Understanding the fees when you buy Bitcoin

Only part of what a Bitcoin purchase costs shows up in the purchase preview. Another part is built into the price, and a third only arises when you withdraw to your own wallet.

The six types of cost at a glance

Type of cost	What is it?	Where does it arise?	Example (as of September 2026)
Spread	Mark-up on the buying price or discount on the selling price	Apps, brokers, ATMs	BISON: 1.25% on average for Bitcoin[2]
Trading fee (maker/taker)	Percentage fee per order in the order book	Exchanges (‘pro’ interfaces)	Kraken Pro: 0.40% / 0.80% in the entry tier[1]
Service fee	Fixed percentage per purchase	Apps	Relai: 1% from €50 to €99,999.99[3]
Payment method	Surcharge for card, Apple Pay or Google Pay	Deposit	BISON: 2.49%, Relai: 3% for credit cards[2],[3]
Withdrawal fee	The provider’s fee for sending to your wallet	Exchanges, apps	21bitcoin: flat 1,000 sats, BISON: none[4],[2]
Network fee	Goes to the miners, depends on data size and network load	Every transaction on the blockchain	currently 2 sat/vB for the next block[5]

The spread: the invisible fee

The spreadGlossarySpread (bid-ask spread)The difference between the buy and sell price. With many apps, the spread is the real fee – it just doesn’t appear as a separate item on your statement.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →× is the gap between the buying and the selling price. In apps, it’s a mark-up on the market price when you buy and a discount when you sell; providers such as BISONProvider · ExchangeBISONCrypto app from the Boerse Stuttgart Group: no trading fee, but a spread – withdrawals to your own wallet: €0 fee (as of 09/2026).Licence: MiCA (BaFin, Germany) · reviewed Sept 2026Costs: no trading fee, average Bitcoin spread 1.25% per buy or sell (as of Sept 2026)On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →Our profile →Official website ↗× state it for each direction.^[2] It never appears on a statement because it’s built into the price shown.

Example: at a market price of $80,000 per BTC and a 1.25% spread in each direction, you buy at $81,000 and sell at $79,000. If you buy and sell again straight away, you lose around 2.5%, even though the market hasn’t moved.

How to spot it: compare the buying and selling prices in the app at the same moment. If they’re far apart, there’s a spread in them – even if a fee is shown as well.

Trading fee and service fee

On an exchangeTermExchange (crypto exchange)A trading platform where buyers and sellers trade bitcoin with each other via an order book.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →AdLicensed providers with a paid linkProviders from our comparisonKrakenExchange · MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland)Visit Kraken* (paid link, opens in a new window)BitvavoExchange · MiCA (AFM, Netherlands)Visit Bitvavo* (paid link, opens in a new window)CoinbaseExchange · MiCA (CSSF, Luxembourg)Visit Coinbase* (paid link, opens in a new window)All 7 compared – including non-partners →*Paid link: if you sign up or buy through it, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same. How we make money →18+ · Crypto assets are highly volatile; you could lose all your money. No deposit protection.×, orders meet in the order bookGlossaryOrder bookA list of all open buy and sell orders for a trading pair such as BTC/USD, sorted by price. The price forms between the highest bid and the lowest ask.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →In the glossary →×. The fee depends on your role (maker/takerGlossaryMaker and taker feesA fee model used by exchanges: whoever places an order in the order book and so provides liquidity (maker) usually pays less than someone who immediately accepts an existing order (taker).On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →In the glossary →×):

• Makers place an order in the order book that isn’t executed immediately, such as a limit orderGlossaryLimit orderA buy or sell order with a price limit: it is only executed at your price or better. That secures the price, but not the execution – the market may never get there.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 3 – Buying Bitcoin →In the glossary →× below the current price. They usually pay less.
• Takers accept an existing offer immediately, for example with a market orderGlossaryMarket orderAn order that is executed immediately at the best available price in the order book. You get speed but no price guarantee: with large amounts, the price can differ from the last price shown.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 3 – Buying Bitcoin →In the glossary →×. That’s more convenient and usually more expensive.

On Kraken ProProvider · ExchangeKrakenLarge crypto exchange with an EU licence from Ireland: simple in-app buying or an order book, withdrawals via Lightning too.Licence: MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland) · reviewed Sept 2026Costs: App 1% plus spread; Kraken Pro 0.40% maker / 0.80% taker (as of Sept 2026)On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →Our profile →AdVisit Kraken* (paid link, opens in a new window)on kraken.com*Paid link: if you sign up or buy through it, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same. How we make money →18+ · Crypto assets are highly volatile; you could lose all your money. No deposit protection.×, the entry tier costs 0.40% as a maker and 0.80% as a taker. In the simple Kraken app, you pay 1% plus spread for instant and recurring purchases.^[1]

Many Bitcoin appsTermBitcoin appA smartphone app you can use to buy, save and often also store bitcoin.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →AdLicensed providers with a paid linkProviders from our comparison21bitcoinBitcoin app · MiCA (FMA, Austria)No paid link for your country · Profile →RelaiBitcoin app · MiCA (AMF, France)No paid link for your country · Profile →BISONExchange · MiCA (BaFin, Germany)No paid link for your country · Profile →All 4 compared – including non-partners →*Paid link: if you sign up or buy through it, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same. How we make money →18+ · Crypto assets are highly volatile; you could lose all your money. No deposit protection.× charge a service fee as a fixed percentage. At RelaiProvider · Bitcoin appRelaiBitcoin-only app where your bitcoin land directly in your own wallet – with a savings plan and a MiCA licence.Licence: MiCA (AMF, France) · reviewed Sept 2026Costs: 1% service fee plus an unquantified margin in the price … (as of Sept 2026)On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →Our profile →Official website ↗×, it’s 1% for purchases from €50 to €99,999.99 and less above that; according to its price list, Relai also applies its own margin in the price.^[3]

Payment method: SEPA or card?

Many providers charge no fee for a SEPA transfer, the standard euro bank transfer – BISON not even for an instant transfer.^[2] Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay cost extra: 2.49% at BISON, and 3% at Relai (credit card) on top of the service fee.^[2],[3] On $1,000, that’s around $25 to $30 – more than the trading fee on an exchange.

Withdrawal and network fee

When you withdraw to your own wallet, two items can arise:

1. The provider’s withdrawal fee. 21bitcoin charges a flat 1,000 sats,^[4] BISON nothing.^[2]
2. The network feeGlossaryTransaction fee (network fee)The amount a Bitcoin transaction pays to the miner. It depends on the transaction’s size in vbytes and the fee rate offered – not on the amount you send.On the learning path: Stage 5 · Step 4 – First withdrawal →In the glossary →×. It goes to the miners. Some providers pass it on, others build it into the withdrawal fee; Relai covers it on purchases.^[3]

The network fee is the transaction’s size in vbytes × the fee rate in sat/vBGlossarysat/vB (satoshis per virtual byte)Unit for the fee rate of a Bitcoin transaction: how many satoshis you pay per virtual byte of its size. The higher the rate, the sooner miners will include the transaction in a block.In the glossary →×. A simple transaction (one input, two outputs, bc1q… address) is around 141 vbytes.^[6] At 1 sat/vB it costs 141 sats, just over $0.11 at the example price of $80,000; when the network is very busy, say at 100 sat/vB, around $11. mempool.space currently recommends 2 sat/vB for the next block.^[5] How the rate comes about is explained in Bitcoin transactions & fees.

Neither item usually depends on the amount, so small withdrawals are relatively expensive: collect several purchases and withdraw them in one go. Your first withdrawal to your own wallet shows how.

Worked example: $1,000 in Bitcoin

Example price $80,000 per BTC (currently $86,292). We calculate in US dollars; the percentages work the same for amounts in euros or any other currency. Without costs, you’d get 0.0125 BTC (1,250,000 sats); in simplified terms, amount received ≈ ($1,000 − costs) ÷ price. The purchase types are models based on the price lists cited (as of September 2026), not a provider comparison.

Example calculation based on providers’ price lists, as of September 2026; example price $80,000 per BTC.

Show values as a table

Type of purchase	Trading/service fee	Spread	Card surcharge	Total cost	in %	Sats received
Exchange, limit order (maker) · 0.40%	$4.00	–	–	$4.00	0.4%	≈ 1,245,000
Exchange, market order (taker) · 0.80%	$8.00	–	–	$8.00	0.8%	≈ 1,240,000
App with 1% service fee · no additional spread	$10.00	–	–	$10.00	1%	≈ 1,237,500
App without fee · 1.25% spread	–	$12.50	–	$12.50	1.25%	≈ 1,234,400
App with fee and spread · 1% + 0.5% (assumed)	$10.00	$5.00	–	$15.00	1.5%	≈ 1,231,300
App, paying by card · 1% + 3% card surcharge	$10.00	–	$30.00	$40.00	4%	≈ 1,200,000

As a maker on an exchange, you receive 1,245,000 sats; paying by card in an app, 1,200,000 sats. So the card surcharge weighs more than the difference between exchange and app. The withdrawal may come on top: a flat 1,000 sats is $0.80 at the example price.

Ongoing and later costs

• Savings plan: the purchase costs apply every time the plan executes. Setting up a Bitcoin savings plan shows how they add up.
• Selling: a spread or trading fee usually applies again.
• Bitcoin ETPsGlossaryETP (Exchange Traded Product)Umbrella term for exchange-traded securities such as ETFs, ETCs and ETNs. With a Bitcoin ETP, you hold a security that tracks the price – but no bitcoin keys of your own.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →In the glossary →× in a securities account: on top of the order fee and spread there’s an annual fee (TER) of 0.05% to 2.00%, depending on the product (as of September 2026).^[7] More in Bitcoin ETPs in your securities account.

How to compare fees yourself

1. Use the same conditions

   Compare providers using the same amount and the same payment method, for example a SEPA transfer.

2. Look at the amount of bitcoin

   What counts is the ‘You receive’ line in BTC or sats, not the advertised fee.

3. Calculate with a reference price

   Multiply the amount you receive by an independent price at the same moment (links below), in the currency you pay in. The difference from what you paid is your effective cost. Example: $1,000 gets you 0.01234375 BTC; at $80,000 that’s $987.50, so the cost is $12.50 or 1.25%.

4. Read the price list

   Authorised crypto-asset service providers in the EU must publish their pricing, cost and fee policies prominently on their website.^[8] Look out for words such as ‘spread’, ‘mark-up’ or ‘included in the price’, and for the withdrawal fee.

Quick check

What’s next?