What the spread is
At any moment, every crypto asset has two prices: the price at which you can buy and the slightly lower price at which you can sell. The difference is called the spread.
On an exchange with an order book, the spread comes from supply and demand. For Bitcoin it is usually tiny there. In many beginner apps, however, the provider sets its own buy and sell prices. The difference to the market price is a markup, and that markup is how the provider earns money. It doesn’t appear on your statement; it is hidden in the price.
The result: if you buy €1,000 of Bitcoin and sell it again immediately, you get back less than €1,000, even if the price hasn’t moved a cent.
Why “0 % fees” can be expensive
Two simplified examples for a €1,000 buy followed by an immediate sell:
| Provider A | Provider B | |
|---|---|---|
| Order fee per buy or sell | 0.25 % | 0 % |
| Markup in the price per buy or sell | 0 % | 1.25 % |
| Cost of the buy | €2.50 | €12.50 |
| Cost of the sell | €2.50 | €12.50 |
| Total for buy and sell | €5.00 (0.5 %) | €25.00 (2.5 %) |
Provider B advertises “0 % fees” and is still five times as expensive. This pattern exists in the market: BISON charges no order fee but states an average spread of 1.25 % per side for Bitcoin and Ether, and 1.75 % for other assets.
What the study measured
Between January and February 2026, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and intas.tech made 432 test trades (a buy followed by a sell) at several providers, each for €100 and €500, directly in the app. For the providers in our comparison, that gives these total costs:
| Provider | Real cost (buy + sell) | For €1,000.00 |
|---|---|---|
| Bitvavo | 0.53 %study | €5.30 |
| BISON | 2.50 %calculated · BTC/ETH | €25.00 |
| Trade Republic | 2.77 %study | €27.70 |
| Bitpanda | 4.99 %study | €49.90 |
| Kraken | 5.92 %study | €59.20 |
| Coinbase | 6.45 %study | €64.50 |
Two notes on reading the table:
- Flat fees: Trade Republic charges €1 per buy or sell. For small amounts that’s a lot in percentage terms, for large amounts very little. The study’s 2.77 % applies to test trades of €100 and €500.
- Study or calculation: there is no study value for BISON. We use the provider’s published figures instead, so the value only applies to Bitcoin and Ether.
How to measure the spread yourself
You don’t need a study to check your provider’s spread:
- Open the crypto asset in the app and note the buy price and the sell price at the same moment. Some apps only show both prices in the buy or sell preview.
- Calculate the mid price: (buy price + sell price) ÷ 2.
- Calculate the spread in percent: (buy price − sell price) ÷ mid price × 100.
Example with made-up numbers: buy price €61,000, sell price €59,800. The mid price is €60,400 and the spread €1,200. That’s 1,200 ÷ 60,400 × 100 = about 2.0 %. A buy followed by an immediate sell costs you about 2 % there, plus any fees.
How to pay less
- Compare total costs: look at buy and sell together, not the fee per order.
- Order book instead of instant buy: exchanges with an order book and limit orders are usually cheaper than the instant buy in the app. Kraken and Coinbase offer separate interfaces for this (Kraken Pro, Coinbase Advanced).
- Trade less often: every buy and sell costs the spread again. Frequent trading pays it every time.
- Bundle flat fees: with a fixed fee per order, a few larger buys are cheaper than many small ones. With a fee-free savings plan, this point doesn’t apply.
- Deposit by SEPA transfer: card and PayPal cost extra at many providers, for example 1 % at Bitvavo.
What users report
In recent Trustpilot reviews, Bitpanda users repeatedly complain about high spreads that they often only noticed when selling. That matches the 4.99 % the study measured for Bitpanda. If you compare the buy and sell price beforehand, you won’t get that surprise.
FAQ
What is a spread in crypto?
The spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price. If you buy a crypto asset and sell it again immediately, you lose roughly the spread, even if the market price hasn’t moved.
Which provider has the lowest spread?
We don’t measure the spread on its own for every provider yet. On total cost of fee plus spread, Bitvavo was the cheapest in the study by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and intas.tech, at 0.53 % for a buy and sell.
Is a broker with no order fee free?
No. Without an order fee, the provider usually earns on the spread. BISON, for example, charges no order fee but states an average spread of 1.25 % per buy or sell for Bitcoin and Ether. For a buy and a sell together, that’s around 2.5 %.
How do I avoid high spreads?
Compare the total cost of a buy and a sell instead of just the fee, use limit orders on exchanges with an order book instead of the instant buy, and trade less often. Our fee calculator shows the cost for your amount.