Coinbase Pro’s Fees Surge 233% for ‘Lower-Volume’ Users, Whale Fees Drop

Major United States-based crypto exchange and wallet service provider Coinbase has announced that it will increase trading fees again on its professional platform Coinbase Pro.

Maker fees for trades under $10K surge over 200%

Starting from Oct. 7, Coinbase Pro will adopt a new fee structure that will cause its maker trading fees for low tier — $10,000 and below — to surge as high as 233%, according to the update posted on Oct. 3.

Following another surge in March 2019, Coinbase Pro currently charges all accounts trading under $100,000 with a 0.15% maker fee and a 0.25% taker fee. 

After Oct. 7, trades of $10,000 and lower will see maker fees increase by 233% — from 0.15% to 0.50%, according to the announcement. Taker fees within the tier will surge 100% — from 0.25% to 0.5%.

New Coinbase Pro maker and taker fees. Source: Coinbase

Maker-taker model on Coinbase Pro

Coinbase Pro uses maker-taker fee model for determining its trading fees, where maker orders mean those that provide liquidity and taker orders indicate those who take liquidity, the firm explains.

As such, Coinbase Pro will not only continue favoring its big traders, providing a zero maker fee for trades above $50 million, but will also adopt fee reductions for trades above $100,000 million. For instance, trades above $1 billion will have a 25% discount — down from the current fee of 0.05% to 0.04%.

Coinbase stated that the new fee structure is designed to “increase the depth and liquidity of [...] markets,” adding that the firm periodically updates pricing in order to respond to client needs. The exchange wrote:

“This latest update will slightly increase fees for lower-volume customers and reduce fees for high-volume customers — any customer transacting above $50,000 a month will either see a reduction in their trading fees, or no change at all. The update also introduces three new tiers below $100,000 a month.”

Crypto community is not happy

The new trading fee structure caused outrage among the crypto community, with some Coinbase Pro customers pointing out that the fee change comes amid significant reductions on stock brokerages. Reddit user heresjoNNy130 wrote:

“Meanwhile stock brokerages are all going fee free. I emailed support blasting them. If they don’t change, I’m going to Kraken.”

The fee update was published just a day after Coinbase announced that it will reward holders of USD Coin (USDC) with a 1.25% annual percentage yield.