Maker and taker fees are transaction charges that crypto exchanges apply based on whether an executed order provides liquidity to or removes liquidity from the public order book.
Choosing Between Maker and Taker Execution
Traders evaluate trade-offs between execution speed and total transaction cost. When minimizing fee drag is the primary objective, placing maker orders is typically the more economical route. When rapid execution during volatile market swings is required, paying the higher taker fee is standard.
Exchanges structure these fees to maintain active, deep markets:
- Maker orders: Limit orders that rest on the order book at a specific price below the current ask for buys or above the current bid for sells. Because these orders create depth and wait for counterparties, exchanges charge lower maker fees or occasionally provide maker rebates.
- Taker orders: Market orders or aggressive limit orders that match instantly against pre-existing quotes on the book. Because these orders remove available volume, exchanges assess higher taker fees.
- Post-only options: Advanced trading interfaces allow market participants to flag limit orders as post-only, requiring the trade to post as a liquidity-adding maker order or cancel automatically if matching would occur immediately.
Maker-Taker Fees versus Spread Costs
Exchange fee schedules represent only part of total transaction friction. A market participant executing a taker order incurs both the explicit exchange taker fee and the implicit bid-ask spread. For large volume trades, slippage against the order book can significantly increase total execution cost beyond the nominal percentage fee displayed on the platform fee schedule.
