 BTC.
Some tiers offer fee rebates for maker orders, effectively paying you to provide liquidity.
- Example: You sell 1 BTC via a limit order as a maker with a -0.002% fee. You receive a rebate of 0.00002 BTC.
Futures Trading
For USDT-margined and USDC-margined contracts:
Fee = Fee Rate × (Number of Contracts × Multiplier × Contract Size × Fill Price).
- Example: You taker-buy 100 contracts of BTCUSDT (1 BTC notional) at $20,000 with a 0.05% fee. Your commission is 0.05% × (100 × 1 × 0.01 × 20,000) = 10 USDT.
For Crypto-margined contracts:
Fee = Fee Rate × (Number of Contracts × Multiplier × Nominal Value per Contract / Fill Price).
- Example: You taker-buy 100 contracts of BTCUSD ($10,000 notional) at $20,000 with a 0.05% fee. Your commission is 0.05% × (100 × 1 × 100 / 20,000) = 0.00025 BTC.
Liquidation fees are charged at your current taker fee rate. Settlement fees for delivery futures are a fixed rate for all users.
Options Trading
Trading Fee = Min (Fee Rate × Multiplier × Contract Size × Number of Contracts, 12.5% × Option Premium × Multiplier × Contract Size × Number of Contracts)
- Example: You buy 100 call option contracts as a taker with a 0.03% fee. The calculated fee is the minimum of the two values in the formula.
Exercise fees apply to exercised weekly and monthly options (not dailies). Liquidation fees are also calculated based on a specific formula. RFQ block trades can receive significant fee discounts.
Spreads Trading
The fee rate for each leg of a spread trade is 50% lower than the rate for its classic order book counterpart, as shown in the standard fee schedule.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a difference between opening and closing fees for futures?
No. A commission is charged every time an order is executed, whether it opens or closes a position. The fee is based solely on the order size and whether you acted as a taker or maker.
Are there fees for liquidation?
Yes. Liquidation fees are charged at your current taker fee rate when a position is forcibly closed by the liquidation engine.
Why is there a difference between unrealized and realized PnL?
For futures and options, your realized PnL is your net profit after accounting for all trading commissions and funding fees. Your unrealized PnL only shows the open profit on the position before these costs are factored in. Once you close the position, the deducted fees result in the final realized amount.
Why do my order history and position history show different profit numbers?
This discrepancy is common in futures and options trading.
- Order History typically shows closed profit/loss from the trade itself.
- Position History shows the realized PnL, which is the closed P&L minus the total trading commissions and funding fees paid for that position. This is your true net gain or loss.
In margin trading, only closed PnL is recorded, so the numbers remain consistent across order and position history.
How often are fee tiers updated?
Fee tiers are typically recalculated once per day based on your asset balance and 30-day trading volume. Your new level will apply to the next trading day.
Can I get a fee discount?
Yes. The primary way to receive lower fees is to achieve a higher VIP tier by increasing your trading volume or asset holdings. Holding the platform's native token can also qualify you for better rates at lower tiers.