You buy crypto in a brokerage app, and sooner or later you wonder whether a dedicated exchange would cost less or let you trade with leverage. The answer turns on three things: how each venue charges you, which derivatives it offers where you live, and whether you can open an account there at all.
Robinhood Crypto's default order route puts its charge inside the spread. As of June 15, 2026, Robinhood Crypto receives $0.95 from its market maker for every $100 of crypto executed through market-maker routing (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing). BloFin posts a maker rate and a taker rate on its futures book and offers perpetual futures with far higher leverage. You can read more about the brokerage itself in what is Robinhood Crypto.
Where you live settles more of this comparison than fees do. The United States is a restricted location for BloFin, so US residents cannot use the platform, and the same applies to residents of Canada, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (source: BloFin, Terms of Use). For a reader in the European Union, where Robinhood also offers crypto, both venues are open choices.
What is a Robinhood crypto spread vs a posted fee?
A Robinhood crypto spread is the gap between the price on the chart and the price on the review screen, and the firm's charge sits inside that gap. A posted fee is a percentage shown on its own line before you send the order. Both are costs, and they appear in different places on the screen.
The spread is the distance between the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price a seller will accept (source: Investopedia, Bid-ask spread). On a buy, you pay the ask, which sits above the mid price shown on the chart. On a sell, you receive the bid, which sits below that mid. The review screen is where both prices show up, so the cost of the trade is the distance from the chart price to your fill price.
A posted percentage works the other way around. The price you see can be the last trade, and the fee is a separate line added to a buy or taken from a sale. On an exchange order book, an order that rests and waits to be matched is a maker order, and an order that matches straight away against a resting one is a taker order, which usually pays the higher rate. Read more in maker versus taker fees.
When you look only at the chart, a brokerage buy can seem cheaper than it is. Write the review-screen price next to the chart price, then write any posted percentage next to that pair. The difference between the chart price and what you actually pay, fee included, is the cost you are choosing. You can read more about how Robinhood's percentage tiers step down in Robinhood crypto fees.
Robinhood Crypto vs BloFin
Robinhood Crypto suits a US investor who wants to buy and hold coins in the same app as stocks, paying a charge built into the spread. BloFin suits a trader outside its restricted locations who wants posted maker and taker fees and perpetual futures with high leverage. The two venues differ most on derivatives, custody and who can sign up.
| Robinhood Crypto | BloFin | |
|---|---|---|
| Spot crypto | Buy and sell coins in the US app; EU customers trade through Robinhood Europe | Spot order book with a posted maker and taker rate |
| Crypto futures | US: dated, cash-settled futures on CFTC-regulated exchanges such as CME, through Robinhood Derivatives | USDT-margined perpetual futures |
| Perpetual futures | EU: live for eligible customers. US: announced on September 29, 2026 for the coming months | Live, including a bitcoin perpetual |
| Trading fees | Market-maker routing: $0.95 of every $100 sits inside the spread (June 15, 2026). Exchange routing: 0.00% to 0.95% (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers) | Futures starting tier: 0.0200% maker, 0.0600% taker (source: BloFin, Fee schedule) |
| Maximum leverage | Spot: none. EU perpetuals: 10x. Planned US perpetuals: 10x on BTC and ETH, 3x on others | Up to 150x on the bitcoin perpetual |
| Custody | Most coins in offline cold storage; you can move coins to a self-custody wallet | Customer assets kept apart from company assets, with a 1:1 reserve |
| Protection | Crypto has no SIPC protection or FDIC insurance | Isolated margin caps a position's loss at the margin you posted |
| Who can use it | US customers, and EU customers through Robinhood Europe | Residents outside BloFin's restricted locations, which include the US |
| Who it suits | Long-term buyers who want crypto beside their stocks | Active traders who want posted fees and perpetuals |
The largest gap is in derivatives. In the United States, Robinhood offers crypto futures through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, and those contracts trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). They carry expiration dates and settle in cash, with no coins changing hands at expiry (source: Robinhood, Spot crypto versus ETFs versus futures). On September 29, 2026, Robinhood announced perpetual futures for eligible US customers in the coming months, at up to 10x on BTC and ETH and 3x on the other coins (source: Robinhood, HOOD Summit 2026). In the EU, crypto perpetuals are already live for customers who pass an appropriateness assessment, at up to 10x (source: Robinhood Europe, About perpetual futures).
Custody differs as well. Robinhood keeps most customer crypto offline in cold storage and carries crime insurance against theft and cyber breaches. You can also move your coins out to a self-custody wallet (source: Robinhood, Spot crypto versus ETFs versus futures). Crypto held through Robinhood Crypto carries no SIPC protection and no FDIC insurance (source: Robinhood, HOOD Summit 2026). BloFin holds customer assets in accounts separate from its corporate funds and keeps one coin in custody for each coin customers hold. A Merkle tree proof of reserves, a cryptographic snapshot of all balances, lets you check that your own balance is counted. Customer assets are lent or staked only with the owner's permission (source: BloFin, What is Proof of Reserves?).
Leverage on Robinhood vs BloFin
Robinhood's crypto leverage depends on your region: dated CME futures in the US today, perpetuals at up to 10x in the EU, and US perpetuals announced for the coming months. BloFin's bitcoin perpetual goes up to 150x, which opens a larger position per dollar and moves the liquidation price much closer to your entry.
Leverage is the ratio between the position you control and the margin you post. At 10x, $100 of margin opens a $1,000 position, and at 150x the same $100 opens a $15,000 position. The price move that wipes out that margin shrinks in step: at 10x, bitcoin has to fall $10 for every $100 of price, and at 150x it only has to fall about 67 cents per $100. Liquidation is the forced close of a position when its margin runs too low, and it arrives at or before that point. Read more about how perpetual contracts differ from dated ones in perpetuals versus futures.
On Robinhood's EU perpetuals, the bitcoin contract has a default initial margin of 20% of the position's value. Partial liquidation can start when margin drops under 10% of that value. Full liquidation can follow under 5%, with a fee of 0.05% of the amount liquidated (source: Robinhood Europe, About perpetual futures).
US crypto futures carry a different risk. A sharp move can cost more than you put in. You post initial margin, usually a small percentage of the contract's value. A loss on the contract can grow larger than that margin (source: Robinhood, Spot crypto versus ETFs versus futures).
On BloFin, the bitcoin perpetual allows up to 150x, and a higher multiple raises both the possible gain and the chance that the position is liquidated. In isolated margin, the rest of your futures balance stays outside the trade. The most the position can lose is the margin locked when you open it (source: BloFin, Futures app guide).
The fair contrast runs by region. In the US, BloFin is closed to you, and Robinhood's leverage today means dated futures, with perpetuals at up to 10x still to come. In the EU, Robinhood already offers 10x perpetuals, while BloFin offers much higher multiples on bitcoin. That ceiling is a limit you can choose to stay well under. At 150x, a move of under $1 for every $100 of price against you can close the whole position.
How much does Robinhood market-maker routing cost?
As of June 15, 2026, Robinhood Crypto receives $0.95 from its market maker for every $100 of crypto executed through market-maker routing, and that amount sits inside the spread you pay. Market-maker routing is the default path in the app and the only path on web classic (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
Say you place a $100 buy and the buy spread is 0.96%. Of that 96-cent spread, 95 cents goes to Robinhood Crypto from the market maker, so you pay the ask and see no separate fee line after the fill. A $100 sell works the same way, with the bid below the chart price. The same 95 cents sits inside that gap (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
The 95 cents is the firm's share of the spread, which makes it a floor for your cost on this path. When the spread on your screen is wider, the extra distance is still money you pay, only it goes to the market maker. That is why the review screen matters more than the headline figure. Read the full gap between the chart price and the ask before you buy, or between the chart price and the bid before you sell.
Market-maker routing also shapes how you compare venues. A spread has no fixed rate, so the cost of the same $100 order can change from coin to coin and from minute to minute. A posted rate stays the same for your tier until your volume changes it.
A useful habit is to write two numbers before every order on this path: the spread you see on the review screen, and the firm's 95-cent share per $100. If the first is close to the second, most of your cost is the firm's charge. If the first is much larger, most of your cost is the market's own spread at that moment. Read more about the full cost of a brokerage buy in Robinhood crypto spread versus exchange fees.
What does Robinhood exchange routing charge?
Exchange routing charges a percentage from 0.00% to 0.95% of the dollar amount you trade, shown as its own line, on coins enabled for that path. That fee is the firm's whole charge on the order, because Robinhood Crypto receives no rebate from the partner exchanges (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
A frequent trader pays less per dollar than an occasional buyer, because the rate falls as trailing 30-day volume on exchange-routed orders rises (source: Robinhood, Crypto fee tiers). Web classic sends every order through market-maker routing. Residents of North Carolina cannot use exchange routing at all (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
Fee tiers apply in the app and on Robinhood's desktop trading product. Each coin is enabled for its own set of routes, which means some coins trade only through market-maker routing (source: Robinhood, Crypto availability). Each volume tier and its percentage appear in Robinhood's current fee schedule (source: Robinhood, Fee schedule PDF).
Neither path promises a better all-in price. A wide spread on the default path can cost more than a posted 0.95%, and a tight spread can cost less than a low posted rate. You compare them on the review screen for the coin in front of you, at the moment you trade. A recurring buy uses whichever setting is on when each purchase is placed, so check the route each time the buy repeats.
Exchange routing is the closest Robinhood comes to the posted-fee model an exchange uses. The difference from BloFin is mostly scale: Robinhood's top posted rate is 0.95% on spot, while BloFin's starting futures taker rate works out to 6 cents per $100. Those are different products, one buying the coin and one opening a contract, so compare like with like. Read more about how Robinhood sits beside another American platform in Robinhood Crypto versus Coinbase, and about the rules that shape which coins it lists in Robinhood crypto regulations.
How do you trade bitcoin on BloFin?
If you live outside BloFin's restricted locations and want another way to trade bitcoin, BloFin offers the BTC/USDT Spot pair and the BTCUSDT Perpetual. Spot buys the coin itself. The perpetual is a margined contract that tracks the bitcoin price and has no expiry date.
On the spot order book, you see the bid, the ask and the rate before you send. A market buy takes the ask and pays the taker rate. A limit order that rests on the book until someone fills it pays the maker rate. The bitcoin you buy stays in your account until you sell it or withdraw it, and spot carries no liquidation risk, because no borrowed money is involved.
The perpetual works differently. You post margin, choose a multiple, and open a long position if you expect the price to rise or a short position if you expect it to fall. If the price moves against you far enough, the position is liquidated. Isolated margin keeps that loss to the margin you assigned to the trade. Cross margin lets the position draw on the rest of your futures balance (source: BloFin, Futures app guide).
The cost comparison with a brokerage buy is direct once both numbers are on paper. On a $100 bitcoin buy through Robinhood market-maker routing, 95 cents sits inside the spread. A $100 taker order on BloFin's futures book at the starting rate costs 6 cents. Those figures describe two different products, and the perpetual adds liquidation risk the brokerage purchase does not carry.
On BloFin's futures book, the starting tier charges 0.0200% for a maker order and 0.0600% for a taker order. That tier applies while your 30-day futures volume stays under 10,000,000 USDT, your 30-day spot volume under 1,000,000 USDT, and your assets under 50,000 USDT. Higher tiers pay less (source: BloFin, Fee schedule). You can check the current rate for every tier on the BloFin fee schedule before you size an order.
How to size a first bitcoin order on BloFin
Size a first bitcoin order from the loss you can afford, then pick the multiple. Decide the most you are willing to lose, assign that amount as isolated margin, choose a modest multiple, and set the exit price before you send. Fees are a percentage of the position, so they grow as the multiple rises.
Here is the order of decisions for a first BTCUSDT Perpetual trade, using 100 USDT as the example margin.
- Pick the most you will lose on this trade, for example 100 USDT.
- Choose isolated margin, so that 100 USDT is the most this position can lose.
- Choose the multiple. At 5x the position is worth 500 USDT, and at 150x it is worth 15,000 USDT.
- Work out the move that would erase the margin: $20 for every $100 of bitcoin's price at 5x, and about 67 cents per $100 at 150x.
- Work out the opening taker fee at 0.0600%: 0.30 USDT on the 500 USDT position, and 9 USDT on the 15,000 USDT position.
- Set a stop loss above the liquidation price and a take-profit target, then send the order.
The fee line in step 5 is easy to miss. At 150x, the opening fee alone uses 9 of your 100 USDT before the price has moved, and closing the trade can cost a similar amount again. At 5x, the same fee is a rounding error. That gap is one reason a lower multiple suits a first trade.
The stop loss in step 6 is the exit you choose, and the liquidation price is the exit the exchange forces on you. Keep the stop far enough from your entry that normal swings in bitcoin do not trigger it, and close enough that it fires well before liquidation. If the two sit almost on top of each other, the multiple is too high for the stop you want.
A BTC/USDT Spot purchase is simpler. You decide how much bitcoin to buy, pay the full amount, and hold the coin with no liquidation price at all. If what you want is the coin itself, spot does that with the fewest moving parts.
US residents cannot open a BloFin account, so this path is for readers outside BloFin's restricted locations. Looking to trade BTC? To get started, you'll need to first create a BloFin account, fund your account with cryptocurrency, and navigate to the BTC/USDT Spot trading page or the BTCUSDT Perpetual page.
Frequently asked questions
Can you change the route after a Robinhood crypto order is sent?
The route is fixed once you send the order. You can switch the setting at any time, and the new choice applies from your next order onward. If you move from exchange routing back to market-maker routing in the afternoon, a buy you sent that morning stays on its original path. For a cost-sensitive trade, confirm the route on the review screen each time, because the route decides whether you see a posted fee line or a charge built into the price (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
Why is a limit order on exchange routing sized at the taker rate?
Robinhood cannot know in advance whether a resting limit order will fill as a maker or a taker, so it reserves buying power at the higher taker rate. If the order later fills as a maker, the difference between the two rates returns to your buying power. In practice, plan the order size around the taker rate and treat any refund as a bonus that arrives after the fill. Market-maker routing has no such step, since its charge sits inside the price (source: Robinhood, Crypto order routing).
What is the difference between isolated and cross margin on BloFin?
Isolated margin ties a fixed amount of collateral to one position, and that amount is the most the position can lose. Cross margin pools your available futures balance behind every open position, so a losing trade can pull in money you meant for another one. Isolated margin is the clearer choice for a first trade, because you know your worst case before you open it. Cross margin suits a trader who watches several related positions and wants them to share collateral (source: BloFin, Futures app guide).
When will Robinhood perpetual futures launch in the US?
Robinhood announced US perpetual futures on September 29, 2026 and described the launch as coming in the next few months, without a fixed date. The contracts are to be offered by Robinhood Derivatives through Bitstamp on eight coins, including bitcoin, ether, XRP and HYPE. Robinhood plans to charge one basis point per trade through the end of the year, and the app will show your liquidation price in real time, with alerts when a position is at risk (source: Robinhood, HOOD Summit 2026).
Can US residents open a BloFin account?
US residents are barred from BloFin. The restriction covers anyone resident or domiciled in a restricted location, and it applies to companies as well as individuals. Besides the United States, the list includes Canada, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, India and mainland China, among others, and BloFin can add places to it at its own discretion. A US reader who wants crypto leverage is limited to US-regulated products, such as the futures Robinhood offers through its derivatives arm (source: BloFin, Terms of Use).
How do Robinhood EU perpetuals settle profit and loss?
Robinhood Europe settles profit and loss on perpetual positions every quarter of an hour, in US dollars, including gains and losses you have not yet closed. You can post euros or dollars as margin. Funding, a periodic payment between long and short traders that keeps the contract near the spot price, is exchanged three times a day. Gains and losses can therefore move into or out of your margin balance many times before you close the trade (source: Robinhood Europe, About perpetual futures).
Researched and written by the BloFin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. Updated October 2026. Primary sources: Robinhood's crypto order routing page, Robinhood's HOOD Summit 2026 announcement, Robinhood Europe's perpetual futures guide, BloFin's fee schedule, BloFin's futures app guide, and BloFin's Terms of Use. All facts independently verified against cited documentation current as of October 2026.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Crypto assets are highly speculative and can lose value. Do your own research and consult a qualified professional for advice on your situation.