How crypto fees work
Network, exchange, and hidden costs
Every crypto exchange costs something. The trick is that the "something" isn't always called a fee — and the actual price you pay can be very different from the price advertised on the marketing page.
The four costs
There are four common costs in any crypto exchange:
- Network fee. Paid to miners or validators of the blockchain. This is the real cost of moving the coin. It's set by the network, not by the exchange. Bitcoin network fees range from $1 to $30 depending on congestion; Solana fees are fractions of a cent; Ethereum varies wildly.
- Spread. The gap between the buy price and the sell price on the underlying market. A "0% fee" exchange can quietly take 1% as spread.
- Exchange fee. Paid to the routing service. This is what most exchanges call "the fee."
- Slippage. The gap between the quoted price and the executed price. Common in low-liquidity pairs and big trades.
What WEGO charges
WEGO charges a flat 0.25% for floating-rate swaps and 0.50% for fixed-rate swaps. Network fees are paid to the chain and quoted upfront. We do not take a hidden spread.
That's it. There are no withdrawal fees, no deposit fees, no account fees, and no inactivity fees. There is no minimum balance. There is no maximum balance because there is no balance at all — we are non-custodial.
Card purchases are more expensive
Buying crypto with a card is more expensive than swapping crypto for crypto. Typically 1–3% — that's the payment partner's fee. Card processing, fraud risk, chargebacks, and KYC checks all cost money. It is not WEGO taking that fee; it's the regulated entity that handles the card transaction.
If you're planning to make several crypto purchases, the cheapest path is usually: do one card buy to get into a stablecoin like USDC, then swap inside crypto to whatever you want. That avoids paying the 1–3% partner fee on every transaction.
How to compare exchanges
When you're comparing exchanges, ask three questions:
- What's the explicit fee?
- What's the spread? (Compare the quoted rate to the live market price at the same moment.)
- Are there hidden withdrawal fees or minimums?
A "0% fee" exchange with a 2% spread is more expensive than a "0.5% fee" exchange with no spread. Always do the comparison at the same moment, in the same direction, with the same amount.