In crypto, like in a supermarket: took a loaf — pay for the bag, took a token — pay for gas, swap, withdrawal, again for gas, and a bit more... And then it turns out that you don't have trading but a paid hobby.
🧾 Three main monsters of crypto fees:
1. 🧑🔧 Maker/Taker Fees
Maker — you place a limit order, add liquidity. The fee is lower. The exchange says: "Thank you for not pushing through."
Taker — you execute a market order. The fee is higher. The exchange says: "Pay, because you are not waiting."
🛒 Imagine a supermarket: Maker is the one who slowly arranges the products, while Taker is the one who grabs everything from the shelves and runs to the checkout.
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2. ⛽ Gas Fees
This is the fee for the network's work. The cheapest gas is in TON, the most expensive is in Ethereum (where sometimes for $10 you just say "Hello").
Gas — like a minibus during rush hour: the more people, the longer and more expensive.
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3. 🚪 Withdrawal Fees
Exchanges are not charities. Withdraw — pay. For example, USDT on ERC-20 is like a whole year subscription to Netflix.
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🛡 How not to go bankrupt from fees?
Place limit orders → lower Maker fees.
Use cheaper networks → Solana, TON — your friends.
Choose exchanges with loyal conditions → or at least not greedy ones.
Trade when the network is not overheated → at night or on Sunday when everyone has gone to the bathhouse.
Withdraw to the maximum → better once a month than 10 small times.
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📢 Big Conclusion
Fees are the silent killer of your profit. You can be a mega-intuitive trader, see trends from a kilometer away, but if you constantly pay exorbitant gas fees, make market orders, and withdraw $10 at a time — your profit melts away like an altcoin after the shitcoin season.
For the market, this is also important: high transaction costs hinder mass adoption. People are not ready to pay $20 for a transfer. That is why networks like TON or Layer 2 solutions are not just hard forks, but builders of the future crypto-UX.