BHDBTC
BitcoinHD / Bitcoin
crypto

As someone who's been trading crypto futures for 6 years, I never truly understood how much fees were destroying my balance until I started tracking every single transaction. When I was 18, I realized I was paying over $1,000 monthly in various fees on only a $600 balance - that's when it hit me: the fee structure in this industry is fundamentally draining the users' balance, but you can avoid it by doing a researches.
As many of you know, this industry has at least 5-6 fee layers, just to do a single trade. As a futures trader & day trader who did 15-20 positions per week, 2-3 positions per day, I became obsessed with understanding every layer of fees in this ecosystem. This obsession eventually led me to develop a fee cut-off service, but I won't mention a single thing about it here, I am not here for service promotion. But more importantly, wile this development, it gave me deep insights into how the fee ecosystem really works.
I've seen thousands of users, especially newcomers losing money to unidentified crypto fees, and realized most traders are paying 5-10x more than they need to. I was feeling that I have to share my researches. That's how I decided to run this series guide for every traders.
****This three-part series covers your complete fee optimization journey:****
- ****Part 1 (today)**** - Fiat deposits: where most lose 3-5% before even trading
- ****Part 2**** - Trading fees: how futures/day traders can increase returns by 80-180%
- ****Part 3**** - Network & withdrawal optimization
Today's analysis includes 40+ currencies across 7 major exchanges, 4 deposit methods with real cost breakdowns, and finally region-specific strategies to cut fees from 5% to 0%.
****Let's dive in!****
# Part 1: Fiat Deposit & Onramp Fee Optimization - The Complete Analysis
# 0. Introduction
The crypto trading journey has multiple major fee layers that drain your account. Most traders are underlying/underestimating these fees, but it might critically affecting your account. Today we're tacking Part 1 - the entry tax(On Ramp Tax) that hits you before you even place your first actual trade.
Look at the "Avg Deposit Costs By Method ($5K) Graph". This Graph already showing the simple explanation of today's must learn lesson. ****Use Bank Transfer, or at least P2P Trading**** when you deposit to the exchanges. Direct Credit Card buy, or Credit Card Fiat Deposit will instantly kill your balance -5%
Let's find out what's the ideal journey for your currency!
****Pro tip****: Use Ctrl+F to search for your currency or region. This guide is comprehensive, so focus on the sections relevant to your situation.
# **1. Deconstruction of All kinds of Deposit Type & Fees
# 1) Direct Buy via Credit/Debit Card: MUST AVOID
Most exchanges offer "Direct Buy" options. The feature names differ by exchange, but they're all the same - you can buy cryptocurrency like USDT, USDC directly with your credit/debit card.
It seems convenient, but this is the _****most avoided option****_ for initial deposits. What makes this worse is that most traders don't realize they're paying ****both**** the exchange fee AND potential foreign transaction fees from their bank.
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Credit Card Fee|Potential Foreign Transaction Fees|Monthly Cost ($5K deposit)|
|Binance|up to 4.5%|2%~6%|~$225|
|Coinbase|up to 3.99%|2%~6%|~$199|
|Kraken|up to 5%|2%~6%|~$250|
|Bitget|up to 3.7%|2%~6%|~$185|
|Bybit|up to 4.6%|2%~6%|~$230|
|MEXC|up to 3~4%|2%~6%|~$200|
|[Gate.io](http://Gate.io)|~2.5% (estimated)|2%~6%|~$125|
Look at "Direct Buy vs Spot Buy Cost ($5K Deposits)
This two visualization shows the obvious fact. ****Never buy Crypto directly with your credit card****, unless it is super emergency, like a margin call or liquidation.
****Disclaimer1****: Most exchanges ****don't document their "Buy Credit Card" fees clearly**** So I checked them one by one.
****Disclaimer2****: All the Spot Buy Fees are assumed with a ****"Maker"**** order. If you attempt a Taker Order, the fee might escalate. (E.g. Coinbase Fee with a Taker Order will be $60.).
****Disclaimer3****: ****Spot Buy Opt**** is calculated with these rules.
- Native token discount: BNB, BGB, MX, GT
- Memberships: Coinbase One, Kraken+
- Promotions: Binance USDC Promotions, EUR promotions, etc.
- All the fees are calculated without a VIP fee discount.
# **2) Credit Card Fiat Deposits: The Convenience Trap ? Or a Decent Deal?
Instead of buying crypto directly, you deposit your local currency via card, then buy crypto separately. Usually cheaper than direct crypto purchases but still has significant fees.
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Region/Currency|Method|Fee|Notes|
|****Binance****|CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1.2% fixed|Decent rates|
||PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1% fixed|Best PLN option|
||EUR|Visa/Master|2% fixed|Acceptable|
||UAH|Bank Card|0%~|Great if available|
||BHD|Humo Payment|3.5% fixed|Expensive|
|****Coinbase****|USD|PayPal|2.5% estimated|USA only, unclear documentation|
||Netherlands, Italy, Spain, UK|3D Secure Card|N/A|Confusing fee structure|
|****Bitget****|PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|0.95% fixed|Competitive|
||CZK, HUF, DKK, AUD, CAD, NOK, SEK, CHF|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1.1% fixed|Various options|
|****Bybit****|EUR, CHF, CZK, GBP, HUF, RON|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|0.92% fixed|Best rates|
||PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1% fixed|Good option|
- ****Additional considerations****: Your bank might add 2-6% foreign transaction fees on top of these rates.
****Disclaimer1****: I couldn't find a Card Deposit instead of Card Buy on ****Kraken , MEXC & Gate**** so I didn't mentioned about it.
****Disclaimer2****: For the ****Coinbase****, they only documented the way to deposit, and ****didn't mentioned about the actual fees****(I looked over all the official documents, but i couldn't find the fixed rate. if you got any source, let me know please!), so I searched various posts by users, and made an ****estimation.****
# **3) Bank Transfers: Cheap, Secure & Fast. The Best Option, if you don’t mind using a Bank account.
Bank transfers are usually the optimal solution, but they have ****geographic limitations**** and ****privacy trade-offs****. I've seen many of traders do not prefer providing their banking information to Exchanges, and also same with the reverse.
But, I personally think it is still ****the best option****, if your currency supports this method. Underlying table, is the ****complete**** analysis of 40+ currencies on all major 7 exchanges.
However, some currencies are able to be deposit on exchanges, but ****no trading pairs available**** on there. In case, you should use ****P2P**** or for the last way, ****Card Fiat Deposit.**** (I'll talk about it on "P2P Recommended vs Direct Deposit", use ctrl+F to find it.)
*Dislclaimer: The table below is very long, so I recommend reading only your currency and ignoring the rest!
| | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Currency|Method|Fee|Processing Time|Regional Availability|
|****Binance****|IDR|TokoCrypto Bank Transfer|0%|Real-time|Indonesia|
||TRY|Bank Transfer|0%|Real-time|Turkey|
||PLN|BLIK|1%|Real-time|Poland|
||EUR|SEPA Instant|1 EUR|Real-time|EU countries|
||UAH|GEO Pay|0%~|Real-time|Ukraine|
||AED|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|UAE|
||BHD|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Bahrain|
||BHD|Beyon Money|N/A|Real-time|Bahrain|
||KWD|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Kuwait|
||OMR|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Oman|
||ARS|ARS Bank|0%~|Real-time|Argentina|
||KZT|Freedom Bank, PayBox, Qazpost Bank|0%~|Real-time|Kazakhstan|
||USD|BPay|0%|Real-time|Switzerland only|
||BRL|Pix, PicPay, TED|0%|Real-time|Brazil|
||COP|PSE Online Banking|0%~|Real-time|Colombia|
||MXN|SPEI|0%|Real-time|Mexico|
||ZAR|Online Banking|0%|Real-time|South Africa|
|****Coinbase****|USD|ACH|0%|1-5 business days|USA|
||USD|Wire|$10|1-3 business days|USA|
||USD|SWIFT (UAE, HK, NZ, PH, KR, TW)|$5 + 0.125% (min $30-100 SGD)|3-4 business days|UAE, HongKong, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan|
||USD|FedWire|N/A|N/A|USA|
||USD|CUBIX|N/A|N/A|USA|
||EUR|SEPA|0%|1-3 business days|EU + UK|
||EUR|iDeal|0%|1-3 business days|Netherlands|
||EUR, GBP|Easy Bank Transfer|0%|1-3 business days (EU), Up to 2 hours (UK)|Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, UK|
||GBP|Faster Payments|0%|1-3 business days|UK|
||CAD|Interac e-transfer|0%|Up to 5 mins|Canada|
||CAD|EFT bank transfer|0%|Instant|Canada|
||BRL|Pix/Bank transfer|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||ARS|Bank Transfer|0%|Instant|Argentina|
||AUD|PayID, BSB|0%|Instant|Australia|
||SGD|FAST SGD Account|0%|Instant|Singapore|
||SGD|USD Bank Account SWIFT|$25 + additional fee|3-4 business days|Singapore|
|****Kraken****|USD|ACH, PayPal|0%|Near-instant|USA only|
||USD|FedWire (Dart Bank/Etana Connect)|0%|0-1 business days|USA only|
||USD|CUBIX|0%|Near-instant|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Customers Bank)|0%|1-3 business days|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|$3|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||EUR|SEPA/SEPA Instant (ClearJunction/Plaid/BankingCircle)|0%|0-3 business days or instant|SEPA region|
||EUR|SEPA (Bank Frick)|0%|0-3 business days|SEPA region|
||EUR|PayPal|0%~|Near-instant|EEA|
||EUR|iDeal|0%|Near-instant|Netherlands|
||EUR|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 EUR|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||EUR|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CAD|Interac e-Transfer|0%|0-1 business days or instant|Canada only|
||CAD|Domestic Wire Transfer|13.74 CAD|1-5 business days|Canada only|
||CAD|In-person cash or debit|1.25 CAD + 0.25%|30-60 min|Canada only|
||CAD|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 CAD|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||CAD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CAD|Apaylo|0.25% (max 30 CAD)|1-5 business days|Canada only|
||AUD|Osko, Bank Transfer, PayPal|0%|0-2 business days|Australia only|
||AUD|RTGS|33 AUD|0-1 business days|Australia only|
||AUD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||GBP|FPS (Plaid)|0%|0-1 business days|UK only|
||GBP|FPS|0%|0-1 business days|UK + EEA upon request|
||GBP|PayPal|0%~|Near-instant|UK only|
||GBP|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 GBP|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||GBP|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CHF|SIC (Bank Frick)|0%|Same day|Liechtenstein, Switzerland only|
||CHF|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|0.75 CHF|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||CHF|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||JPY|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||ARS|Bank Transfer|1.5%|Instant|Argentina only|
||BRL|Pix|0.2% + 0.3% IOF tax|Instant|Brazil only|
||MXN|SPEI|0.5%|Up to 20 minutes|Mexico only|
|****Bitget****|VND|VietQR|N/A|Instant|Vietnam|
||BRL|Pix|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||ZAR|EFT Secure|0%|0-2 hours|South Africa|
||EUR|SEPA/SEPA Instant|0%|0-2 working days|EU|
||MXN|OXXO Pay, SPEI|0%|Instant|Mexico|
|****Bybit****|EUR|Easy Bank|0.08% + 0.3 EUR|Instant|EU|
||EUR|SEPA|0.08% + 0.28 EUR|0-2 working days|EU|
||PLN|BLIK|0.9% + 0.5 PLN|Instant|Poland|
||PLN|Easy Bank, SWIFT PLN|N/A|1-5 business days|Poland|
||CHF|SIC, SWIFT|3 CHF|Same day / 1-5 business days|Switzerland|
||IDR|BI-FAST|0.4%|Instant|Indonesia|
||MXN|SPEI|0.5%|Instant|Mexico|
||BRL|PIX|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||RUB|Local Bank Card|N/A|Instant|Russia|
||GBP|FPS|0%|Instant|UK|
||USD|QuickPay|N/A|Instant|El Salvador only|
||USD|SWIFT USD|N/A|1-5 business days|Non-US banks only|
||COP, PEN, UYU, ARS, VND|Local Bank Transfer|0%|Instant|Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Vietnam|
||CRC|SINPE|0%|Instant|Costa Rica|
||ZAR|EFT|0%|0-2 hours|South Africa|
||HKD|SWIFT|N/A|1-5 business days|Hong Kong|
|****MEXC****|EUR|SEPA|0%|Instant|EU|
||BRL|Pix|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||EUR, GBP, CHF|Direct Bank Transfer|1.14%~1.16%|Instant|EU, UK, Switzerland|
||JPY|Direct Bank Transfer|2.8%|Instant|Japan|
||AUD|Direct Bank Transfer|3.2%|Instant|Australia|
|[****Gate.io****](http://Gate.io)|N/A|N/A|N/A|N/A|N/A|
As you can see, lots of bank transfer options provide ****0% fee**** with ****near-instant**** processing. If your currency supports bank transfers, this is usually your best choice.
****Disclaimer****: I think [Gate.io](http://Gate.io) doesnt offers fiat deposits via bank trasfers.
# 4) P2P Trading: Universal Solution for All Currencies
****P2P trading**** allows buying cryptocurrency ****directly from other users**** using your local currency. This works for literally any currency worldwide.
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|P2P Liquidity|Fee Structure|Safety Features|
|****MEXC****|Excellent|≈0%|Escrow protection|
|****Binance****|Excellent|≈0-0.1%|Escrow protection|
|****Bitget****|Good|≈0%|Escrow protection|
|****Bybit****|Good|≈0-0.2%|Escrow protection|
As you can see on table above, P2P is extremely cheap, and also a fast payment method. Then, why would we not use P2P? Here's an analysis of Pros and Cons for P2P.
# **P2P Trading: Pros and Cons
| | |
|---|---|
|****PROS****|****CONS****|
|****Near-zero fees****|****Limited transaction amounts per seller****|
|****Universal currency support,**** Works with ANY currency (CNY, KRW, NGN, INR, etc.)|****Trading with individuals (perceived risk)****|
|****Multiple payment methods (****Bank transfer, mobile money, cash apps)|****Rate uncertainty****|
|****High privacy(****No direct bank-to-exchange connection)|****KYC verification usually required****|
|****Fast processing (5-15 minutes)****|****Seller reliability varies****|
|****24/7 availability****|****Learning curve for beginners****|
|****Competitive rates due to seller competition****||
# Summary
****P2P is ideal when:**** Your currency isn't supported via instant bank transfer/spot trading pairs, you want maximum privacy, you're making smaller transactions, or you catch the better deals then spot market pairs, or you are in emergency.
****P2P might not suit you if:**** Your currency is already supported by instant bank transfers & spot traidng pairs, you need large transactions, prefer institutional security.
And if you've read this far and made it through, you'll probably understand the Avg Deposit Costs By Method ($5K) Graph I showed you earlier.
Now that we fully understand that graph, we can complete the Fiat Deposit, which is the process of transferring cash to a Crypto Exchange. However, there is still one last and most important step left! This is the “On-Ramp” process, which converts local fiat to Cryptocurrency.
# 2. Fiat-to-Crypto On-Ramp Fees: The Complete Analysis
Once you have fiat on the exchange, it is ****not the end.**** When you want to trade and make it easy on Crypto markets, you need to ****convert fiat to actual cryptocurrency, like USDT / USDC****. In this post, we are going to call this process, ****"On-Ramp"****.
This is where exchanges get ****sneaky with conversion features****, but also where smart strategies can save you significant money.
First, as I mentioned at the start of this post, do you remember the **"Direct Buy vs Spot Buy Cost ($5K Deposits)" Graph?
Yes, as you remember, in this section, we are only going to talk about currency-crypto convert only via ****"Spot Trading"****. Trying any other methods, like _****"Buy Crypto", "Swap", "Conversion", etc****_* are usually so much expensive than Spot Trading.
# Exchange-Specific Trading Features & Memberships
# Basic-Optimal Spot Fees & Special Features: Ultra Fee Optimization
Look on "Exchange Trading Fees Comparison (Spot Trading, Basic)" & "Exchange Trading Fees Comparison (Spot Trading, Optimized)" Graph. Looking these charts, you might notice these ****two things.****
- ****We should Optimize our trading Fee****
- ****Choosing the right On-Ramp Exchange can cut down huge amount of fee****
So, I'll analysis the optimization strategy for each exchanges.
# I. MEXC - The Fee Leader
I know many of you guys have doubt on MEXC's operation as exchange itself, they accused as shady exchange, or way too risk pushing exchange, but anyways only on the fee cost efficiency side, MEXC has the biggest win currently.
# **Preview
- ****Maker Fee****: Always 0%
- ****Taker Fee****: 0.05% (basic) → 0.025% (optimized)
- ****Special Feature****: 239 zero-fee trading pairs (both Maker & Taker)
- ****On-ramp****: SEPA Instant (EUR), PIX (BRL) at 0%
First of all, MEXC's basic spot maker fee is already 0%, so only fee affects you is about ****Taker**** fee, which is baiscally 0.05%
Thankfully, MEXC offers two ways to discount your fee, but in one method: their native token, MX. You will get an 20% discount if you use MX for your fee payment, and if you hold a decent amount of MX for 24 hours, then your trades' taker fee gets 50% discount. Two discount is cannot be double applicated.
But, MEXC also has natively 0% maker & taker pairs. You can simply search them on the MEXC fee page. Currently 0% maker & taker pairs are 239 tokens. Which is a lot.
Additionally, MEXC only allows bank deposits via SEPA Instant for EUR and Pix for BRL, both of which have stablecoin pairs and of course have 0% maker fees. Therefore, EUR and BRL users can On-Ramp with 0% fees via MEXC.
# **To sum up, theres two ways.
- You can see it on "MEXC Spot Fee Comparison by Status" Chart.
# **Personnal Recommendation
- If you trades large, buy 500MX, and just don't sell. Use both Taker and Maker on order depend on your situation.
- If your volume and frequency is low, then just don't get a additional discount, just only use a maker(limit) order.
- If you are a BRL user, MEXC is by far the best On-Ramp Exchange for you. Bitget and Bybit also support BRL pairs, but MEXC has a significantly lower fee rate (0%).
- If you are a Eurozone user, the exchange may be a bit less trustworthy, but it is definitely worth considering as one of the many options available to you.
# II. Binance - The Complex Giant
I was pretty surprised with this result. Binance is a one of the most Giant Exchange on the world, so I though the fee would be high against the alternatives, but actually it was the one of the cheapest exchange on overall ratings. It is impressive that another giantic exchange, Coinbase has a severe spot fee structure.
# **Preview
- ****Basic Fee****: 0.1% both ways
- ****Optimization****: 140+ zero-fee promotion pairs (mostly maker only, but taker also offers lower fees on these pairs)
- ****Strategy****: "USE USDC or FDUSD" for best rates (Recommend USDC more, for thinking about futures trading too.)
- ****Recommended Route****: SEPA → EURI → USDT → USDC (If you Trade EURI -> USDC Directly, you will end up with a fee. That route is not 0% fee.)
Binance's basic spot fees are 0.1%, same as Bitget, Bybit, Gate. However, with various strategies, you can cut it off to 0%.
First, Binance offers a lot of "Spot Fee Promotion". They are offering various pairs for 0% fees only on maker, and also some for both maker and taker. ****Maker 0% pairs are over 140+ pairs****, so you can trade them directly on a market. Most of the promotions are FDUSD, EURI & EUR, USDC.
And USDC basically offers a 5% fee off on spot trading, so the basic fee with USDC is 0.095%, 5% down from 0.1% with USDT & Fiat.
- The TRY fiat pairs has different fee structure, basic maker 0.1% taker 0.15%.
And Binance also offers a Native Token discount. If you pay your fee with BNB token, you get 25% fee cutoff, so the basic fee for USDT is 0.075%, and for the USDC its' 0.07125%.
# **To sum up, theres mulitple ways.
1. Zero Spot Fee Promotion Pairs. They are over 140+ Pairs, and support EUR&EURI, USDC, FDUSD, USDT pairs. (0% Fee)
2. Use USDC if your pair is not on the Zero Fee list. If you have to pay the fee, choose the USDC pair. it cuts down your fee 5%. (0.1% -> 0.095%)
3. You can use BNB native token for fee payment, and get 25% addtitional discount. (0.1% -> 0.0.075%, 0.095% -> 0.07125%)!
For the Summarized image, you can look on the "Binance Fee Comparison (Spot, Fee Tiers&Optimizations)
# **Personnal Recommendation
- I will talk about this on Part 2, but if you are especially a EUR Spot Trader, Binance might be a good one, but if you use some other currencies like GBP, USD, CHF, BRL or you Spot Trades very high frequency, you have better options like MEXC.
- I will talk about Futures on Part 2, and if you are futures users, Binance will be one of the best best option to trade. But as I mentioned, if you are spot only focused user, there are alternatives.
__Disclaimer: Do not trade EURI -> USDC Directly. This route makes you to pay a fee. so you must use EURI->USDT->USDC Route.__
# III. Kraken - A bit expensive, but savior for secondary major currencies
Kraken is a exchange that mostly servicing for major currency market, like USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, CHF, JPY. I have experience with Kraken, and they were pretty amazing for On-Ramping. Clear instructions, easy and fast deposits, nice customer service workers.
# **Preview
- ****Basic Fee****: 0.25% Maker, 0.4% Taker
- ****Kraken+****: $4.99/month for 0% up to $10K volume, break-even is $2,000+ monthly trading (highly recommended for CHF, AUD, CAD, JPY users)
- ****Strategy****: Use Kraken as a On-Ramp Exchange, and trade on other exchanges.
- ****Unique Value****: Only major exchange supporting CHF/AUD/CAD/JPY pairs
For Kraken, Kraken has a really simple and easy-to-structure Spot fee system.
First, let's assume that you are basically trading using Kraken's Pro function.
Kraken takes 0.25% Maker Fee and 0.4% Taker Fee as fees.

Yes. It's much higher than the previous two exchanges. You can see that it's 2 to 4 times higher. However, Kraken offers a fixed basic fee of 0.2% for both Maker and Taker for Stable Coin, Pegged Token, and FX (Fiat) Pairs.
That's all for Kraken's basic structure! It's really simple, right?
So what about the 0% fee shown on the chart? It's Kraken+ membership. It offers various benefits for $4.99/month, but the biggest benefit is that it offers 0% fee benefits for Spot Trading up to 10K volume. That means the fee is $4.99 up to 10K. Let’s take a look at the graph below to easily calculate the break-even point of a Kraken+ membership.
Now let's look on the "Kraken Spot Fees: Regular vs Kraken+" Chart.
As you can see from the chart, Kraken+ is advantageous for those with more than $2,000 in spot trading per month. In other words, if you plan to deposit at least $2,000 per month through Kraken, I highly recommend using Kraken+.
In addition, Kraken supports most major currency deposits and trading pairs, as well as spot trading pairs for currencies such as CHF, AUD, CAD, and JPY. These currency has only Krakan as a option. Therefore, I highly recommend Kraken as an initial onramp for those users.
# **To sum up, there are simple options.
1. Kraken’s basic fee is 0.25% for maker, 0.4% for taker
2. Kraken’s special pairs fee is 0.2% for maker, 0.2% for taker
3. However, both of the above options are not attractive fees for trading. Therefore, what Kraken is appealing is Kraken+. Kraken+ supports 0% Spot fees up to $10K volume.
For the summarized image, you can see the "Kraken Spot Trading Fee Comparison" Chart.
# **Personal Recommendation
- For Eurozone users, there are a wide range of options, including Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, and MEXC. So, read through our guide and decide what plan you want, or choose one, it’s very simple!
- For Canadian, Japanese, Australian, and Swiss users, I recommend “essentially” on-ramping to Kraken via Kraken+. Currently, no other exchanges support Fiat/Stable trading for these currencies.
- However, in any case, I do not recommend using Kraken as more than an on-ramp exchange, i.e. as your main trading exchange, as it is not cost-effective.
- If you purchase Kraken+, do not trade more than $10K. I will give you a plan for each currency, I recommend that you stop the Kraken On-Ramp when you hit the 10K limit.
# **IV. Coinbase - The Mainstream Choices?
Coinbase is one of the world's biggest exchang.e. As far as I know, it is also the only cryptocurrency exchange listed on the stock market.
# **Preview
- ****Advanced Mode Required****: 0.6% Maker, 1.2% Taker
- ****Stablecoin Pairs****: 0% Maker, 0.001% Taker
- ****Coinbase One****: $29.99/month for 0% up to $10K, break-even is $5,000+ (not recommended for On-Ramp only users)
- ****Strategy****: Use Coinbase as a On-Ramp, and Spot trade on other exchanges.
- ****Limitation****: High basic fees, limited transparency
Acutally, I was pretty disappointed with Coinbase, doing this research. Coinbase seems to operate a lot of fees "when the trade is done", except for the trading fee itself. So I have to go on a app and try it by myself. In fact, what my colleagues and I have found after working for several days to find Coinbase's deposit, withdrawal, and direct buy related fees is that it is almost impossible to find any official documentation unless you try to do the trade yourself.
I like their services' convenient offerings, but I don't like their information providing style.
Before getting into the article, I would like to tell you that when purchasing cryptocurrency with Coinbase, you must always turn on ****"Advanced Mode"**** and start trading. Due to the confusion about the chronological order of the official documents, I investigated external documents and found that Coinbase charges a fixed amount fee per section in basic mode. Referring to the data from Bitbo below, it is as follows.
$0.99 for transactions $10 or lower
$1.49 for transactions between $10-$25
$1.99 for transactions between $25-$50
$2.99 for transactions between $50-$200
0.5% spread fee for transactions over $200
According to this fee, you can be charged a whopping fee of up to ****15%****. Never use this method, and turn on Coinbase Advanced mode to do Spot Trades. This process charges 0.6% maker and 1.2% taker fees. ****(But which is still 24 times higher than MEXC's spot taker.)****
However, despite this, Coinbase clearly has some areas where it can give advantages to USD, EUR, GBP users, and futures users, so let's talk about them.
First, let's talk about Coinbase's discounts for certain currencies, such as promotions. Coinbase charges 0% for makers or at least close to that fee for most stable coin pairs, and the list is as follows:
However, the stablecoin fee is only applied to EUR/GBP/USD, because there are no pairs for other currencies even if deposits are possible. Users who can use Coinbase as an on-ramp are those in the US/EU/UK.
So how can such a terrible fee rate be reduced to 0%? The answer is simple. Like Kraken+, Coinbase operates a Coinbase One membership subscription. This also applies a 0% spot fee per month up to $10K.
The price of the membership is $29.99/month. The break-even point graph is as follows.
Look at the "Conbase Spot Fees: Regular vs Coinbase One" Graph.
However, from the perspective of On-Ramp, the users who On-Ramp Coinbase are USD, EUR, and GBP users. Therefore, the fee for trading with Stable Coins is 0% anyway. In other words, they have no reason to buy Coinbase One during the On-Ramp process.
# **To sum up, there are these structures.
1. Coinbase must purchase in Advanced mode.
2. The basic Spot Fee of Coinbase Advanced is extremely high at 0.6% for maker and 1.2% for taker. Therefore, never Spot Trade general pairs without Coinbase One
3. Very few coins classified as Stable Pairs have 0% trading fees
4. If you buy Coinbase One, you get 0% monthly fees for all Spot Pairs up to $10K volume, and a break-even point of $5,000
For summarized image, you can see "Coinbase Spot Trading Fee Comparison" Chart.
# **Personal Recommendation
- It is clear that On-Ramping to Coinbase is a very attractive option for users in the US, UK, and Europe. But if you want to do additional Spot Trading, move to another exchange.
- However, all users in the US, UK, and Europe, who are the core of Coinbase, can enjoy the same effect by utilizing Kraken+ on Kraken. However, Kraken+ has a $10K volume limit, while Coinbase's Stable Pair fee does not have such a limit, so consider this carefully.
- For Eurozone users, there are a lot of options like Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, MEXC, so you don’t have to stick to Coinbase. So, read through our guide and make your own plan or pick one, it’s easy!
- For the rest of the currency users, there is absolutely no reason to choose Coinbase as an On-Ramp.
- In conclusion, since we only deal with On-Ramps, there is absolutely no reason to buy Coinbase One.
# **Short Summary with a table
| | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Best For|Optimal Fee|Method|Break-even|Key Feature|
|****MEXC****|EUR/BRL users|0%|Hold 500 MX|Immediate|239 zero-fee pairs|
|****Binance****|EUR users, Futures|0%|EURI→USDT route|Immediate|140+ promotion pairs|
|****Kraken****|CHF/AUD/CAD/JPY|0%|Kraken+ membership|$2K/month|Only major currency option|
|****Coinbase****|USD/EUR/GBP onramp|0%|Stablecoin pairs only|Onramp only|High spot fees without membership|
# **Non-Viable Options
****Bitget, Bybit,**** [****Gate.io****](http://Gate.io) were excluded from final recommendations due to:
- Limited fiat support
- Higher fees with minimal optimization potential
- No significant advantages over the top 4 exchanges
# 3. **Regional Optimization Strategies: FINAL STRATEGIES
# Preview
****1) Existing Fiat Pairs on Exchanges****
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Exchange|USDT Pairs|USDC Pairs|
|****Binance****|EUR (0% via EURI),TRY, BRL,UAH, ZAR, PLN, ARS, MXN, COP (0.075%)|EUR (0% via EURI), PLN, RON,CZK (０.07125%), TRY (0.075%)|
|****Coinbase Advanced****|USD (0.005%), EUR (0%), GBP (0%)|USD (0%), EUR (0%), GBP (0%)|
|****Kraken Pro****|GBP, USD, EUR, CAD, CHF, AUD, JPY|EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD|
|****MEXC****|EUR, BRL|EUR, BRL|
|****Bitget****|BRL, EUR|EUR|
|****Bybit****|EUR, BRL, PLN, TRY|EUR, BRL|
****2) Optimal Strategy by Currency****
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Currency|Best Exchange|Method|Total Cost|Alternative|
|****EUR****|****Binance, MEXC****|SEPA→EURI→USDT|****0%****|Coinbase (0%), Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****USD****|****Coinbase****|ACH→USDC/USDT|0%|Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****GBP****|****Coinbase****|FPS→USDT/USDC|0%|Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****BRL****|****MEXC****|PIX→USDT/USDC|****0%****|Binance (0.075%), Bitget/Bybit (0.08%)|
|****TRY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR****|****Binance****|Bank→USDT/USDC|****0.075%****|P2P alternative|
|****CAD****|****Kraken+****|Interac→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****AUD****|****Kraken+****|PayID→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****CHF****|****Kraken+****|SIC→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****JPY****|****Kraken+****|SWIFT→USDT|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Currency Category|Recommended Strategy|Reasoning|
|****Direct Deposit Optimal****|EUR, USD, GBP, BRL, TRY, CAD, AUD, CHF, JPY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR|Have efficient spot pairs with 0-0.075% costs|
|****P2P Strongly Recommended****|CNY, KRW, SGD, IDR, PHP, INR, THB, NGN, GHS, KES, HUF*, AED, QAR, KWD, BHD, KZT, OMR, VND|No Efficient Pairs Available|
|****Borderline Cases****|PLN, RON, CZK|Spot pairs exist but fees marginal (Card Deposit Needed), P2P often better|
*PLN, CZK, RON have Binance spot pairs but 0.07125% fees + Card Deposit fee make P2P competitive. PLN Also has Bybit USDT Pairs, but 0.1% trading fee is not optimal
# **Main Analysis By each Currency
# EUR: The MOST Convenient Currency Currently
****Best Path****: SEPA → EURI → USDT → USDC (Total: 0%)
# Primary Options
1. **Binance: SEPA Instant → EURI → USDT → USDC route
2. ****MEXC: SEPA Instant → USDT/USDC → 0% fees****
# Alternative Options
- ****Coinbase****: SEPA → EUR → USDC (0% for stablecoin pairs only)
- ****Kraken+****: SEPA → EUR → USDT/USDC ($4.99/month up to $10K volume)
# Most Recommended Option for EUR users
__Binance=MEXC > Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Critical Warning for EUR Users
__Never trade EURI → USDC directly on Binance. You must use the EURI → USDT → USDC route to maintain 0% fees.__
# USD: On-Ramp on Coinbase/Kraken, Trade on ...
****Best Path****: ACH → USDC (Kraken+ $4.99/month or Coinbase stablecoin pairs)
# Primary Options
1. ****Coinbase Advanced****: ACH → USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% for USD/USDC pairs
- ****Limitation****: Only stablecoin pairs, high fees for other trading
- ****Best for****: On-ramp only
2. ****Kraken+****: ACH → USDC/USDT
- ****Cost****: $4.99/month (0% up to $10K volume)
- ****Break-even****: $2,000+ monthly trading
# Most Recommended Option for USD users
__Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Strategy Recommendation
*Use Coinbase for on-ramp (0% USD → USDC), then transfer to MEXC or other low-fee exchanges for actual trading.
# Tip for USD Users
If you use Coinbase for On-Ramp only, don't buy Coinbase One membership.
# GBP: Same with USD
****Best Path****: Faster Payments → USDC (Kraken+ or Coinbase)
# Primary Options
1. ****Kraken+****: FPS → GBP → USDC
- ****Cost****: $4.99/month (0% up to $10K)
2. ****Coinbase****: FPS → GBP → USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% for GBP/USDC pairs
# Most Recommended Option for GBP users
__Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Strategy Recommendation
__Use Coinbase for on-ramp (0% GBP → USDC), then transfer to MEXC or other low-fee exchanges for actual trading.__
# Tip for GBP Users
__Revolut can serve as an excellent bridge for GBP users who want access to EUR strategies, converting GBP → EUR with minimal fees.__
# BRL: MEXC Optimal
****Best Path****: PIX → USDT/USDC (MEXC - Clear Winner)
# Primary Option
- ****MEXC****: PIX → USDT/USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% total fees
- ****Advantage****: Only exchange offering true 0% BRL on-ramp
# Alternatives
- ****Binance****: PIX → BRL → USDT (0.075% with BNB discount)
- ****Bitget/Bybit****: PIX → USDT (0.08-0.1% fees)
# Why MEXC Dominates for BRL
MEXC is the only major exchange offering completely fee-free PIX deposits with 0% maker fees on spot trading.
# CAD/AUD/CHF/JPY: Kraken+
****For these users, Kraken is essentially your only major exchange option, but the 0% Fee discount is only limited to $10K/months****
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Currency|Method|Cost|Alternative|
|****CAD****|Interac e-Transfer → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****AUD****|PayID/BSB → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****CHF****|SIC Transfer → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****JPY****|SWIFT → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
# Revolut Bridge Strategy: when if I hit $10K Limit, Use Revolut
What if I bought a Kraken+ membership and I am gonna hit the $10K fee discount ceiling? Here's the answer: Try Revolut Strategy. Revolut is a UK Neo Bank, that offers broad range of currency exchange, and fast payments. So if you are available with the revolut on your country, then go with:
1. ****Local Currency → Revolut → EUR/GBP/USD → Exchange****
2. ****Cost****: Revolut membership fees (offset by additional benefits)
3. ****Best for****: When your account had hit $10K Kraken+ fee discount limit.
# TRY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR: Binance 0.075%
****For these users, Binance is essentially your only major exchange option****
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Currency|Method|Cost|
|****TRY****|Bank Transfer (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****MXN****|SPEI (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****COP****|PSE Banking (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****UAH****|GEO Pay (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****ARS****|Bank Transfer (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****ZAR****|Bank Transfer|0.075%|
# Revolut Bridge Strategy
For users in these regions, also can use the Revolut Bridge Strategy written above.
# Other Currencies
# P2P Strategy for All Other Currencies
For other currencies that are not mentioned above, ****Strongly Recommended for****: CNY, KRW, SGD, IDR, PHP, INR, THB, NGN, GHS, KES, VND, and 30+ other currencies
# Revolut Bridge Strategy
For users in these regions, also can use the Revolut Bridge Strategy written above.
# Additional Tips for Users: [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) Emergency Strategy & Revolut
# For Eastern Europe & Emergency Situations
[****ZEN.com****](http://ZEN.com) serves as an not a perfect payment method, but pretty good emergency deposit method:
- ****Supported Currencies****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK, PLN, and more
- ****Cost****: ~1% fee
- ****Speed****: Real-time deposits
- ****Use Cases****:
- Margin calls requiring immediate funding
- Liquidation prevention
- When primary methods are unavailable
# [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) Exchange Support
- ****Binance****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK, PLN (1~1.2% fixed fee)
- ****Bitget****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK (1.1% fee)
- ****Bybit****: EUR, CHF, CZK, GBP, HUF, RON (0.92% fee)
# Revolut Bridge Strategy: Make all currency into EUR
For users in these regions, ****UK Neo Bank, Revolut offers a game-changing alternative****:
1. ****Local Currency → Revolut → EUR/GBP/USD → Exchange****
2. ****Benefits****:
- Access to 0% EUR strategies via Revolut
- Excellent exchange rates for currency conversion
- Multiple currency support in one account
3. ****Cost****: Revolut membership fees (offset by additional benefits)
4. ****Best for****: Users wanting to access optimal EUR/USD strategies
# **4. Implementation Checklist
# Immediate Actions by Region**
****EUR Users****
- Set up Binance SEPA Instant
- Learn EURI → USDT → USDC route
- Consider MEXC as backup
****USD/GBP Users****
- Evaluate Coinbase vs Kraken+ based on volume
- Set up appropriate bank transfer method
- Plan transfer strategy to low-fee exchanges
****BRL Users****
- Open MEXC account immediately
- Set up PIX payment method
- Enjoy the best fees in crypto
****Other Currency Users****:
- Research Revolut membership options
- Set up P2P accounts as backup
- Consider [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) for emergency funding
Your currency and location are more important than brand preferences. Master your regional advantages, use Revolut and [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com), always have emergency backup plans ready.
The mathematical optimization is clear: ****proper regional strategy can save $150-400 monthly on $5K deposits****, making this the highest-impact optimization in your entire trading workflow.
# 5. Endings
# What's Coming in Parts 2 & 3
After spending 6 years learning these lessons by my own, I've learned the one thing.
# "fees aren't inevitable - they're a choice."
****Part 2**** will cover the trading fee ecosystem, mostly on futures trading fee, that most impacts your daily returns. And also we'll analyze how the referral commission system works, why influencers make more from your fees than their actual trading.
****Part 3**** will complete your journey with network fees and withdrawal strategies, giving you a complete optimization system from deposit to withdrawal.
If this analysis helped optimize your fees, I would be happy. If you need any kind of personal inquires to me, look on my profile or make any kind of contact to me ! Commenting is also good. Part 2 drops on Tuesday, and will cover the trading fees that make or break most futures traders.
*P.S. English is not my first language (I'm Korean), so if any part of this guide was unclear, please email me and I'll explain it better. Fee optimization is too important for language barriers to get in the way.
Thank you for reading this huge posting. Have a nice trading live guys !
****If you got any questions, Email me or Telegram me:**** [****HenryChoi@cryptopayback.io****](mailto:HenryChoi@cryptopayback.io) , u/henryych

As someone who's been trading crypto futures for 6 years, I never truly understood how much fees were destroying my balance until I started tracking every single transaction. When I was 18, I realized I was paying over $1,000 monthly in various fees on only a $600 balance - that's when it hit me: the fee structure in this industry is fundamentally draining the users' balance, but you can avoid it by doing a researches.
As many of you know, this industry has at least 5-6 fee layers, just to do a single trade. As a futures trader & day trader who did 15-20 positions per week, 2-3 positions per day, I became obsessed with understanding every layer of fees in this ecosystem. This obsession eventually led me to develop a fee cut-off service, but I won't mention a single thing about it here, I am not here for service promotion. But more importantly, wile this development, it gave me deep insights into how the fee ecosystem really works.
I've seen thousands of users, especially newcomers losing money to unidentified crypto fees, and realized most traders are paying 5-10x more than they need to. I was feeling that I have to share my researches. That's how I decided to run this series guide for every traders.
****This three-part series covers your complete fee optimization journey:****
- ****Part 1 (today)**** - Fiat deposits: where most lose 3-5% before even trading
- ****Part 2**** - Trading fees: how futures/day traders can increase returns by 80-180%
- ****Part 3**** - Network & withdrawal optimization
Today's analysis includes 40+ currencies across 7 major exchanges, 4 deposit methods with real cost breakdowns, and finally region-specific strategies to cut fees from 5% to 0%.
****Let's dive in!****
# Part 1: Fiat Deposit & Onramp Fee Optimization - The Complete Analysis
# 0. Introduction
The crypto trading journey has multiple major fee layers that drain your account. Most traders are underlying/underestimating these fees, but it might critically affecting your account. Today we're tacking Part 1 - the entry tax(On Ramp Tax) that hits you before you even place your first actual trade.
Look at the "Avg Deposit Costs By Method ($5K) Graph". This Graph already showing the simple explanation of today's must learn lesson. ****Use Bank Transfer, or at least P2P Trading**** when you deposit to the exchanges. Direct Credit Card buy, or Credit Card Fiat Deposit will instantly kill your balance -5%
Let's find out what's the ideal journey for your currency!
****Pro tip****: Use Ctrl+F to search for your currency or region. This guide is comprehensive, so focus on the sections relevant to your situation.
# **1. Deconstruction of All kinds of Deposit Type & Fees
# 1) Direct Buy via Credit/Debit Card: MUST AVOID
Most exchanges offer "Direct Buy" options. The feature names differ by exchange, but they're all the same - you can buy cryptocurrency like USDT, USDC directly with your credit/debit card.
It seems convenient, but this is the _****most avoided option****_ for initial deposits. What makes this worse is that most traders don't realize they're paying ****both**** the exchange fee AND potential foreign transaction fees from their bank.
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Credit Card Fee|Potential Foreign Transaction Fees|Monthly Cost ($5K deposit)|
|Binance|up to 4.5%|2%~6%|~$225|
|Coinbase|up to 3.99%|2%~6%|~$199|
|Kraken|up to 5%|2%~6%|~$250|
|Bitget|up to 3.7%|2%~6%|~$185|
|Bybit|up to 4.6%|2%~6%|~$230|
|MEXC|up to 3~4%|2%~6%|~$200|
|[Gate.io](http://Gate.io)|~2.5% (estimated)|2%~6%|~$125|
Look at "Direct Buy vs Spot Buy Cost ($5K Deposits)
This two visualization shows the obvious fact. ****Never buy Crypto directly with your credit card****, unless it is super emergency, like a margin call or liquidation.
****Disclaimer1****: Most exchanges ****don't document their "Buy Credit Card" fees clearly**** So I checked them one by one.
****Disclaimer2****: All the Spot Buy Fees are assumed with a ****"Maker"**** order. If you attempt a Taker Order, the fee might escalate. (E.g. Coinbase Fee with a Taker Order will be $60.).
****Disclaimer3****: ****Spot Buy Opt**** is calculated with these rules.
- Native token discount: BNB, BGB, MX, GT
- Memberships: Coinbase One, Kraken+
- Promotions: Binance USDC Promotions, EUR promotions, etc.
- All the fees are calculated without a VIP fee discount.
# **2) Credit Card Fiat Deposits: The Convenience Trap ? Or a Decent Deal?
Instead of buying crypto directly, you deposit your local currency via card, then buy crypto separately. Usually cheaper than direct crypto purchases but still has significant fees.
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Region/Currency|Method|Fee|Notes|
|****Binance****|CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1.2% fixed|Decent rates|
||PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1% fixed|Best PLN option|
||EUR|Visa/Master|2% fixed|Acceptable|
||UAH|Bank Card|0%~|Great if available|
||BHD|Humo Payment|3.5% fixed|Expensive|
|****Coinbase****|USD|PayPal|2.5% estimated|USA only, unclear documentation|
||Netherlands, Italy, Spain, UK|3D Secure Card|N/A|Confusing fee structure|
|****Bitget****|PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|0.95% fixed|Competitive|
||CZK, HUF, DKK, AUD, CAD, NOK, SEK, CHF|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1.1% fixed|Various options|
|****Bybit****|EUR, CHF, CZK, GBP, HUF, RON|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|0.92% fixed|Best rates|
||PLN|[ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com)|1% fixed|Good option|
- ****Additional considerations****: Your bank might add 2-6% foreign transaction fees on top of these rates.
****Disclaimer1****: I couldn't find a Card Deposit instead of Card Buy on ****Kraken , MEXC & Gate**** so I didn't mentioned about it.
****Disclaimer2****: For the ****Coinbase****, they only documented the way to deposit, and ****didn't mentioned about the actual fees****(I looked over all the official documents, but i couldn't find the fixed rate. if you got any source, let me know please!), so I searched various posts by users, and made an ****estimation.****
# **3) Bank Transfers: Cheap, Secure & Fast. The Best Option, if you don’t mind using a Bank account.
Bank transfers are usually the optimal solution, but they have ****geographic limitations**** and ****privacy trade-offs****. I've seen many of traders do not prefer providing their banking information to Exchanges, and also same with the reverse.
But, I personally think it is still ****the best option****, if your currency supports this method. Underlying table, is the ****complete**** analysis of 40+ currencies on all major 7 exchanges.
However, some currencies are able to be deposit on exchanges, but ****no trading pairs available**** on there. In case, you should use ****P2P**** or for the last way, ****Card Fiat Deposit.**** (I'll talk about it on "P2P Recommended vs Direct Deposit", use ctrl+F to find it.)
*Dislclaimer: The table below is very long, so I recommend reading only your currency and ignoring the rest!
| | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Currency|Method|Fee|Processing Time|Regional Availability|
|****Binance****|IDR|TokoCrypto Bank Transfer|0%|Real-time|Indonesia|
||TRY|Bank Transfer|0%|Real-time|Turkey|
||PLN|BLIK|1%|Real-time|Poland|
||EUR|SEPA Instant|1 EUR|Real-time|EU countries|
||UAH|GEO Pay|0%~|Real-time|Ukraine|
||AED|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|UAE|
||BHD|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Bahrain|
||BHD|Beyon Money|N/A|Real-time|Bahrain|
||KWD|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Kuwait|
||OMR|BBK Bank Transfer|0%~|Real-time|Oman|
||ARS|ARS Bank|0%~|Real-time|Argentina|
||KZT|Freedom Bank, PayBox, Qazpost Bank|0%~|Real-time|Kazakhstan|
||USD|BPay|0%|Real-time|Switzerland only|
||BRL|Pix, PicPay, TED|0%|Real-time|Brazil|
||COP|PSE Online Banking|0%~|Real-time|Colombia|
||MXN|SPEI|0%|Real-time|Mexico|
||ZAR|Online Banking|0%|Real-time|South Africa|
|****Coinbase****|USD|ACH|0%|1-5 business days|USA|
||USD|Wire|$10|1-3 business days|USA|
||USD|SWIFT (UAE, HK, NZ, PH, KR, TW)|$5 + 0.125% (min $30-100 SGD)|3-4 business days|UAE, HongKong, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan|
||USD|FedWire|N/A|N/A|USA|
||USD|CUBIX|N/A|N/A|USA|
||EUR|SEPA|0%|1-3 business days|EU + UK|
||EUR|iDeal|0%|1-3 business days|Netherlands|
||EUR, GBP|Easy Bank Transfer|0%|1-3 business days (EU), Up to 2 hours (UK)|Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, UK|
||GBP|Faster Payments|0%|1-3 business days|UK|
||CAD|Interac e-transfer|0%|Up to 5 mins|Canada|
||CAD|EFT bank transfer|0%|Instant|Canada|
||BRL|Pix/Bank transfer|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||ARS|Bank Transfer|0%|Instant|Argentina|
||AUD|PayID, BSB|0%|Instant|Australia|
||SGD|FAST SGD Account|0%|Instant|Singapore|
||SGD|USD Bank Account SWIFT|$25 + additional fee|3-4 business days|Singapore|
|****Kraken****|USD|ACH, PayPal|0%|Near-instant|USA only|
||USD|FedWire (Dart Bank/Etana Connect)|0%|0-1 business days|USA only|
||USD|CUBIX|0%|Near-instant|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Customers Bank)|0%|1-3 business days|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||USD|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|$3|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||EUR|SEPA/SEPA Instant (ClearJunction/Plaid/BankingCircle)|0%|0-3 business days or instant|SEPA region|
||EUR|SEPA (Bank Frick)|0%|0-3 business days|SEPA region|
||EUR|PayPal|0%~|Near-instant|EEA|
||EUR|iDeal|0%|Near-instant|Netherlands|
||EUR|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 EUR|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||EUR|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CAD|Interac e-Transfer|0%|0-1 business days or instant|Canada only|
||CAD|Domestic Wire Transfer|13.74 CAD|1-5 business days|Canada only|
||CAD|In-person cash or debit|1.25 CAD + 0.25%|30-60 min|Canada only|
||CAD|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 CAD|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||CAD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CAD|Apaylo|0.25% (max 30 CAD)|1-5 business days|Canada only|
||AUD|Osko, Bank Transfer, PayPal|0%|0-2 business days|Australia only|
||AUD|RTGS|33 AUD|0-1 business days|Australia only|
||AUD|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||GBP|FPS (Plaid)|0%|0-1 business days|UK only|
||GBP|FPS|0%|0-1 business days|UK + EEA upon request|
||GBP|PayPal|0%~|Near-instant|UK only|
||GBP|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|3 GBP|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||GBP|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||CHF|SIC (Bank Frick)|0%|Same day|Liechtenstein, Switzerland only|
||CHF|SWIFT (Bank Frick)|0.75 CHF|1-5 business days|Worldwide|
||CHF|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||JPY|SWIFT (Etana Custody)|0%|2-5 business days or instant|Worldwide|
||ARS|Bank Transfer|1.5%|Instant|Argentina only|
||BRL|Pix|0.2% + 0.3% IOF tax|Instant|Brazil only|
||MXN|SPEI|0.5%|Up to 20 minutes|Mexico only|
|****Bitget****|VND|VietQR|N/A|Instant|Vietnam|
||BRL|Pix|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||ZAR|EFT Secure|0%|0-2 hours|South Africa|
||EUR|SEPA/SEPA Instant|0%|0-2 working days|EU|
||MXN|OXXO Pay, SPEI|0%|Instant|Mexico|
|****Bybit****|EUR|Easy Bank|0.08% + 0.3 EUR|Instant|EU|
||EUR|SEPA|0.08% + 0.28 EUR|0-2 working days|EU|
||PLN|BLIK|0.9% + 0.5 PLN|Instant|Poland|
||PLN|Easy Bank, SWIFT PLN|N/A|1-5 business days|Poland|
||CHF|SIC, SWIFT|3 CHF|Same day / 1-5 business days|Switzerland|
||IDR|BI-FAST|0.4%|Instant|Indonesia|
||MXN|SPEI|0.5%|Instant|Mexico|
||BRL|PIX|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||RUB|Local Bank Card|N/A|Instant|Russia|
||GBP|FPS|0%|Instant|UK|
||USD|QuickPay|N/A|Instant|El Salvador only|
||USD|SWIFT USD|N/A|1-5 business days|Non-US banks only|
||COP, PEN, UYU, ARS, VND|Local Bank Transfer|0%|Instant|Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Vietnam|
||CRC|SINPE|0%|Instant|Costa Rica|
||ZAR|EFT|0%|0-2 hours|South Africa|
||HKD|SWIFT|N/A|1-5 business days|Hong Kong|
|****MEXC****|EUR|SEPA|0%|Instant|EU|
||BRL|Pix|0%|Instant|Brazil|
||EUR, GBP, CHF|Direct Bank Transfer|1.14%~1.16%|Instant|EU, UK, Switzerland|
||JPY|Direct Bank Transfer|2.8%|Instant|Japan|
||AUD|Direct Bank Transfer|3.2%|Instant|Australia|
|[****Gate.io****](http://Gate.io)|N/A|N/A|N/A|N/A|N/A|
As you can see, lots of bank transfer options provide ****0% fee**** with ****near-instant**** processing. If your currency supports bank transfers, this is usually your best choice.
****Disclaimer****: I think [Gate.io](http://Gate.io) doesnt offers fiat deposits via bank trasfers.
# 4) P2P Trading: Universal Solution for All Currencies
****P2P trading**** allows buying cryptocurrency ****directly from other users**** using your local currency. This works for literally any currency worldwide.
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|P2P Liquidity|Fee Structure|Safety Features|
|****MEXC****|Excellent|≈0%|Escrow protection|
|****Binance****|Excellent|≈0-0.1%|Escrow protection|
|****Bitget****|Good|≈0%|Escrow protection|
|****Bybit****|Good|≈0-0.2%|Escrow protection|
As you can see on table above, P2P is extremely cheap, and also a fast payment method. Then, why would we not use P2P? Here's an analysis of Pros and Cons for P2P.
# **P2P Trading: Pros and Cons
| | |
|---|---|
|****PROS****|****CONS****|
|****Near-zero fees****|****Limited transaction amounts per seller****|
|****Universal currency support,**** Works with ANY currency (CNY, KRW, NGN, INR, etc.)|****Trading with individuals (perceived risk)****|
|****Multiple payment methods (****Bank transfer, mobile money, cash apps)|****Rate uncertainty****|
|****High privacy(****No direct bank-to-exchange connection)|****KYC verification usually required****|
|****Fast processing (5-15 minutes)****|****Seller reliability varies****|
|****24/7 availability****|****Learning curve for beginners****|
|****Competitive rates due to seller competition****||
# Summary
****P2P is ideal when:**** Your currency isn't supported via instant bank transfer/spot trading pairs, you want maximum privacy, you're making smaller transactions, or you catch the better deals then spot market pairs, or you are in emergency.
****P2P might not suit you if:**** Your currency is already supported by instant bank transfers & spot traidng pairs, you need large transactions, prefer institutional security.
And if you've read this far and made it through, you'll probably understand the Avg Deposit Costs By Method ($5K) Graph I showed you earlier.
Now that we fully understand that graph, we can complete the Fiat Deposit, which is the process of transferring cash to a Crypto Exchange. However, there is still one last and most important step left! This is the “On-Ramp” process, which converts local fiat to Cryptocurrency.
# 2. Fiat-to-Crypto On-Ramp Fees: The Complete Analysis
Once you have fiat on the exchange, it is ****not the end.**** When you want to trade and make it easy on Crypto markets, you need to ****convert fiat to actual cryptocurrency, like USDT / USDC****. In this post, we are going to call this process, ****"On-Ramp"****.
This is where exchanges get ****sneaky with conversion features****, but also where smart strategies can save you significant money.
First, as I mentioned at the start of this post, do you remember the **"Direct Buy vs Spot Buy Cost ($5K Deposits)" Graph?
Yes, as you remember, in this section, we are only going to talk about currency-crypto convert only via ****"Spot Trading"****. Trying any other methods, like _****"Buy Crypto", "Swap", "Conversion", etc****_* are usually so much expensive than Spot Trading.
# Exchange-Specific Trading Features & Memberships
# Basic-Optimal Spot Fees & Special Features: Ultra Fee Optimization
Look on "Exchange Trading Fees Comparison (Spot Trading, Basic)" & "Exchange Trading Fees Comparison (Spot Trading, Optimized)" Graph. Looking these charts, you might notice these ****two things.****
- ****We should Optimize our trading Fee****
- ****Choosing the right On-Ramp Exchange can cut down huge amount of fee****
So, I'll analysis the optimization strategy for each exchanges.
# I. MEXC - The Fee Leader
I know many of you guys have doubt on MEXC's operation as exchange itself, they accused as shady exchange, or way too risk pushing exchange, but anyways only on the fee cost efficiency side, MEXC has the biggest win currently.
# **Preview
- ****Maker Fee****: Always 0%
- ****Taker Fee****: 0.05% (basic) → 0.025% (optimized)
- ****Special Feature****: 239 zero-fee trading pairs (both Maker & Taker)
- ****On-ramp****: SEPA Instant (EUR), PIX (BRL) at 0%
First of all, MEXC's basic spot maker fee is already 0%, so only fee affects you is about ****Taker**** fee, which is baiscally 0.05%
Thankfully, MEXC offers two ways to discount your fee, but in one method: their native token, MX. You will get an 20% discount if you use MX for your fee payment, and if you hold a decent amount of MX for 24 hours, then your trades' taker fee gets 50% discount. Two discount is cannot be double applicated.
But, MEXC also has natively 0% maker & taker pairs. You can simply search them on the MEXC fee page. Currently 0% maker & taker pairs are 239 tokens. Which is a lot.
Additionally, MEXC only allows bank deposits via SEPA Instant for EUR and Pix for BRL, both of which have stablecoin pairs and of course have 0% maker fees. Therefore, EUR and BRL users can On-Ramp with 0% fees via MEXC.
# **To sum up, theres two ways.
- You can see it on "MEXC Spot Fee Comparison by Status" Chart.
# **Personnal Recommendation
- If you trades large, buy 500MX, and just don't sell. Use both Taker and Maker on order depend on your situation.
- If your volume and frequency is low, then just don't get a additional discount, just only use a maker(limit) order.
- If you are a BRL user, MEXC is by far the best On-Ramp Exchange for you. Bitget and Bybit also support BRL pairs, but MEXC has a significantly lower fee rate (0%).
- If you are a Eurozone user, the exchange may be a bit less trustworthy, but it is definitely worth considering as one of the many options available to you.
# II. Binance - The Complex Giant
I was pretty surprised with this result. Binance is a one of the most Giant Exchange on the world, so I though the fee would be high against the alternatives, but actually it was the one of the cheapest exchange on overall ratings. It is impressive that another giantic exchange, Coinbase has a severe spot fee structure.
# **Preview
- ****Basic Fee****: 0.1% both ways
- ****Optimization****: 140+ zero-fee promotion pairs (mostly maker only, but taker also offers lower fees on these pairs)
- ****Strategy****: "USE USDC or FDUSD" for best rates (Recommend USDC more, for thinking about futures trading too.)
- ****Recommended Route****: SEPA → EURI → USDT → USDC (If you Trade EURI -> USDC Directly, you will end up with a fee. That route is not 0% fee.)
Binance's basic spot fees are 0.1%, same as Bitget, Bybit, Gate. However, with various strategies, you can cut it off to 0%.
First, Binance offers a lot of "Spot Fee Promotion". They are offering various pairs for 0% fees only on maker, and also some for both maker and taker. ****Maker 0% pairs are over 140+ pairs****, so you can trade them directly on a market. Most of the promotions are FDUSD, EURI & EUR, USDC.
And USDC basically offers a 5% fee off on spot trading, so the basic fee with USDC is 0.095%, 5% down from 0.1% with USDT & Fiat.
- The TRY fiat pairs has different fee structure, basic maker 0.1% taker 0.15%.
And Binance also offers a Native Token discount. If you pay your fee with BNB token, you get 25% fee cutoff, so the basic fee for USDT is 0.075%, and for the USDC its' 0.07125%.
# **To sum up, theres mulitple ways.
1. Zero Spot Fee Promotion Pairs. They are over 140+ Pairs, and support EUR&EURI, USDC, FDUSD, USDT pairs. (0% Fee)
2. Use USDC if your pair is not on the Zero Fee list. If you have to pay the fee, choose the USDC pair. it cuts down your fee 5%. (0.1% -> 0.095%)
3. You can use BNB native token for fee payment, and get 25% addtitional discount. (0.1% -> 0.0.075%, 0.095% -> 0.07125%)!
For the Summarized image, you can look on the "Binance Fee Comparison (Spot, Fee Tiers&Optimizations)
# **Personnal Recommendation
- I will talk about this on Part 2, but if you are especially a EUR Spot Trader, Binance might be a good one, but if you use some other currencies like GBP, USD, CHF, BRL or you Spot Trades very high frequency, you have better options like MEXC.
- I will talk about Futures on Part 2, and if you are futures users, Binance will be one of the best best option to trade. But as I mentioned, if you are spot only focused user, there are alternatives.
__Disclaimer: Do not trade EURI -> USDC Directly. This route makes you to pay a fee. so you must use EURI->USDT->USDC Route.__
# III. Kraken - A bit expensive, but savior for secondary major currencies
Kraken is a exchange that mostly servicing for major currency market, like USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, CHF, JPY. I have experience with Kraken, and they were pretty amazing for On-Ramping. Clear instructions, easy and fast deposits, nice customer service workers.
# **Preview
- ****Basic Fee****: 0.25% Maker, 0.4% Taker
- ****Kraken+****: $4.99/month for 0% up to $10K volume, break-even is $2,000+ monthly trading (highly recommended for CHF, AUD, CAD, JPY users)
- ****Strategy****: Use Kraken as a On-Ramp Exchange, and trade on other exchanges.
- ****Unique Value****: Only major exchange supporting CHF/AUD/CAD/JPY pairs
For Kraken, Kraken has a really simple and easy-to-structure Spot fee system.
First, let's assume that you are basically trading using Kraken's Pro function.
Kraken takes 0.25% Maker Fee and 0.4% Taker Fee as fees.

Yes. It's much higher than the previous two exchanges. You can see that it's 2 to 4 times higher. However, Kraken offers a fixed basic fee of 0.2% for both Maker and Taker for Stable Coin, Pegged Token, and FX (Fiat) Pairs.
That's all for Kraken's basic structure! It's really simple, right?
So what about the 0% fee shown on the chart? It's Kraken+ membership. It offers various benefits for $4.99/month, but the biggest benefit is that it offers 0% fee benefits for Spot Trading up to 10K volume. That means the fee is $4.99 up to 10K. Let’s take a look at the graph below to easily calculate the break-even point of a Kraken+ membership.
Now let's look on the "Kraken Spot Fees: Regular vs Kraken+" Chart.
As you can see from the chart, Kraken+ is advantageous for those with more than $2,000 in spot trading per month. In other words, if you plan to deposit at least $2,000 per month through Kraken, I highly recommend using Kraken+.
In addition, Kraken supports most major currency deposits and trading pairs, as well as spot trading pairs for currencies such as CHF, AUD, CAD, and JPY. These currency has only Krakan as a option. Therefore, I highly recommend Kraken as an initial onramp for those users.
# **To sum up, there are simple options.
1. Kraken’s basic fee is 0.25% for maker, 0.4% for taker
2. Kraken’s special pairs fee is 0.2% for maker, 0.2% for taker
3. However, both of the above options are not attractive fees for trading. Therefore, what Kraken is appealing is Kraken+. Kraken+ supports 0% Spot fees up to $10K volume.
For the summarized image, you can see the "Kraken Spot Trading Fee Comparison" Chart.
# **Personal Recommendation
- For Eurozone users, there are a wide range of options, including Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, and MEXC. So, read through our guide and decide what plan you want, or choose one, it’s very simple!
- For Canadian, Japanese, Australian, and Swiss users, I recommend “essentially” on-ramping to Kraken via Kraken+. Currently, no other exchanges support Fiat/Stable trading for these currencies.
- However, in any case, I do not recommend using Kraken as more than an on-ramp exchange, i.e. as your main trading exchange, as it is not cost-effective.
- If you purchase Kraken+, do not trade more than $10K. I will give you a plan for each currency, I recommend that you stop the Kraken On-Ramp when you hit the 10K limit.
# **IV. Coinbase - The Mainstream Choices?
Coinbase is one of the world's biggest exchang.e. As far as I know, it is also the only cryptocurrency exchange listed on the stock market.
# **Preview
- ****Advanced Mode Required****: 0.6% Maker, 1.2% Taker
- ****Stablecoin Pairs****: 0% Maker, 0.001% Taker
- ****Coinbase One****: $29.99/month for 0% up to $10K, break-even is $5,000+ (not recommended for On-Ramp only users)
- ****Strategy****: Use Coinbase as a On-Ramp, and Spot trade on other exchanges.
- ****Limitation****: High basic fees, limited transparency
Acutally, I was pretty disappointed with Coinbase, doing this research. Coinbase seems to operate a lot of fees "when the trade is done", except for the trading fee itself. So I have to go on a app and try it by myself. In fact, what my colleagues and I have found after working for several days to find Coinbase's deposit, withdrawal, and direct buy related fees is that it is almost impossible to find any official documentation unless you try to do the trade yourself.
I like their services' convenient offerings, but I don't like their information providing style.
Before getting into the article, I would like to tell you that when purchasing cryptocurrency with Coinbase, you must always turn on ****"Advanced Mode"**** and start trading. Due to the confusion about the chronological order of the official documents, I investigated external documents and found that Coinbase charges a fixed amount fee per section in basic mode. Referring to the data from Bitbo below, it is as follows.
$0.99 for transactions $10 or lower
$1.49 for transactions between $10-$25
$1.99 for transactions between $25-$50
$2.99 for transactions between $50-$200
0.5% spread fee for transactions over $200
According to this fee, you can be charged a whopping fee of up to ****15%****. Never use this method, and turn on Coinbase Advanced mode to do Spot Trades. This process charges 0.6% maker and 1.2% taker fees. ****(But which is still 24 times higher than MEXC's spot taker.)****
However, despite this, Coinbase clearly has some areas where it can give advantages to USD, EUR, GBP users, and futures users, so let's talk about them.
First, let's talk about Coinbase's discounts for certain currencies, such as promotions. Coinbase charges 0% for makers or at least close to that fee for most stable coin pairs, and the list is as follows:
However, the stablecoin fee is only applied to EUR/GBP/USD, because there are no pairs for other currencies even if deposits are possible. Users who can use Coinbase as an on-ramp are those in the US/EU/UK.
So how can such a terrible fee rate be reduced to 0%? The answer is simple. Like Kraken+, Coinbase operates a Coinbase One membership subscription. This also applies a 0% spot fee per month up to $10K.
The price of the membership is $29.99/month. The break-even point graph is as follows.
Look at the "Conbase Spot Fees: Regular vs Coinbase One" Graph.
However, from the perspective of On-Ramp, the users who On-Ramp Coinbase are USD, EUR, and GBP users. Therefore, the fee for trading with Stable Coins is 0% anyway. In other words, they have no reason to buy Coinbase One during the On-Ramp process.
# **To sum up, there are these structures.
1. Coinbase must purchase in Advanced mode.
2. The basic Spot Fee of Coinbase Advanced is extremely high at 0.6% for maker and 1.2% for taker. Therefore, never Spot Trade general pairs without Coinbase One
3. Very few coins classified as Stable Pairs have 0% trading fees
4. If you buy Coinbase One, you get 0% monthly fees for all Spot Pairs up to $10K volume, and a break-even point of $5,000
For summarized image, you can see "Coinbase Spot Trading Fee Comparison" Chart.
# **Personal Recommendation
- It is clear that On-Ramping to Coinbase is a very attractive option for users in the US, UK, and Europe. But if you want to do additional Spot Trading, move to another exchange.
- However, all users in the US, UK, and Europe, who are the core of Coinbase, can enjoy the same effect by utilizing Kraken+ on Kraken. However, Kraken+ has a $10K volume limit, while Coinbase's Stable Pair fee does not have such a limit, so consider this carefully.
- For Eurozone users, there are a lot of options like Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, MEXC, so you don’t have to stick to Coinbase. So, read through our guide and make your own plan or pick one, it’s easy!
- For the rest of the currency users, there is absolutely no reason to choose Coinbase as an On-Ramp.
- In conclusion, since we only deal with On-Ramps, there is absolutely no reason to buy Coinbase One.
# **Short Summary with a table
| | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Exchange|Best For|Optimal Fee|Method|Break-even|Key Feature|
|****MEXC****|EUR/BRL users|0%|Hold 500 MX|Immediate|239 zero-fee pairs|
|****Binance****|EUR users, Futures|0%|EURI→USDT route|Immediate|140+ promotion pairs|
|****Kraken****|CHF/AUD/CAD/JPY|0%|Kraken+ membership|$2K/month|Only major currency option|
|****Coinbase****|USD/EUR/GBP onramp|0%|Stablecoin pairs only|Onramp only|High spot fees without membership|
# **Non-Viable Options
****Bitget, Bybit,**** [****Gate.io****](http://Gate.io) were excluded from final recommendations due to:
- Limited fiat support
- Higher fees with minimal optimization potential
- No significant advantages over the top 4 exchanges
# 3. **Regional Optimization Strategies: FINAL STRATEGIES
# Preview
****1) Existing Fiat Pairs on Exchanges****
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Exchange|USDT Pairs|USDC Pairs|
|****Binance****|EUR (0% via EURI),TRY, BRL,UAH, ZAR, PLN, ARS, MXN, COP (0.075%)|EUR (0% via EURI), PLN, RON,CZK (０.07125%), TRY (0.075%)|
|****Coinbase Advanced****|USD (0.005%), EUR (0%), GBP (0%)|USD (0%), EUR (0%), GBP (0%)|
|****Kraken Pro****|GBP, USD, EUR, CAD, CHF, AUD, JPY|EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD|
|****MEXC****|EUR, BRL|EUR, BRL|
|****Bitget****|BRL, EUR|EUR|
|****Bybit****|EUR, BRL, PLN, TRY|EUR, BRL|
****2) Optimal Strategy by Currency****
| | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Currency|Best Exchange|Method|Total Cost|Alternative|
|****EUR****|****Binance, MEXC****|SEPA→EURI→USDT|****0%****|Coinbase (0%), Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****USD****|****Coinbase****|ACH→USDC/USDT|0%|Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****GBP****|****Coinbase****|FPS→USDT/USDC|0%|Kraken+ ($4.99)|
|****BRL****|****MEXC****|PIX→USDT/USDC|****0%****|Binance (0.075%), Bitget/Bybit (0.08%)|
|****TRY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR****|****Binance****|Bank→USDT/USDC|****0.075%****|P2P alternative|
|****CAD****|****Kraken+****|Interac→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****AUD****|****Kraken+****|PayID→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****CHF****|****Kraken+****|SIC→USDT/USDC|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
|****JPY****|****Kraken+****|SWIFT→USDT|****$5/month****|Revolut → EUR Strategy|
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Currency Category|Recommended Strategy|Reasoning|
|****Direct Deposit Optimal****|EUR, USD, GBP, BRL, TRY, CAD, AUD, CHF, JPY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR|Have efficient spot pairs with 0-0.075% costs|
|****P2P Strongly Recommended****|CNY, KRW, SGD, IDR, PHP, INR, THB, NGN, GHS, KES, HUF*, AED, QAR, KWD, BHD, KZT, OMR, VND|No Efficient Pairs Available|
|****Borderline Cases****|PLN, RON, CZK|Spot pairs exist but fees marginal (Card Deposit Needed), P2P often better|
*PLN, CZK, RON have Binance spot pairs but 0.07125% fees + Card Deposit fee make P2P competitive. PLN Also has Bybit USDT Pairs, but 0.1% trading fee is not optimal
# **Main Analysis By each Currency
# EUR: The MOST Convenient Currency Currently
****Best Path****: SEPA → EURI → USDT → USDC (Total: 0%)
# Primary Options
1. **Binance: SEPA Instant → EURI → USDT → USDC route
2. ****MEXC: SEPA Instant → USDT/USDC → 0% fees****
# Alternative Options
- ****Coinbase****: SEPA → EUR → USDC (0% for stablecoin pairs only)
- ****Kraken+****: SEPA → EUR → USDT/USDC ($4.99/month up to $10K volume)
# Most Recommended Option for EUR users
__Binance=MEXC > Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Critical Warning for EUR Users
__Never trade EURI → USDC directly on Binance. You must use the EURI → USDT → USDC route to maintain 0% fees.__
# USD: On-Ramp on Coinbase/Kraken, Trade on ...
****Best Path****: ACH → USDC (Kraken+ $4.99/month or Coinbase stablecoin pairs)
# Primary Options
1. ****Coinbase Advanced****: ACH → USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% for USD/USDC pairs
- ****Limitation****: Only stablecoin pairs, high fees for other trading
- ****Best for****: On-ramp only
2. ****Kraken+****: ACH → USDC/USDT
- ****Cost****: $4.99/month (0% up to $10K volume)
- ****Break-even****: $2,000+ monthly trading
# Most Recommended Option for USD users
__Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Strategy Recommendation
*Use Coinbase for on-ramp (0% USD → USDC), then transfer to MEXC or other low-fee exchanges for actual trading.
# Tip for USD Users
If you use Coinbase for On-Ramp only, don't buy Coinbase One membership.
# GBP: Same with USD
****Best Path****: Faster Payments → USDC (Kraken+ or Coinbase)
# Primary Options
1. ****Kraken+****: FPS → GBP → USDC
- ****Cost****: $4.99/month (0% up to $10K)
2. ****Coinbase****: FPS → GBP → USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% for GBP/USDC pairs
# Most Recommended Option for GBP users
__Coinbase > Kraken+__
# Strategy Recommendation
__Use Coinbase for on-ramp (0% GBP → USDC), then transfer to MEXC or other low-fee exchanges for actual trading.__
# Tip for GBP Users
__Revolut can serve as an excellent bridge for GBP users who want access to EUR strategies, converting GBP → EUR with minimal fees.__
# BRL: MEXC Optimal
****Best Path****: PIX → USDT/USDC (MEXC - Clear Winner)
# Primary Option
- ****MEXC****: PIX → USDT/USDC
- ****Cost****: 0% total fees
- ****Advantage****: Only exchange offering true 0% BRL on-ramp
# Alternatives
- ****Binance****: PIX → BRL → USDT (0.075% with BNB discount)
- ****Bitget/Bybit****: PIX → USDT (0.08-0.1% fees)
# Why MEXC Dominates for BRL
MEXC is the only major exchange offering completely fee-free PIX deposits with 0% maker fees on spot trading.
# CAD/AUD/CHF/JPY: Kraken+
****For these users, Kraken is essentially your only major exchange option, but the 0% Fee discount is only limited to $10K/months****
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
|Currency|Method|Cost|Alternative|
|****CAD****|Interac e-Transfer → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****AUD****|PayID/BSB → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****CHF****|SIC Transfer → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
|****JPY****|SWIFT → USDT/USDC|$4.99/month|Revolut → EUR → Exchange|
# Revolut Bridge Strategy: when if I hit $10K Limit, Use Revolut
What if I bought a Kraken+ membership and I am gonna hit the $10K fee discount ceiling? Here's the answer: Try Revolut Strategy. Revolut is a UK Neo Bank, that offers broad range of currency exchange, and fast payments. So if you are available with the revolut on your country, then go with:
1. ****Local Currency → Revolut → EUR/GBP/USD → Exchange****
2. ****Cost****: Revolut membership fees (offset by additional benefits)
3. ****Best for****: When your account had hit $10K Kraken+ fee discount limit.
# TRY, MXN, COP, UAH, ARS, ZAR: Binance 0.075%
****For these users, Binance is essentially your only major exchange option****
| | | |
|---|---|---|
|Currency|Method|Cost|
|****TRY****|Bank Transfer (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****MXN****|SPEI (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****COP****|PSE Banking (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****UAH****|GEO Pay (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****ARS****|Bank Transfer (0%) → Stablecoin Pair with BNB Fee (0.075%)|0.075%|
|****ZAR****|Bank Transfer|0.075%|
# Revolut Bridge Strategy
For users in these regions, also can use the Revolut Bridge Strategy written above.
# Other Currencies
# P2P Strategy for All Other Currencies
For other currencies that are not mentioned above, ****Strongly Recommended for****: CNY, KRW, SGD, IDR, PHP, INR, THB, NGN, GHS, KES, VND, and 30+ other currencies
# Revolut Bridge Strategy
For users in these regions, also can use the Revolut Bridge Strategy written above.
# Additional Tips for Users: [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) Emergency Strategy & Revolut
# For Eastern Europe & Emergency Situations
[****ZEN.com****](http://ZEN.com) serves as an not a perfect payment method, but pretty good emergency deposit method:
- ****Supported Currencies****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK, PLN, and more
- ****Cost****: ~1% fee
- ****Speed****: Real-time deposits
- ****Use Cases****:
- Margin calls requiring immediate funding
- Liquidation prevention
- When primary methods are unavailable
# [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) Exchange Support
- ****Binance****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK, PLN (1~1.2% fixed fee)
- ****Bitget****: CHF, CZK, DKK, HUF, RON, SEK (1.1% fee)
- ****Bybit****: EUR, CHF, CZK, GBP, HUF, RON (0.92% fee)
# Revolut Bridge Strategy: Make all currency into EUR
For users in these regions, ****UK Neo Bank, Revolut offers a game-changing alternative****:
1. ****Local Currency → Revolut → EUR/GBP/USD → Exchange****
2. ****Benefits****:
- Access to 0% EUR strategies via Revolut
- Excellent exchange rates for currency conversion
- Multiple currency support in one account
3. ****Cost****: Revolut membership fees (offset by additional benefits)
4. ****Best for****: Users wanting to access optimal EUR/USD strategies
# **4. Implementation Checklist
# Immediate Actions by Region**
****EUR Users****
- Set up Binance SEPA Instant
- Learn EURI → USDT → USDC route
- Consider MEXC as backup
****USD/GBP Users****
- Evaluate Coinbase vs Kraken+ based on volume
- Set up appropriate bank transfer method
- Plan transfer strategy to low-fee exchanges
****BRL Users****
- Open MEXC account immediately
- Set up PIX payment method
- Enjoy the best fees in crypto
****Other Currency Users****:
- Research Revolut membership options
- Set up P2P accounts as backup
- Consider [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com) for emergency funding
Your currency and location are more important than brand preferences. Master your regional advantages, use Revolut and [ZEN.com](http://ZEN.com), always have emergency backup plans ready.
The mathematical optimization is clear: ****proper regional strategy can save $150-400 monthly on $5K deposits****, making this the highest-impact optimization in your entire trading workflow.
# 5. Endings
# What's Coming in Parts 2 & 3
After spending 6 years learning these lessons by my own, I've learned the one thing.
# "fees aren't inevitable - they're a choice."
****Part 2**** will cover the trading fee ecosystem, mostly on futures trading fee, that most impacts your daily returns. And also we'll analyze how the referral commission system works, why influencers make more from your fees than their actual trading.
****Part 3**** will complete your journey with network fees and withdrawal strategies, giving you a complete optimization system from deposit to withdrawal.
If this analysis helped optimize your fees, I would be happy. If you need any kind of personal inquires to me, look on my profile or make any kind of contact to me ! Commenting is also good. Part 2 drops on Tuesday, and will cover the trading fees that make or break most futures traders.
*P.S. English is not my first language (I'm Korean), so if any part of this guide was unclear, please email me and I'll explain it better. Fee optimization is too important for language barriers to get in the way.
Thank you for reading this huge posting. Have a nice trading live guys !
****If you got any questions, Email me or Telegram me:**** [****HenryChoi@cryptopayback.io****](mailto:HenryChoi@cryptopayback.io) , u/henryych