On June 15, 2026, the compensation for executing a cryptocurrency order was fixed at $0.95 for every $100 traded. That compensation sits inside the difference between the price a buyer pays and the price a seller receives. A separate percentage charge, displayed on the order itself, can land near that same $0.95 on a modest transaction.
Robinhood Crypto runs both costs in one application; the default route delivers the order to a market maker, shows no commission line, and takes its $0.95 per $100 from inside the differential. The alternative route delivers supported coins to partner exchanges and charges a percentage from 0.00% to 0.95% of the executed dollars, with no rebate on that path (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
How each route is constructed, including the full volume schedule, is the subject of Robinhood crypto fees explained. This comparison asks a narrower question: on one purchase of ETH, which figure is larger, the differential you can read before you submit, or the percentage on the fee line.
What is the Robinhood crypto spread vs an exchange commission?
The Robinhood differential is the gap between the chart's mid price and the bid or ask where the order executes. An exchange commission is a percentage of the executed dollars, charged only on a partner-exchange route. One cost sits in the execution price, and the other is a line you can calculate.
A bid-ask spread measures the difference between the best price a buyer offers and the best price a seller will accept, and outside commissions that difference is the principal transaction cost of a trade. Narrower differences usually mean the asset is more liquid and less expensive to transact. Wider differences appear when participation is thin or when prices are moving quickly (source: Investopedia, Bid-Ask Spread).
On Robinhood the chart price is the mid price, the midpoint between the bid and the ask. A purchase executes at the ask, which usually sits above that midpoint, and a sale executes at the bid, which usually sits below it. The buy spread is the distance from the midpoint up to the ask, and the sell spread is the distance from the midpoint down to the bid. Both prices appear on the order review screen before you submit (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
The exchange-routing commission is a separate percentage charge on that same review screen, applied to the dollars that actually execute, from 0.00% to 0.95%, and only when the order is delivered to partner exchanges. A market order and a stop order on that route always pay the higher taker rate. A limit order that rests on the book pays the lower maker rate. A limit that matches immediately pays the taker rate (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers).
Read the differential first, from the mid price to the price on the review screen, and then read the fee line, which is zero on the default route and a percentage on exchange routing. Adding them is the all-in cost of that order, and neither route promises the lower one in advance. The result depends partly on how much exchange-routed volume you have already traded (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
The $0.95 inside the default spread
On the default route there is no commission line; Robinhood Crypto's revenue is a rebate from the market maker, and that rebate is included in the differential you pay. As of June 15, 2026, the rebate is $0.95 for every $100 that fills.
A market maker quotes a bid and an ask at the same time. The gap between those two prices is the compensation for standing ready to buy and to sell (source: Investopedia, Market Maker).
Market maker routing is the default for orders in the app and on web classic; the names of those market makers stay unpublished. For every $100 of cryptocurrency that executes on this route, the market maker pays Robinhood Crypto $0.95. That compensation is included in the differential (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
A published illustration uses a $100 buy with a 0.96% buy spread: the gap is $0.96, and $0.95 of that gap is the rebate. A $100 sell at a 0.96% sell spread divides the same way (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). Treat 0.96% as an illustration of a liquid, heavily traded cryptocurrency; the review screen on your order will show a different gap, and a quieter cryptocurrency can be wider.
Market maker routing carries no commission line item (source: Robinhood Crypto, Fee Schedule). Market maker routing collects a 0.95% rebate and charges no fee; exchange routing collects a 0.00% rebate and charges 0.00% to 0.95% (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). "No fee" names the line item and leaves the differential untouched.
Web classic stays on this route because exchange routing is unavailable there; the same limit applies to residents of North Carolina (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). A website comparison is therefore a differential comparison, because the commission line stays blank.
The percentage commission on exchange routing
Exchange routing charges a percentage of the executed dollars and pays Robinhood no rebate from the partner exchanges. The rate depends on your trailing 30-day exchange-routed volume and on whether the order removes liquidity or rests on the book. A market, limit, or stop order is what selects the taker or maker side.
Exchange-routed volume from $0 to $10,000 carries a 0.95% taker commission and a 0.50% maker commission. From $10,000 to $50,000 the rates are 0.75% taker and 0.35% maker. Between 0.00% and 0.02% of that commission goes to the partner exchange and is already inside the rate (source: Robinhood Crypto, Fee Schedule). Higher tiers, down to 0.03% taker above $25 million, stay in the fees article linked above; a new exchange-routed account starts in the first of those tiers.
Your tier is fixed when you place the order; the order you are placing is left out of the volume that sets it, and that volume updates only after the fill. Orders on the default route stay out of that volume; orders placed on web classic stay out of it too (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). A participant who remains on market maker routing can execute a large default-route purchase and still occupy the opening exchange tier on the subsequent routed order.
Maker and taker pricing is still rolling out, so some accounts do not see the lower maker rate yet (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). Until it is on, a limit order can be charged the taker rate even when it waits on the book. When both rates are live, the app sizes your buying power at the higher taker rate, because it cannot promise the maker rate. If the order then rests and fills as a maker, the difference returns to buying power (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
On a buy, you pay the dollar value of the coins plus the commission; on a sell, you receive the dollar value minus the commission (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). The exchange still has its own bid and ask, so a market buy on this route pays the ask and then the taker commission on top. That is why a 0.95% fee line is not the whole cost.
A resting limit generally waits on Bitstamp's book and pays the maker rate if it fills there later. If a better price on another partner exchange covers the higher taker commission, the order goes there and pays the taker rate. A price that exists only on that other exchange can leave the order unfilled (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
Three results from one ETH buy
On a $500 buy of ETH, compare the differential versus the exchange-routing percentage, holding the differential at the published 0.96% illustration. The default route costs $4.80 inside the price; a first-tier taker commission is $4.75, and a resting maker commission is $2.50. The order type decides which figure is smaller.
Say you buy $500 of ETH with a market order on the default route, and the review screen shows a 0.96% buy spread. The differential comes to $4.80, of which $4.75 is the published rebate at $0.95 times five; you receive ETH worth about $495.20 at the mid price. The same order on exchange routing, first tier, shows a taker commission of 0.95%, which is also $4.75, so the cash debit is $504.75 for $500 of ETH at the ask. The ask can sit above the mid price on that exchange too, so the differential is a second cost the fee line does not include. A limit buy that waits and fills as a maker pays 0.50%, which is $2.50 on this size. Buying power was reserved at the $4.75 taker commission, and $2.25 comes back after the fill.
A common mistake is to look only at the fee line: exchange routing shows $4.75 and the default route shows nothing, so you take the default route and call it free. The 0.96% gap was still $4.80, and on a thinner cryptocurrency the review screen can show a much wider gap. Less liquid cryptocurrency often carries a bid-ask difference of 1% to 2% of the ask, which is a liquidity penalty rather than a separate commission (source: Investopedia, Bid-Ask Spread). On $500, a 1.5% buy spread is $7.50, which is already more than the $4.75 taker commission, and the exchange's own differential still sits on top of that commission. The blank fee line did not make the order cheap, because it moved the cost into the price.
Now say your trailing 30-day exchange-routed volume crosses $10,000; the next order uses the second tier, 0.75% taker and 0.35% maker (source: Robinhood Crypto, Fee Schedule). The same $500 market buy then pays $3.75 in fees, under the $4.80 example differential, before the exchange differential. A resting limit pays $1.75, while default-route trades never counted toward that $10,000, so an account that mostly uses market makers stays in the first exchange tier no matter how large those default-route trades were. All-in, either route can still be higher even though the tier change only moves the fee line (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
Once you are comparing those two Robinhood costs on ETH, the next decision is often whether the following trade should show its rate on the fee line at all. If you want another way to trade ETH, BloFin lists ETH/USDT Spot, where you buy and sell the coin, and the ETHUSDT Perpetual, a contract that tracks the ETH price.
Maker and taker rates for those markets are on the BloFin fee schedule. Read your rate beside the live bid and ask before you move the coins.
Trading that ETH on BloFin
A Robinhood order hides its main cost in the differential, or adds a tiered percentage on top of an exchange differential. On BloFin, an ETH/USDT Spot or ETHUSDT Perpetual order puts the maker or taker rate on the fee line and still crosses the book's own differential. Read both numbers before you call either trade cheaper.
On BloFin the same $500 is a limit or a market order on the order book. A market buy takes the best ask and pays the taker commission; a limit that rests pays the maker commission. That book is what ETH/USDT Spot trading uses, and the fee schedule linked above has the tier. From BloFin's operational view, the maker or taker rate sits on the fee line beside the live bid and ask, so you can set it next to the Robinhood differential before the coins move.
The ETHUSDT Perpetual is a different product from Spot; a perpetual futures contract has no expiration date, and a funding-rate payment between long and short holders keeps the contract near the spot price. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts, and when it is negative, shorts pay longs. The position therefore costs or earns more the longer it stays open; it also carries leverage and margin risk (source: Investopedia, What Are Perpetual Futures?). Size the ETHUSDT position for leverage and liquidation.
A plan for the $500 of ETH uses four numbers on either venue. Size it at $500, enter with a limit so the order can rest where a maker rate exists, and place the stop where the idea fails. Set a target that clears a round trip near $9.60 if each leg costs about $4.80, and exit at the target or at the stop. On the perpetual, add the funding you expect for the days you hold.
Looking to trade ETH on BloFin? To get started, you'll need to first create a BloFin account, fund your account with cryptocurrency, and navigate to the ETH/USDT Spot trading page or the ETHUSDT Perpetual page.
Frequently asked questions
Do fees you already paid raise the next Robinhood tier?
Fees you pay are excluded from the volume that sets the exchange-routing tier. Only the executed dollar value of eligible routed orders moves that volume, and the update happens after execution rather than at submission. A large commission on a small fill therefore does not, by itself, move you into a cheaper tier (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). Check the volume figure in the order-type menu after the fill if you are close to the next threshold.
Which Robinhood orders stay out of a lower commission tier?
Orders sent through market maker routing do not count, and orders placed on web classic do not count. The order you are placing is also left out until it fills; only exchange-routed volume, measured over the trailing 30 days and updated after execution, moves the tier (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). An account that trades mostly on the default route can stay in the opening exchange tier.
How long does a Robinhood commission-tier upgrade last?
A tier upgrade stays locked for 7 days, and during that week the tier can move up again and cannot move down. The new rate starts with the first order after the upgrade; the rate on an order already placed does not change if the tier moves before that order fills (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). Lock periods can differ under a special offer.
Why can a resting Robinhood limit miss a better price?
A limit or stop-limit on exchange routing generally waits on one partner exchange's book; if the price you set is available only on another partner exchange, the order can remain unfilled. The exception is a better price on the other exchange that covers the extra taker charge. The order is then sent there and the fill is charged as a taker (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). Check the review screen if the order is still working after the market has traded through your limit.
Where is Robinhood exchange routing unavailable?
Residents of North Carolina cannot use exchange routing, so their crypto orders stay on market maker routing. Web classic also cannot use exchange routing; the mobile ladder uses exchange routing only, and coins that exchange routing does not support fall back to the default route on advanced charts (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). The route available on your screen can decide the cost model before you pick an order type.
Which firms run Robinhood's exchange-routed crypto orders?
EDX Markets and Bitstamp USA are the partner exchanges that receive exchange-routed orders, and Robinhood Crypto receives no rebate on that route (source: Robinhood Crypto, Fee Schedule). If one of those exchanges is temporarily down for a cryptocurrency, the order goes to the other (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). The firms that fill default-route orders are not named; the review screen's bid and ask remain the price check you control on that route.
Researched and written by the BloFin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. Updated September 2026. Primary sources: Robinhood Crypto order routing, Robinhood Crypto fee tiers, the Robinhood Crypto fee schedule, Investopedia Bid-Ask Spread, Investopedia Market Maker, and Investopedia What Are Perpetual Futures. All facts independently verified against cited documentation current as of September 2026.
This article is educational and general in nature, not financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency prices are volatile, spreads and fee tiers can change, and neither Robinhood route guarantees a lower all-in cost. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. Do your own research, and consider a licensed professional before making financial decisions. BloFin does not provide investment advice.