KuCoin Fees Explained | How Much It Costs to Trade Crypto? | Finbold (2024)

In this guide, we will concentrate on KuCoin fees. We will consider the costs incurred while using KuCoin’s most popular products, so you know what is expected from the platform in terms of pricing.

About KuCoin

KuCoin is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that is known for having one of the largest selections of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs. Also, the platform has its own native token, KuCoin Shares (KCS). The high-liquidity exchange is well-established, with one out of four crypto holders opting for it.

Some of the main figures that set the platform apart from its competitors include more than 8 million registered users globally, over $370 billion in trading volume (USD), and almost 800 million total trades.

The exchange also offers several technologically advanced products and services, most notably a trading platform, mobile app, Futures, Margin, Indexes, and Lending Program. For more information on the platform and its primary products, read our extensive KuCoin review.

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Introduction to KuCoin fees

Having a solid range of services and products available, KuCoin is also widely known for its competitive fee structure. As you may know, excessive cryptocurrency trading and depositing costs might reduce your earnings; however, KuCoin’s customers can be confident that their fees will remain competitive.

Since fees are imposed on each trade, they can quickly add up; thus, traders are concerned about their costs when choosing an exchange.

KuCoin offers some of the lowest rates among major cryptocurrency exchanges, whereas the fee structure is open, straightforward, and simple to comprehend.

KuCoin fees explained

KuCoin has chosen a fee structure based on levels. In light of this, Spot and Futures trades are assigned a level ranging from 1 to 12 based on their 30-day trading volume or 30-day KCS holdings.

Trading fee level

After signing in, you may check your trading fee level and current fee by clicking the Fee button on KuCoin’s official website. The greater your trading fee level, the lower your trading charge; a negative fee rate is even feasible.

In general, trading costs on cryptocurrency exchanges are often varied for market makers and market takers. Below is a summary of the KuCoin setup:

• Maker/Taker: If you are a Maker/Taker, your trading fee rate will be affected as well;
• Taker: As a taker in a Market/Hidden/Iceberg Order, you will be charged a taker fee;
• Maker: If you are a maker in a Limit Order (with the Post Only option activated), you will be charged a maker fee;
• KCS pay fees: If you enable the KCS pay fees feature, you may adjust your trading fee rate.

Trading fee token: KuCoin deducts the token, for example, when using USDT/KCS as the trading fee token for BTC/USDT and LTC/KCS. It’s worth mentioning that in some instances, the same coin will be charged as the fee, and the actual transaction amount may differ from the amount that appears in the account since a portion is removed as the fee.

Trading fees

One of the principal factors behind KuCoin’s popularity is that its fees are significantly lower than those of other cryptocurrency exchanges, at 0.1% per transaction. Moreover, the Kucoin trading price is straightforward and transparent, making it easy for customers to understand.

Below is a list of the client level fees:

• Level 0 clients (with a 0 KCS holding or a 30-day trading volume less than 50 BTC) must pay a regular maker/taker charge of 0.1% on each deal for spot trading. Maker/taker fees are lowered to 0.08% when paid with the KCS token.
• Level 5 clients (with 40,000 KCS or a 30-day trading volume between 2,000 and 4,000 BTC) must only pay a 0.07% taker fee. In this scenario, there is no maker fee. In addition, if you pay with KCS, the taker charge is lowered to 0.056%.
• Level 12 clients (with more than 150,000 KCS or a 30-day trading volume of more than 80,000 BTC) KuCoin will charge a taker fee of 0.025%. In this situation, the maker fee would be negative, with a rate of 0.005%. KCS payments enable KuCoin to charge the lowest taker fee of 0.02%.

Traders should note that KuCoin has set withdrawal limitations of 24 hours, which vary depending on the user level. Customers with levels ranging from 0 to 4 have a daily withdrawal limit of 200 BTC, while level 12 customers have a daily withdrawal limit of 3,000 BTC.

Spot orders

Spot Trading is the most commonly utilized feature on the platform, and KuCoin does not impose separate fees for takers and makers. Instead, the exchange uses a charge structure known as a “flat fee”, meaning every KuCoin Spot Trading transaction has a set cost of 0.1%, which is lower than the global industry average.

Traders should bear in mind fee levels on trading pairs having 0.1% maker and 0.1% taker fees, do not apply to all trading pairs. Please check the trading page for the precise trading charge rates.

There are numerous methods to reduce such expenses, for instance, trading fees are lowered depending on trading volume and holdings of KuCoin’s native token, the KCS, during the previous 30-days.

Thus, by increasing your trading volume over 30 days users can reduce the amount of the fee. Alternatively, another way to scale down fee charges is to keep KCS tokens for at least 30 days.

Other trading costs are also discounted based on the variables, for example participants in institutional investor programs also get substantial trading fee reductions.

Margin trading

The Maker and Taker base transaction fees for margin trading pairs are also 0.1 %, same with spot trading; however, when it comes to calculating interest and fees, traders must incorporate interest while returning the borrowed money. Traders should consider interest before borrowing money.

Futures fees

KuCoin Futures features changeable financing costs for Futures contracts. By way of explanation, the USD/USDT loan rate, which adjusts for comparable financing rates, can be either positive or negative.

The loan rate gap between the base currency and the quote currency of the perpetual Futures funding rate will change from 0.03% to 0% due to this modification, which implies the funding cost of the KuCoin perpetual Futures will become 0% during normal times. Every 8 hours, the Futures funding occurs at 04:00, 12:00, and 20:00 UTC.

Overall, the trading and withdrawal costs at KuCoin Futures are comparable to, if not lower than, the industry averages.

The following is a comprehensive list of KuCoin Futures trading fees:

KuCoin withdrawal fees and deposit fees

Interestingly, there are no deposit fees with KuCoin, which means that deposits are free for clients regardless of the currency they choose.

Nevertheless, there are costs for cryptocurrency withdrawals, which vary depending on which crypto is withdrawn. These expenses are mostly the result of network fees levied by various cryptocurrencies, as the numerous cryptos available on this site determine the withdrawal charges. However, both NEO and GAS are free to withdraw.

Since withdrawal fees are linked to network fees, you will find that in most instances, KuCoin’s withdrawal fees mirror those of Binance.

The withdrawal costs on KuCoin are among the lowest in the cryptocurrency market, and millions of people utilize the exchange for this reason. For example, when you withdraw BTC from KuCoin, you will be charged a fee of 0.0005 BTC, which is somewhat less than the current global industry average of 0.00064 BTC, according to Crypto Wisser’s report.

Buying Crypto

For traders looking to purchase crypto using fiat currencies, KuCoin provides various options for doing so, including their Fast Buy function, P2P, and interoperability with Simplex and other similar services. The costs of these transactions will vary depending on the form of payment used, but they should rarely exceed 7%.

Fees for a specific coin might also change regularly depending on network usage. Simplex generally charges a 3.5% fee, whereas Baxa charges in the range of 4% to 6%. Purchases conducted on the P2P marketplace will result in charges depending on the payment method and processor rates; thus, potential P2P users should bear this in mind when buying or selling digital assets.

SEPA payment

SEPA payment functionality was added to KuCoin’s platform on January 24, 2022, making it easier for Europeans to fund their accounts and take advantage of the convenience of zero costs, as well as depositing up to 1 million EUR in a single transaction.

The new payment method allows customers from the 36 SEPA member states to deposit EUR into their account and utilize it to acquire cryptocurrency assets using KuCoin’s Fast Buy option.

The following are some advantages of utilizing SEPA transfers:

• The ease of use;
• Zero fees;
• Single deposits of up to 1 million Eur;
• Improved security as there is no third-party involvement;
• EUR withdrawals on KuCoin (coming soon).

VIP Privilege

KuCoin offers users exclusive fee rates for Futures trading and 0% or low interests on Margin loans through its VIP Privilege. Moreover, a Special VIP for “Whales” is available if your total assets exceed one million USDT, you will be eligible for the LV5 fee rate (maker 0%) and other benefits.

Below is a list of VIP tradings fees:

Final thoughts

Taking everything into consideration, KuCoin is a well-established cryptocurrency exchange that provides some of the lowest trading costs in terms of Spot, Futures, and withdrawal fees. In addition, the cost structure on the platform is straightforward and open, allowing traders to comprehend the setup without any issues.

Furthermore, customers who possess KuCoin’s native utility token are eligible for additional discounts, and by paying your trading fees with KCS, you will be able to receive further reductions.