Interested in Crypto? Learn More About Transaction Fees Before Buying

When you first hear about Bitcoin, you may initially feel overwhelmed. After all, BTC and the world of decentralized currencies are relatively new concepts. However, it isn’t really that complicated.

Bitcoin was created in 2009 by the famous and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It’s a form of money that you can sell and exchange, just like with the US dollar or euro. However, unlike previous traditional currencies, it’s meant to be independent of any banks or institutions. This means there is ideally freedom from inflation and other issues that fiat currencies deal with.

Bitcoin and the network it runs on, the blockchain, can be used for many things. Just like any other currency, as long as a vendor takes it, you can use it. However, other specific uses make Bitcoin and the blockchain really enticing to people around the world.

One such use case is affordable money transfers. For example, you live in the US and your mother lives in India and you want to send money to her so she can pay her rent. If you’re planning to send remittance with fiat currency, you often have to pay high fees and cover exchange rates. However, with BTC and crypto exchanges, you can send your money with lower fees involved. We’ll cover fees in more detail in a bit, but regardless, with BTC, remittances become more accessible and efficient.

Understanding Bitcoin’s fees

While we discussed there are fewer fees with BTC, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any at all. We’re talking about 0-1% fees. Even though these fees are pretty tiny in the grand scheme of things, we think you should know why there are BTC fees to begin with.

Why are there fees?

When using the blockchain, every transaction must be confirmed. To do this, BTC miners need to solve complex algorithms and in return, they get money for their work. However, keep in mind that when there are a lot of transactions to confirm, these fees can be higher than usual. This is why BTC fees may fluctuate at times.

While mining fees may vary, keep in mind that, most of the time, they are a lot smaller than traditional banking fees. Typically, BTC fees are necessary to keep the whole blockchain system up and running.

There are also other payments involved when you break down your whole fee. For example, some exchanges may charge extra depending on how much you trade. Other exchanges have fees similar to a service charge that helps the exchange continue to run smoothly. 

Fee comparisons

If you live in India and want to compare fees between crypto exchanges, it’s a good idea to take a look at their support center pages and specifically look at the exchange’s fee pages. Take a look below to see how all different crypto exchanges in India may vary in fees.

·         Leading crypto exchange, Paxful does not have any fees for buying crypto and has, on average, a 1% crypto selling fee. The fee will depend on the activity you plan to do.

·         WazirX has many types of crypto. However, there are different fees for each. We recommend checking out their fee table before making any transactions since their fees vary greatly at this time.

·         Unlike most exchanges, Zebpay has a monthly membership fee of 0.0001 BTC that you only pay if you don’t trade once a month.

·         CoinDCX has fairly low fees as the highest spot or margin trading fee is 0.1%. Meanwhile, withdrawal fees depend on the amount of crypto you want to withdraw.

·         CoinSwitch had relatively higher fees. They charge a fee of 0% to 0.49%, but these fees don’t include additional fees charged by the exchange and don’t include the network fee. CoinSwitch’s fee system appears to be less clear-cut.

·         Unocoin charges a fee of 0.5% to buy or sell Bitcoin. However, depending on how much you trade your fee is subject to drop or change.

Keep in mind that no matter where you are in the world, when you compare fees on different exchanges, you should always read all the details and fine print. This can some you some time and money.

How can I learn more? 

If you want to learn more about BTC and its fees, a great start is to research mining fees on the Internet. Alternatively, you can always look at an exchange’s help center and read about their fee breakdown. Whatever you decide to do, always do your research and read as much as you can before getting involved. The more you learn about the world of BTC, the easier it will be to use it. Good luck!

*Sponsored by Paxful

*The content is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. 

 Disclaimer: No Asian Age journalist was involved in creating this content. The group also takes no responsibility for this content.