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Understanding network fees

Every crypto exchange has two kinds of cost: what the provider charges, and what the blockchains charge to move the coins. Network fees go to the network, not to the provider or to WalletExchange.

By Hamish Webb · Last reviewed 30 September 2026

Provider fee vs. network fee

The provider’s fee pays for the exchange service, and is usually built into the rate. The network fee pays the miners or validators who include your transaction in a block. As SimpleSwap puts it, network fees are “paid to the blockchain network, not set by SimpleSwap.” Providers pass the cost on, sometimes as an estimate.

An exchange pays two network fees

  • The deposit fee Your wallet pays this when you send coins to the provider. It isn’t part of the quote: you see it in your wallet when you send.
  • The payout fee This is what it costs to send you the coins you’re buying. Providers usually deduct it from what you receive, and most include it in the quoted amount.

The payout fee is roughly the same whatever the trade size, so it matters most on small trades. In a live quote on 29 September 2026, ChangeNOW’s 0.02 ETH → BTC estimate included a 0.0000027 BTC payout fee: about 0.43% of the 0.0006315 BTC you’d receive. On a 2 ETH trade in the same minute, its payout fee was under 0.02% of the amount.

Bitcoin: priced by size, not value

A Bitcoin fee depends on how much data a transaction takes up, measured in virtual bytes (vB), not on how much bitcoin it moves. Fees are quoted in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB). A transaction that spends many small inputs is bigger, and so costs more, than one spending a single large input, even when the amount sent is the same. When demand for block space rises, fees rise with it.

Ethereum: gas

Ethereum measures work in gas. A plain ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas, and token transfers use more. The fee is the gas used multiplied by the base fee plus an optional tip (the priority fee). The base fee is burned, not paid to anyone, and it can change by up to 12.5% from block to block depending on demand.

You always need some ETH to pay gas, even when you’re sending a token such as USDT on Ethereum or WETH.

The network you choose changes the cost

The same token can cost very different amounts to move on different networks. In our sample, 500 USDT on Ethereum was quoted 0.86% more BTC than 500 USDT on Tron. But that quote leaves out the deposit fee: sending USDT on Ethereum needs gas, paid in ETH from your wallet, and when Ethereum is busy that can outweigh the difference. Compare the total: what you pay to send, and what you receive.

See the latest quotes for USDT (ERC-20) to USDT (TRC-20) and USDT (TRC-20) to BTC.

Picking a network is about more than fees, too. See Native vs. wrapped crypto for why the address has to match the network.

Why minimums exist

Below a certain amount, network fees would swallow most or all of the trade. Providers set minimum deposits partly to cover them. SideShift, for example, sets its minimums after accounting for network fees. A deposit below the minimum may not be processed, so check it on the quote first.

Keeping fees down

  • Avoid tiny trades Fixed per-trade costs take a bigger share of small amounts.
  • Check your wallet’s fee before you send That deposit fee isn’t in any provider’s quote.
  • Consider timing on busy networks Bitcoin and Ethereum fees rise and fall with demand.

Sources

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