Maker and taker is the classification system exchanges use to determine your trading fee on every order. If your order rests on the order book waiting to be matched, you are a maker and pay a lower fee (or receive a rebate). If your order matches immediately against a resting order, you are a taker and pay a higher fee. This distinction applies to every spot and perpetual futures trade on centralized exchanges, and understanding it lets you control one of the few cost variables entirely within your power.
What Determines Whether You Are Maker or Taker
The exchange classifies every fill based on one question: did your order add liquidity to the order book or remove it? If your order rested on the book before being matched, you added liquidity and pay the maker fee. If it matched immediately, you removed liquidity and pay the taker fee. The order type alone does not decide this.
A limit order is not automatically a maker order. If you place a buy limit at or above the current best ask, it matches instantly and you pay taker fees. The classification depends entirely on execution behavior, not on whether you selected "limit" or "market" in the interface.
The one rule: Rests on book = maker. Matches immediately = taker. Everything else follows from this.
Maker example: BTC best ask is $95,100. You place a buy limit at $95,000. Your order sits on the book below the spread. When a seller matches against it, you filled as a maker.
Taker example: BTC best ask is $95,100. You place a market order or a buy limit at $95,100. It matches the resting ask immediately. You filled as a taker.
How Fee Tiers and Rebates Work
Exchanges charge makers less than takers because maker orders create the liquidity other traders need. The typical fee structure on major exchanges in 2026:
When reviewing fee structures across our user base, accounts that deliberately place maker orders for entries and reserve taker execution for emergency exits tend to save meaningfully on cumulative costs over a trading month.
Exchange | Maker (Base Tier) | Taker (Base Tier) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Binance | 0.10% | 0.10% | Drops to 0.011%/0.023% at high volume |
Bybit | 0.02% | 0.055% | Futures; VIP tiers reach 0.00% maker |
Bitget | 0.01% | 0.01% | Spot; futures 0.02%/0.06% |
MEXC | 0.00% | 0.05% | Zero maker fee, no volume minimum |
Kraken | 0.25% | 0.40% | Drops to 0.00%/0.08% at top tier |
Fee formula: Fee = Fee Rate x Trade Notional. A 0.05% taker fee on a $10,000 notional trade costs $5.00. For BloFin-specific rates and volume tier breakdowns, see the BloFin fee structure guide.
Maker rebates (negative fees): At higher volume tiers, some exchanges pay you for maker fills. Bybit's Market Maker program offers rebates up to -0.015%, meaning the exchange credits your account when your resting order is filled. This exists because exchanges profit from taker fees and use rebates to attract the liquidity that brings in takers.
Volume tiers: Most exchanges calculate your tier from 30-day rolling volume. Higher volume unlocks lower rates for both sides, but the maker-taker gap often widens at higher tiers, making the incentive to use maker orders even stronger as you scale.
The Real Cost Equation: Fees Are Not Everything
Fees are the visible cost. The invisible costs often dwarf them. Your true trading cost on any order is:
Total Cost = Fee + Spread Cost + Slippage + Opportunity Cost
When you take liquidity, you cross the bid-ask spread. If the spread on BTC/USDT is $2 on a $95,000 price, that is an additional 0.002% implicit cost on top of your taker fee. On a $50,000 position, a 0.05% taker fee costs $25, and a $2 spread on 0.5 BTC adds roughly $1. Small on liquid pairs, but on altcoins with $50+ spreads, the spread can exceed the fee.
When you place a maker order, you avoid the spread cost but accept opportunity cost. If the market moves away from your limit price, you miss the trade entirely. In trending markets, the cost of not being filled often exceeds the fee savings.
I have watched traders optimize for 0.03% in fee savings while missing entries that moved 2% in their favor. The correct question is never "how do I pay the lowest fee?" It is "what does this trade actually cost me across all variables?"
When taker is cheaper overall:
Market is trending and your maker order risks not filling
You need to exit a losing position before it hits liquidation
The spread is tight relative to the fee difference
Urgency (stop-loss execution, news event) makes delay expensive
When maker saves money:
Market is range-bound and your price level is likely to be revisited
You are splitting a large order over time to reduce market impact
The order book is deep enough that your resting order has a realistic queue position
You are using post-only to guarantee maker classification
Post-Only: Forcing Maker Classification
A post-only order guarantees you will either fill as a maker or not fill at all. If your limit price would match immediately (making you a taker), the exchange cancels the order instead of executing it.
When to use post-only:
You want fee certainty on a non-urgent entry or exit
You are scaling into a position over time and want consistent maker fills
You are running a strategy where the fee difference is material to edge
Why post-only orders get cancelled:
Your limit price crossed the spread between the moment you submitted and the moment the matching engine processed it
The order book thinned (a large order was pulled) and your previously-safe price became marketable
Practical buffer: Set your limit price at least one tick (minimum price increment) outside the current spread. On volatile pairs, add 0.1-0.3% buffer to reduce cancellation frequency.
Post-only does not guarantee a fill. It guarantees that IF you fill, you pay maker fees. If the market moves away from your price, your order sits unfilled indefinitely.
Partial Fills: When One Order Gets Both Classifications
A single order can be classified as both maker and taker across its fills. If you place a large buy limit at $95,100 and 0.3 BTC matches immediately against resting asks while the remaining 0.7 BTC posts to the book, the 0.3 BTC fill is taker and the 0.7 BTC fill (when it eventually matches) is maker.
Each partial fill is classified independently. Your trade log will show separate fee rates for each fill. Your effective fee is the volume-weighted average across all fills.
Audit tip: After any large order, check the maker/taker breakdown in your trade history. If you expected full maker treatment but see taker fills, your limit price was too aggressive.
Where Maker/Taker Applies and Where It Does Not
The maker-taker model applies on any centralized exchange using an order book: spot markets, perpetual futures, quarterly futures, and options on platforms like Deribit.
It does not apply on:
AMM-based DEXs (Uniswap, Curve, Raydium): These use liquidity pools, not order books. Every swap pays a flat protocol fee regardless of execution behavior. There is no "maker" role for individual swaps.
RFQ (request-for-quote) systems: OTC desks and some aggregators quote a fixed price with the fee embedded in the spread. No order book, no maker/taker distinction.
Order-book DEXs (dYdX, Hyperliquid): These DO use maker/taker because they operate order books, even though they are decentralized.
If you trade across centralized and decentralized platforms, understand that "maker" and "taker" only apply where an order book exists.
Practical Playbook: Reducing Total Cost
I run every non-urgent entry as post-only and reserve taker for stops and time-sensitive exits. On a typical month with $200K in volume, the difference between all-taker and a 70/30 maker-taker split saves $80-120 in fees alone, before accounting for spread avoidance.
Decision checklist before every order:
Is this urgent? (Stop-loss, liquidation risk, fast-moving breakout) If yes, use taker. Fee savings mean nothing if you miss the exit.
Is the spread tight? If spread cost is less than the maker/taker fee difference, taker is acceptable even for non-urgent orders.
Is my maker price realistic? Check the visible depth at your price level. If 50 BTC are queued ahead of you, your fill probability drops.
Am I splitting size? For orders larger than 10% of visible depth at your price, split across time and use maker on each slice.
Have I enabled post-only? If you want guaranteed maker, enable the flag. Do not rely on your limit price staying non-marketable.
After every trading session, audit:
What percentage of your fills were maker vs taker?
Calculate effective cost: (total fees paid + spread cost) / total volume
Compare to what you would have paid as all-taker. Is the maker effort producing meaningful savings?
Key Takeaways
Maker = order rests on book. Taker = order matches immediately. The order type does not determine classification.
Maker fees are lower (often 0.00-0.02%) because makers provide the liquidity exchanges need.
Total cost includes fees, spread, slippage, and opportunity cost. Optimizing fees alone is incomplete.
Post-only guarantees maker classification or cancellation. Use it for non-urgent orders.
Pay taker when the cost of not executing exceeds the fee difference.
Action this week: Check your exchange's trade history for your last 20 trades. Calculate what percentage were maker vs taker. If over 80% are taker and you are not exclusively scalping, you are leaving money on the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a limit order always classified as maker?
No. A limit order becomes a taker order if its price crosses the current spread and matches an existing resting order immediately. For example, placing a buy limit at or above the best ask fills instantly as taker. The classification depends on whether the order rests on the book or matches on arrival, not on the order type you selected. Post-only is the only way to guarantee maker classification on a limit order.
When is paying taker fees the better decision?
Paying taker is rational when execution certainty matters more than fee savings. Specific scenarios: exiting a position approaching liquidation, executing a stop-loss during a fast move, entering a breakout where missing the fill costs more than the fee difference, or trading in thin markets where maker orders have low fill probability. Calculate whether the expected cost of delay exceeds the taker premium.
What is a maker rebate and how do I qualify?
A maker rebate is a negative fee where the exchange pays you a percentage of trade notional when your resting order is filled. Qualification typically requires reaching higher volume tiers through 30-day rolling volume. For example, Bybit offers up to -0.015% maker rebates for participants in their Market Maker program. MEXC offers 0% maker fees at all tiers with no volume requirement.
How do I check whether my order filled as maker or taker?
Open your trade history or execution log on the exchange. Most platforms label each fill with a "liquidity" or "side" field showing maker or taker. On BloFin, this appears in the trade detail view for each fill. If a single order filled in multiple parts, each fill is classified independently, so one order can show both maker and taker fills with different fee rates applied to each portion.
Does maker/taker apply on decentralized exchanges?
Only on order-book DEXs like dYdX and Hyperliquid, which use the same maker/taker model as centralized exchanges. AMM-based DEXs (Uniswap, Curve, PancakeSwap) do not use maker/taker classification. Every swap on an AMM pays a flat protocol fee regardless of order direction or timing, because there is no order book and therefore no mechanical distinction between adding and removing liquidity at a price level.
Researched and written by the Blofin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. Primary sources include BloFin exchange fee schedule and order-type documentation; Kraken maker/taker fee explanation and tiered fee schedule (https://support.kraken.com/articles/360000526126-what-are-maker-and-taker-fees-); Bitget Academy maker-taker fee comparison 2026 (https://www.bitget.com/academy/maker-taker-fees); MEXC fee comparison guide detailing zero-maker-fee structure (https://www.mexc.com/learn/article/crypto-exchange-fee-comparison-which-platform-actually-costs-you-the-least-/1). All facts independently verified against cited documentation current as of April 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves substantial risk of loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research and consider your financial situation before trading. BloFin does not guarantee the accuracy of third-party data referenced herein.