How to Trade Cryptocurrency Without Paying Fees

How to Buy and Sell Cryptocurrency Without Paying Fees

We explain how to trade cryptocurrency without paying fees (i.e., how to go from USD to cryptocurrency and back again without paying fees).^[1][2]

This page has been updated for trading crypto for free as of March 2024.

Right now, here in 2024, Binance, Binance.US, Bybit, BitMEX, and Robinhood all offer free Bitcoin trading.

Meanwhile, Robinhood has commission-free trading on all cryptos! You can also trade crypto stocks like GBTC and ETHE with no fees with stock brokers like Fidelity. Lastly, most exchanges offer free or very cheap fees to high-volume traders.

Not only can you trade crypto for free at those exchanges today, but you can also save on any fees you might incur in the future by using our referral links (see below or click the links above).

Although the best exchanges all charge fees for at least some order types, a few major exchanges have reasonably low 0.1% fees, including Binance. These fees can be made even lower by using referral codes, trading a lot, and/or using the tokens of these exchanges. For example, when you use Binance’s BNB tokens to pay your fees, you get a discount on your trading fees, and when you use a referral link, you get a discount on top of that (for example, you can get 10% off Binance fees for life with this link: https://accounts.binance.com/register?ref=DJBLD1Q5).

One important thing to keep in mind is that most exchanges incentivize users with zero-dollar fees as a promotional offer. This typically means accepting some additional requirements or limitations. For example, you can trade for free on most exchanges if you trade enough volume. Meanwhile, Robinhood (see below for codes) has commission-free trading but has limited functionality and selection. Lastly, while there are a few other zero-fee choices out there we are aware of, such as Lykke and Digitex, we don’t tend to focus on them here as they tend to come with strings attached or be bad for consumers (consider, Cobinhood offered $0 fees in the past and then shut down without warning later).

In short, here in 2024, trading crypto without fees generally means either using a platform like Robinhood where selection and functionality are limited, only being able to trade some coins for free like Binance, or meeting extra requirements.

Bottom line: You can trade some cryptos without paying fees at major exchanges like Binance. However, you should still use referral codes to save as those savings tend to last for life, while many free trading deals are temporary.

NOTE: You have other zero-fee options with new and less-used exchanges such as Lykke that you might see other sites suggest. We caution against using low-volume exchanges just because they offer zero fees. We have been in the space since 2015 and suggest exchanges based on Coingecko’s trust score, volume, and other important factors. Also, make sure you double-check that the exchange actually offers free trading before you sign up, we verify our information and not all other sites do!

A List of Ways to Trade Crypto for Free (Or to Save Money on Fees)

Use Robinhood or Trade Bitcoin Stocks to Trade Crypto Commission-free: You can essentially still trade crypto without commission by using Robinhood to trade crypto or by trading Grayscale trusts (like GBTC) or Bitcoin ETFs (like BITO) with some brokers (some brokers charge fees, others don’t; check with your’s). This isn’t exactly the same as a zero-fee crypto exchange. It will be good enough for many people. Trade crypto commission-free and get a free stock when you sign up for Robinhood using the following referral link https://robinhood.c3me6x.net/BX0ROx.

Save 20% on Binance Trading Fees (Plus trade Bitcoin Free Binance for a limited time): Use our referral link to sign up for Binance and save 20% on trading fees for life: https://accounts.binance.com/register?ref=DJBLD1Q5. You can also save another 25% by using BNB. Plus, you can trade spot Bitcoin for free for a limited time!

Save 10% on Binance Futures Fees: Save 10% on trading fees for your first month of trading on Binance Futures by using this link to register https://www.binance.com/en/futures/ref/H27K9IV2.

Trade Bitcoin For Free at Binance.US: Trade Bitcoin for free for a limited time on Binance.US. Plus, get a $10 welcome bonus and 25% off trading fees by using BNB to trade: https://binance.pxf.io/jWq7Db.

Save 20% on OKX Fees with referral code 69525209: Get a 20% discount on trading fees with OKX referral link https://www.okx.com/join/69525209.

Trade Bitcoin for Free at Bybit with referral code NXXG2R: Sign up for Bybit using our referral code, and get sign-up bonuses and flash deals. Plus, you can trade Bitcoin for free. Although Bybit changes its deal often, you’ll always get the best offer with our code. https://www.bybit.com/en/invite/?ref=NXXG2R.

Get a free month of Coinbase One to protect your account and save on fees: https://coinbase.com/one?promo=CB1H6SCZT5&referral.

Save 10% on BitMEX Fees with referral code wZEPlX.

Save 10% on Deribit Fees with referral code link https://www.deribit.com/?reg=18241.3683.

More trading fee Discounts: You can get discounts on trading fees as a promotional offer with the right discount codes. We have some codes on our site (go to a specific exchange page for the code by selecting ‘exchanges’ above), or you can see a list of promotional deals to save on crypto fees here.

TIP: Other exchanges aside from the ones noted here may allow you to trade without fees or with low fees. This page just provides some examples. To do your own research Google “fee schedule” + “the name of the exchange.” For example, see Kraken’s Fee Schedule.^[3]

UPDATE JANUARY 2020 (IMPORTANT UPDATE ON COBINHOOD): Cobinhood was offering zero-fee trading at one point. They, however, announced they were shutting down and never reopened.  There are still other low-fee and conditional offers to take advantage of. For example, you can lower fees by holding and using some exchange tokens (for example, holding and using BNB to pay fees on Binance), you can lower fees with referral codes, and you can take advantage of conditional offers like the zero dollar USD trading on Bittrex for those who trade over $30,000 in volume.

UPDATE MARCH 2019: Limit orders on Coinbase Pro (GDAX) are no longer free starting March 22nd, 2019. See: Coinbase Pro Market Structure Update. Note free limit orders are still offered to those who do over $50 million in volume. Also, if you trade over $100k worth of crypto, your fees are reduced to 0.1%. So if you trade a lot, Coinbase Pro still offers reduced fees for volume.

To Keep Fees Low, as a Rule of Thumb, Use Bank Deposits and Limit Orders: In general, things like using bank wires to fund a crypto account, buying with a credit card, and using market orders instead of limit orders can result in higher fees. Not all exchanges will charge “makers” and “takers” different fees, but some will so keep this in mind.

Coinbase Pro Used to Be Called GDAX: GDAX is now called Coinbase Pro. At one point in time, this page was about trading for free on GDAX. Times have changed. Now it is about trading for minimal fees on exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, and Coinbase Pro.

Why does this matter? Most (if not all) user-friendly ways to buy cryptocurrency involve paying rather hefty fees. For example, if you have a Coinbase.com account (the app and website, not the Coinbase Pro exchange), you probably have already realized that buying cryptocurrency via the basic interface means paying fees (at least 1.4% per buy and 1.4% when you sell). That means you have to not only make money on cryptocurrency but also make an extra 3% to pay off Coinbase before you see a profit. That isn’t ideal, so we will explain to you how to avoid that.

NOTE: Fee schedules are always subject to change. Please check the current fee schedule.

IMPORTANT: With Coinbase Pro raising its fees, the best bet for most people is to reduce fees is using an exchange like Binance. Keep that in mind when reading the how-tos below. With that said, we still highly recommend Coinbase in general for trading.

How to Trade Crypto With No Fees / How to Save on Fees

To trade with no fees, you’ll need to use an exchange noted above and follow the rules (for example, Bitcoin only on Binance).

Each exchange is a little different, but here is a breakdown of how to trade Bitcoin for free at Binance as a tutorial for how to trade crypto for free. This guide will walk you through going from your bank to Bitcoin and back to your bank again without paying fees. This works for Binance and Binance.us.

1. Fund your Binance account using a bank deposit. Most countries allow free deposits, but keep in mind you could pay if you have to use PayPal or if there are deposit fees for your country.
2. Buy Bitcoin Using dollars.
3. Transfer the Coin you bought to the new exchange.
4. Sell your Bitcoin back to dollars.
5. Withdraw from Binance. Again, some countries might not have free withdrawals.

With this method, you’ll go from dollars to Bitcoin and back to dollars on Binance for free!

How to Trade at Minimal Fees Using Binance

Here is how to trade at minimal fees on Binance if you want to trade altcoins (this is not the only way, just one way that will work):

1. Fund your Binance account using a bank deposit. Most countries allow free deposits, but keep in mind you could pay if you have to use PayPal or if there are deposit fees for your country.
2. Buy any altcoin using dollars. If you can’t buy an alt directly, you can buy USDC, BTC, ETH, BNB, or another tradable asset first. This will cost some fees, so don’t forget to save using a referral code.
3. Transfer the Coin you bought to the new exchange.
4. Sell your Crypto back to dollars. Again, you may need to trade back to another asset first. This will cost some fees.
5. Withdraw from Binance. Again, some countries might not have free withdrawals.

Thus the only fees you’ll pay are your discounted trading fee, which on Binance is already very low.

Conclusion

You should use Binance, Bybit, or Robinhood to trade cryptocurrency for free. Remember some specific rules and limitations will apply to each exchange and don’t forget to use a referral code to save, as some free trading deals can be temporary!

1. Coinbase Pricing & Fees Disclosures
2. GDAX Fees
3. Kraken FEE SCHEDULE