Services and fees vary, so it’s important to understand what you’re paying for. From Moneyweb.
The crypto market has evolved at a blistering pace in the last five years, with exchanges offering mobile apps, educational material, much improved security, and fairly easy to use trading platforms.
Each exchange occupies a different niche – Luno for beginners, VALR for a variety of cryptocurrencies and more experienced traders (as well as newbies), OVEX for stablecoins, AltCoinTrader for simplicity of use.
When it comes to fees, VALR and Afridax stand out – though this depends on transaction size.
Most exchanges charge 0.5-1% for buying, but Luno’s 2% charge for instant buying stings, though those fees can be scaled back considerably depending on your 30-day trading volume.
The fees charged also depend on the crypto pair and market conditions.
It’s important to note that published fees are often not what dictates whether you get a good price or not.
Once you’ve converted from fiat to crypto and are ready to start trading, crypto fees are generally very low; the main consideration is liquidity and spread.
There’s also scope to negotiate better fees for bigger volumes.
OVEX, FiveWest and 80eight offer OTC or over-the-counter markets for those trading larger crypto volumes. If you want to buy 10 bitcoin (BTC), most exchanges will split that up into bite-sized chunks so your order will be filled at many different prices over a period of time. An OTC desk will do that in one gulp at one price.
First, it’s important to understand how these fees are made up.
Maker fees: These apply to traders who place limit orders that don’t execute immediately but instead sit on the order book, waiting for a match. These orders ‘make’ or add liquidity by offering to buy or sell at a specific price, enhancing market depth.
Example: You place a limit order to buy one BTC at $86,000 when the current price is $86,500. Your order waits until the market dips to $86,000, adding liquidity until filled.
Taker fees: These apply to traders who execute market orders or limit orders that match immediately with existing orders on the book, removing liquidity. These trades ‘take’ from the market by consuming available buy or sell offers.
Example: You place a market order to buy one BTC at the current price of $86,500, instantly matching a seller’s limit order. You’re then a ‘taker’. You’ll pay a higher fee for this.
The quicker a transaction, the more expensive
Crypto exchanges will typically charge a higher fee for instant buying or selling, sometimes referred to as ‘Simple buy’ (VALR) or ‘Easy buy’ (AltCoinTrader). If you want to save on fees, place your buy or sell order slightly away from the current market price. In other words, become a market ‘maker’.
This Maker-Taker model is rooted in traditional finance and is intended to balance supply and demand on crypto exchanges.
In short, maker fees reward you for patience and liquidity, while taker fees charge for speed and convenience – and are therefore more costly.
Fees vary depending on whether you’re buying crypto with fiat, or trading on the exchange using cryptocurrencies already bought, which is referred to below as ‘exchange trading’. You pay much lower fees for exchange trading.
If you are an instant buyer or seller of, say bitcoin, you pay the instant buy/sell fees. The maker/taker fee structure would not apply in this case.
While the fees below are what the different exchanges charge, bear in mind that banks will charge another few percentage points for transferring fiat. They remain oddly hostile to crypto based on their pricing (that’s a subject for another day). There may also be other go-between fees, such as that levied by Stitch Money (used by Binance).
Luno
- Buying
- Instant buy: 2% fee (for example, R20 on a R1,000 purchase)
- Exchange trading: 0.4% to -0.02% maker fees, 0.6% to 0.05% taker fees (drops with volume). Luno says its maker fees of up to -0.02% are the lowest in SA, which means you get paid for making a trade. Exchanges sometimes do this as a promotional incentive.
- Deposit: Free via electronic funds transfer (EFT), R20 plus 5% for cash, and 1.4% for instant EFT. Buying via card is also available at a fully inclusive cost of 3.9%.
- Selling
- Instant sell: 2%
- Exchange: Same as buying (0%-1% taker fees)
- Stablecoin pricing
- Taker fees: 0.2% to 0.05%
- Maker fees: -0.01% to -0.02%
- Withdrawing:
- Fiat: Free EFT (1-2 days)
- Express ZAR withdrawal: R20. Luno offers same-day express withdrawals 24/7, free to Standard Bank accounts and R20 for all other banks. Very useful.
Notes: Beginner-friendly, 25-plus coins. High instant fees, but exchange trading is competitive. Good educational material, best maker fees in SA, and low fees for ZAR/stablecoins.
VALR
VALR has a tiered fee structure, with lower fees based on your 30-day rolling volume on spot and futures pairs.
- Buy/sell:
- Simple buy/sell: 1.6%
- Spot fiat fees: Range from -0.01% to 0.18% (maker fees) and 0.05% to 0.35% (taker fees)
- Spot crypto fees: Tiered from 0% to 0.08% (maker fees) and 0.035% to 0.1% (taker fees)
- Spot to stablecoin fees: Tiered from 0% to 0.05% (marker fees) and 0% to 0.1% (taker fees)
- Derivative fees: Tiered from 0% to 0.03% (maker) and 0.02% to 0.07% (taker).
- Deposits and withdrawal:
- Deposit: Free EFT, 3.9% card (R39 on R1,000)
- USD and EUR via wire transfer: 0.13% ($10 minimum)
- Crypto and ZAR deposit via wire transfers deposit: Free.
Notes: 60-plus coins, arbitrage perks. Cheapest for active traders and the largest exchange in SA by volume.
AltCoinTrader
- Buying:
- Easy buy: 0.75% (R7.50 on R1,000)
- Exchange trading: 0.1% flat fee (R1 on R1,000) – no volume tiers
- Crypto: Free
- ZAR deposit: 0.5% for EFT/cash (max R95)
- Cards: 2% plus Vat card (R23.52 on R1,000)
- Selling:
- Easy Sell: 0.75%
- Exchange trading: 0.1%
- Withdrawing:
- ZAR: R16 + 0.5%; maximum of R95
- Crypto: Low fees in line with market. Fees are dynamic, based on network congestion and can vary.
Notes: 35-plus coins, ZAR focus. Simple-to-use platform, affordable trading.
Binance
Buying – standard fee: 0.1% for regular users, reducing for ‘VIP’ and higher volume users. Some trading has zero fees depending on VIP status and trading volume.
Instant buy/sell: 0.5%
Maker/taker fees: 0.1% for makers, zero fees for takers
Trading with the Binance native crypto BNB: These can be used to pay fees and get a 25% discount
Deposit and withdrawal fees:
- Crypto deposits: Free
- Fiat deposits: 1.4% onramp fee for ZAR deposits using Stitch Money, R20 flat fee for off-ramping
- Withdrawal fees: These are dynamic and depend on the blockchain network status.
Notes: Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange with 350-plus cryptocurrencies, including its own native Binance Coin (BNB). Low fees, diverse offering, 265-plus million users worldwide, and its in-house BNB Chain offers faster, cheaper transactions than the Ethereum blockchain.
80eight
Buying:
- OTC desk: 0.5%-1% of spread (R5-R10 on R1,000), negotiable for big trades
- Deposit: Free EFT assumed (OTC norm).
Selling:
- Same 0.5%-1% of spread
Withdrawing:
- Fiat: Likely free EFT (standard for OTC desks), instant withdrawals cost R30, deposited within hours
- Crypto: Minimal fees depending on size.
Notes: Web3 wallet enabler, access to greater defi (decentralised finance) market. Newer player (2023), security-first (Multi-Party Computation tech).
OVEX
Buying:
- OTC desk instant buy: 0.5%-1% spread (R5-R10 on R1,000)
- Exchange trading: 0.25% maker/taker (R2.50 on R1,000)
- Deposit: Free EFT, cards 2-3%
Selling:
- Same as buying – spread or 0.25%
Withdrawing:
- Fiat: Free EFT
- Crypto: BTC costs around R10-R15.
Notes: 40-plus coins, high-value focus, large range of stablecoin pairs. Tight spreads, slower withdrawals.
FiveWest
Buying:
- Instant OTC transactions: 0.5% spread, negotiable on high volumes
- Deposit: Free by EFT
Selling:
- Instant sell: Between 0.2 and 0.5%, negotiable on high volume
Withdrawing:
- Fiat: Instant withdraw R20, normal EFT free
- Crypto: Only charges ‘gas’ fees, but free for high-volume traders.
Notes: 50-plus coins available on OTC desk, crypto arbitrage service, staking rewards up to 10% annually, ability to settle payments in crypto or ZAR.
Afridax
Buy/sell:
- Exchange maker: 0.1%
- Exchange taker: 0.1% (very low)
Deposits:
- Crypto/fiat: Free
Withdrawal:
- Fiat withdrawal fee: R10
- Crypto withdrawal fee: Dynamic fees based on network congestion.
Notes: SA’s newest exchange, very low fees, nine crypto pairs (expanding rapidly), offers staking, referral rewards, bot trading and a knowledge centre. Referral commission up to 25% of the fees.
