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What are commissions?

Commissions are the execution fees charged when an order fills. You pay a fee when opening or increasing a position and another fee when reducing or closing it. Each partial fill is charged on the amount that actually fills. The fee is calculated from fill notional, which is the filled asset quantity multiplied by its execution price. It is based on the full value traded, not just the margin used to support the position.

Commission rates

Maker and taker fills use the same rate within each asset class. The market’s asset category determines the rate, regardless of its source venue. A maker fill comes from a passive limit order. A taker fill executes against the opposing side of the market, such as a market order or a limit order that crosses the spread. Choosing a limit order does not reduce the commission rate.

Calculate entry and exit costs

Commission = fill notional × commission percentage ÷ 100. For example, opening a crypto position with 10,000offillnotionalcosts10,000 of fill notional costs 3.00 in commission. Closing it with 10,000offillnotionalcostsanother10,000 of fill notional costs another 3.00, for $6.00 total commission. At the same 10,000entryandexitnotionals,thetotalis10,000 entry and exit notionals, the total is 0.50 for forex or $1.00 for stocks, commodities, and indices. If the exit price or quantity differs, calculate the exit fee from that exit’s actual notional. Changing leverage does not change the commission on an otherwise identical fill. Increasing the position’s notional increases the fee. Commissions reduce your account balance and therefore the headroom available under your loss rules.

Hourly swap fees

Swap fees are holding costs in addition to execution commissions. An open position pays its asset class’s daily rate divided into 24 equal hourly amounts. Both long and short positions pay this charge. Each hourly charge uses the position size held at the hourly boundary and the applicable mark price. Later size changes do not change that charge, and a position pays at most one swap fee for the same hourly boundary. For example, a crypto position worth 10,000atanhourlychargeincurs10,000 at an hourly charge incurs 0.125 (10,000×0.03totalswapfeeis10,000 × 0.03% ÷ 24). If that notional remains unchanged for 24 charges, the total swap fee is 3.00. A position closed before the next hourly charge does not pay that charge. During a scheduled TradFi market closure, the latest valid closing mark values the hourly charge. Crypto uses a fresh mark because it trades continuously. Venue funding rates shown in the trading terminal are informational. They do not change your balance or replace the fixed swap fee.

Other trading costs and rules

The examples above cover commissions and swap fees. Execution prices can also be affected by the spread and slippage. Read the Trading Guide for order execution and slippage details, and Breaches and Next Steps for liquidation and close-out consequences. Read Challenges and Rules for the daily loss reset time, or Payouts for payout windows and the store-credit option.