Research
Studies on what crypto trading really costs: fees, spread, slippage, order-book depth and funding. Every number comes from CostDepth's own order-book samples, live public order books read on the date shown, official fee pages or public exchange history. Each study lists its dates, method and sources. Data, not financial advice.
- Which crypto exchange is really cheapest for futures? Fee plus slippage on 19 exchanges
For a $100k BTC futures market order, Lighter cost $3.67 all in and WhiteBIT $84.02. On 16 of 17 fee-charging exchanges, the fee was 90% or more of the bill.
10 Nov 2026 · Order-book samples 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (100 hours), fees as checked 5–6 Nov 2026
- Binance vs Bybit: the real trading cost, tested on fees, slippage and funding
Binance was cheaper for a $100k BTC futures market order in 100 of 100 hours: a 0.005-point lower taker fee plus a deeper book. On spot the fee is the same and Binance's book did the work.
10 Nov 2026 · Order-book samples 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (100 hours); fees checked 5–6 Nov 2026
- Hyperliquid vs Binance: is the on-chain perp exchange cheaper? Fees, depth and funding
A $100k BTC market order was about $3.48 cheaper on Hyperliquid, thanks to its fee. Holding a long was not: funding since May 2023 added up to 48% on Hyperliquid against 24.9% on Binance.
10 Nov 2026 · Order books 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026; funding 12 May 2023 to 31 Oct 2026; fees checked 5–6 Nov 2026
- Crypto slippage by trade size: what you lose on $1k to $1M orders
On the typical exchange, a $1M BTC futures market order lost $59.60 to spread and slippage; the same order in SOL lost $366. Below $10k, BTC and ETH slippage was almost zero.
10 Nov 2026 · Order-book samples 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (100 hours); Coinbase and Kraken from our own reads on 10 Nov 2026
- CEX vs DEX: the real cost of trading perpetual futures on Binance, Bybit, Hyperliquid, Lighter and Variational
The two fee-free perp DEXs, Lighter and Variational, cost $3.67 and $6.29 on a $100k BTC market order. The cheapest CEX, Binance, cost $50.24. Hyperliquid sat in between.
10 Nov 2026 · Order-book samples 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (100 hours); fees checked 5–6 Nov 2026
- What holding a perpetual future really costs: funding paid over a week, a month and a year, 2020–2026
A BTC long on Binance paid funding in 86% of all 8-hour periods since 2020. Held for any full year, it always paid: from 3.2% to 33.6% of its size.
10 Nov 2026 · Binance funding 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Oct 2026; Hyperliquid 12 May 2023 to 10 Nov 2026
- Maker vs taker: what a year of active trading costs in fees, at each VIP level
On $1M a month of futures trading, a regular account pays from $0 (Lighter, Variational) to $9,600 a year as a taker. Trading as a maker cuts the bill by 60% or more on most exchanges.
10 Nov 2026 · Published fee schedules checked 5–10 Nov 2026 (official fee pages and exchange APIs)
- Crypto liquidity ranking: order-book depth within 0.1% and 1% on 20 exchanges
Within 0.1% of the BTC futures price, the books we read held a median $18.7M. The largest displayed books were BingX, OurBit, WEEX, MEXC; Binance and Bybit futures could only be read in part (at least $5M each).
10 Nov 2026 · 13 live reads of every public order book, 10 Nov 2026, 03:39 UTC to 10 Nov 2026, 04:34 UTC
- MEXC's 0% fees tested: is it still cheaper after spread and slippage?
MEXC's low fees won on futures at every size up to $1M. On spot they won up to $500k on BTC, but MEXC's ETH spot book was so thin that a $1M market order cost $4,533 against $1,247 on Binance.
10 Nov 2026 · Order-book samples 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 (100 hours); MEXC fees from its API, 5 Nov 2026
- The best time of day to trade crypto for low spreads and slippage
Over the last year, BTC trading volume peaked at 15:00 UTC, just after US markets open, with 2.6x the volume of the quietest hour. In our order-book data, the costliest hours were late on Sunday (UTC).
10 Nov 2026 · Binance BTCUSDT hourly candles 17 Aug 2017 to 10 Nov 2026; CostDepth order-book costs 6 Nov 2026 to 10 Nov 2026
Method notes for the live tools: Methodology · Hourly data: history CSV · Written by Alex Wu