Analyzing Exchange Trading Fees: Why Did Bitget Introduce 0 Fees for BTC/ETH Spot Trading?

On March 18, Bitget announced the launch of a zero-fee spot trading campaign for the BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT pairs on March 20, 2024, with the promotion lasting two months. This makes Bitget the only major exchange so far to introduce zero fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading at the onset of a bull market. While it remains uncertain whether other exchanges will follow suit, Bitget’s bold move sets a prime example of prioritizing user benefits. Typically, exchanges adopt zero-fee strategies during bearish or stagnant markets to retain investors—but Bitget has broken new ground by launching this initiative right at the beginning of a bull run.

Do You Really Understand Trading Fees?

As mentioned, no exchange has previously launched a zero-fee strategy at the start of a bull market. The reason is simple: exchanges are highly profitable during bull markets. Although Bitget isn’t waiving fees across all spot trading pairs, Bitcoin and Ethereum account for roughly 80% of total spot trading volume. Giving up revenue from such a large portion of trading activity truly represents a significant sacrifice.

Many users may not fully understand the trading matching process, as the most noticeable aspect for them is simply the transaction fee. However, eliminating fees brings broader benefits that are often more important than they first appear. For instance, Bitget has now removed both maker and taker fees for BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT trading pairs. But what exactly does that mean?

First, makers are traders who add liquidity to the exchange by placing limit orders that can only be filled at specific prices. Takers, on the other hand, remove liquidity by immediately matching existing open orders. Normally, both parties pay fees to the exchange. Now, Bitget has eliminated these fees for Bitcoin and Ethereum spot pairs. Removing these fees also generates additional positive effects on the order book—such as enabling users to trade at better prices and significantly optimizing overall trading costs.

Take BTC/USDT as an example: after removing maker and taker fees, this particular trading pair will enjoy deeper market depth compared to other exchanges. Greater market depth means users can execute large market orders without causing significant price spikes or volatility. In other words, there will be more available trading volume in the order book near the mid-price levels, allowing for smoother execution.

Second, users sometimes find that the settlement price of their market orders differs from what they expected. This is known as slippage—and nobody likes it. Slippage is especially common in highly volatile or low-liquidity markets. While users might occasionally get a better price than expected, they could just as easily end up with a worse one.

Imagine you want to place a market buy order for 100 units of a certain token at its current market price of $100. However, only 50 units are available at $100. The next available ask price to fulfill the rest of your order is $110. This means you’ll buy 50 units at $100 and another 50 at $110. Your average purchase price becomes $105—with a $5 slippage.

Why Is Bitget Bold Enough to Eliminate Fees During a Bull Market?

As noted above, it's unprecedented for an exchange to implement zero trading fees during a bull market. So why is Bitget making such a significant concession at the dawn of a bull run?

It's undeniable that the exchange sector has largely stabilized. Binance’s dominant position is unlikely to change in the short term, while OKX, Bybit, and Bitget remain locked in competition for second-tier status. Currently, none of these have the strength to directly challenge Binance’s leadership. Yet the battle for the “number two” spot remains wide open—and the old "Big Three"格局 has long since collapsed and reshuffled.

Everyone wants to be the one to challenge Binance, but few currently have the opportunity. Bitget, however, may be one of them—and there are three key reasons behind this:

1. Growth during bear markets. Over the past two years of bear market conditions, Bitget was the only major exchange to achieve consistent growth—not only expanding its team and operations, but also increasing trading volume. On the branding front, Bitget signed Lionel Messi as its global ambassador. Following Argentina’s World Cup victory last year, Bitget’s global visibility surged. Its platform token, BGB, achieved seven all-time highs (ATHs) over the past year, rising from under $0.20 to $0.70, and further climbing to $1.15 shortly after the Chinese New Year this year. In contrast, other exchanges’ platform tokens have neither reached new ATHs nor shown positive performance, with most posting negative returns.

2. Bitget understands the crypto community better. In Q4 last year, the ordinals sector exploded in popularity. Bitget was the first—and the fastest—exchange to capitalize on this trend, outpacing even Binance and OKX. At the time, community members noted that Bitget listed nearly every trending ordinal-related token, often being the first to do so. This attracted a wave of active traders to the platform, many of whom began purchasing BGB to participate in Launchpad and Launchpool projects. As a rising player, Bitget clearly invests more effort into catering to both experienced traders and newcomers. Compared to the defensive strategies of other platforms, Bitget’s market-savvy approach gains stronger favor among speculative traders during periods of market FOMO.

3. Secure, stable, and efficient. Being fast at listing tokens alone isn't enough—some exchanges are even more aggressive. But Bitget follows a disciplined evaluation framework. According to Bitget Research, its token listing process relies on clear quantitative criteria rather than being driven primarily by business development or channel recommendations. Instead, it adopts a top-down, research-driven approach, actively identifying high-potential assets. The research team has built an automated on-chain data monitoring system that enables real-time detection of asset movements. Additionally, through continuous research and early positioning across various sectors, Bitget aims to never miss out on any emerging hot asset.

Clearly, Bitget’s achievements during the bear market were no accident. Announcing zero fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading at this moment is a deliberate strategic move. Regardless of which sector becomes the next bull market hotspot, Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the two flagship cryptocurrencies. For new users entering the market, the first token they buy is very likely to be one of these two. In this sense, Bitget has already seized a critical first-mover advantage.

On another note, recent trading data shows strong buying support for BGB around the $0.90 level. During bull markets, platform tokens are often among the most reliable investment choices. With the zero-fee campaign attracting a surge of new users to Bitget, the number of BGB holders is expected to grow steadily—and setting a new all-time high for its price is now just a matter of time.