- Binance generally offers the lowest trading fees, followed by Kraken and Coinbase as the most expensive.
- All three offer free crypto deposits, with varying fees for fiat.
- Fees for network transactions can vary based on the crypto and the network congestion rate.
Centralized exchanges or CEXs, including Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase, typically get a bad rap based on security and centralization issues.
However, centralized exchanges are still highly secure and use hot and cold wallets to ensure the safety of user funds.
Moreover, they present an easier, faster, and less complex way for investors to buy, sell, and trade. They even provide the facility to store crypto without the hassles of decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
There are dozens of centralized crypto exchanges, some of the major ones being Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. However, more than security and ease of access/trading, how do you choose the right one?
This article will examine the fee structures of three CEXs: Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase. Let’s see which exchange offers the lowest fees for which service.
Trading Fees
Yes, there are several things to do on exchanges, including trading, deposits/withdrawals, NFTs, etc.
This section will be focused on how much these three charge for trading. For starters,
- Kraken charges a 0.16% maker fee and a 0.26% taker fee for trades of $50,000 or less.
- On the other hand, Binance and Binance-US have lower fees than Kraken. Binance users pay between 0.012% and 0.1% for maker fees and between 0.024% and 0.1%2 for taker fees.
- Finally, the Coinbase charges nearly double Kraken’s fees, around 0.50% for takers and 0.26% for makers.
For this category, both Binance and Binance US win, with Kraken coming second and Coinbase being the most expensive to trade on.
However, a 0.26%—0.5% trading fee isn’t very high, considering a $10 trade only requires 50 cents at the max. The fees only become higher as the amount to be traded goes up.
Deposit and Withdrawal
In terms of deposits and withdrawals, deposits are generally free, while withdrawals take a small percentage.
- Kraken: On Kraken, deposits are free for crypto but may incur fees depending on the deposit method (bank transfers or credit cards).
Withdrawals, however, vary according to the cryptocurrency and other factors like network congestion and exchange policies. The Bitcoin generally takes a flat fee of $0.0005 BTC.
- Binance: On Binance, deposits are free but may take a small charge. It depends on the type of crypto (0.0005 BTC for Bitcoin and $0.05 ETH for Ethereum).
- Coinbase: Coinbase is free for crypto deposits, but wire transfers typically take around $10. Withdrawals, on the other hand, vary by crypto but with a $25 charge for wire transfers.
Network Fees
There is little data about how much these exchanges charge for network fees, especially with Binance and Coinbase.
However, Kraken charges a 0.1% processing fee for Bitcoin transactions on the lightning network.
Binance charges a 2% sale price fee and withdrawal fees of 0.01 ETH, 0.02 SOL, and 0.5 MATIC. It depends on the network.
The Final Verdict
In summary, Binance is by far the cheapest trading platform. Kraken comes next with sensible fees, especially for makers.
Coinbase, on the other hand, is more convenient to trade on, especially for US-based residents, despite its higher fees.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide any financial, investment, or other advice. The author or any people mentioned in this article are not responsible for any financial loss that may occur from investing in or trading. Please do your research before making any financial decisions.
