Gemini is an extremely popular cryptocurrency trading platform. Much like the platform Coinbase, Gemini offers beginner traders an extremely easy and intuitive trading platform. Additionally, Gemini offers more serious traders a different trading platform that is even more advanced.
One of the successful campaigns that Gemini used to gain users was free stocks for signing up and sharing information about the platform. Perhaps you even signed up originally because of a deal like this!
Marketing events like this have worked because Gemini is a great crypto trading platform. Many users are happy with the platform’s large collection of cryptos fully available to US citizens. Additionally, Gemini has some of the best security features in the industry.
One of the greatest callouts for Gemini’s security features is that a majority of your crypto is kept offline in a cold storage system. This is one of the safest ways to hold crypto as it limits risk to cryptocurrency hackers.
Unfortunately, one piece of Gemini that lags behind competitors is that it is not a commission free trading platform. Trading platforms like Robinhood on the other hand are commission free. In addition to commissions, there are other fees that Gemini charges that are commonplace in the world of cryptocurrency.
The purpose of this article is to help you understand the fees for transacting on the Gemini platform. Hopefully this will help educate you in your effort to determine what trading platform is right for you.
To learn more about all of the advantages of Gemini, be sure to check out their website. While this article will cover some of the advantages of using Gemini, the main purpose is to cover the main fees associated with the Gemini platform.
As introduced above, Gemini is not a commission-free trading platform. There are methods and fees that Gemini has in place to generate revenue on top of those traditional trade commissions. As the consumer of the product, it is important you understand every charge that you may incur prior to using the product.
According to the official Gemini Website, there are three main buckets of fees associated with Gemini accounts. While these are not all of the fees from the trading platform, they are the bulk of the fees associated with any transaction. The three high-level buckets are listed below.
For purposes of this article, the default trading method represents normal buy and sell orders using Gemini’s web or mobile platform. This section is not applicable to the users of the Active Trader platform.
A transaction fee applies to all trades made on Gemini’s web or mobile platform. For trades under $200 it is a flat fee and for trades over $200 the fee is a percent of the order value. Examples of both are represented below.
| Web Order Amount (USD) | Transaction Fee (USD) |
| <= $10.00 | $0.99 |
| > $10.00 but <= $25.00 | $1.49 |
| > $25.00 but <= $50.00 | $1.99 |
| > $50.00 but <= $200.00 | $2.99 |
| > $200 | 1.49% of order value |
Using the transaction fees outlined above, a purchase order for $10.00 would have a $0.99 transaction fee. That is nearly a 10% transaction fee which is incredibly high!
However, if you have a purchase order for $1,000 then the transaction fee will be $14.90 ($1,000 x 1.49%). If this fee seems too high for you, remember that there are trading platforms out there that do not have cryptocurrency transaction fees!
Gemini’s convenience fee is known commonly on other trading platforms as a spread. A spread is not uncommon among cryptocurrency trading platforms. Gemini has a current spread rate of 0.50% but the rate is subject to change at any time.
This spread is evident in all crypto transactions regardless of the crypto asset traded. Additionally, the trade spreads apply to all buy and sell sales.
This spread is used to cover the costs of facilitating crypto transactions, storing crypto, and generating revenue for the trading platform. A simple transaction demonstrating the trade spread is shown below.
Assume the current market price for cryptocurrency ABC is $100. You decide to purchase $100 worth of ABC. Applying a 0.5% spread, Gemini executes your order for ABC at a price of $100.50. You will then own marginally less than 1 full ABC given the spread.
To expand on that same example, if you were to spend $100.50 on cryptocurrency ABC you would end up with 1 full ABC. The price breakdown would be $100 for the cryptocurrency and $0.50 for the Gemini spread.
Combining the convenience fee with the transaction fee, the lowest total fee that you will pay for any transaction is 1.99%. That is a high order fee compared to many other cryptocurrency trading platforms. However, it is very similar in fees to well known trading platforms like Coinbase.
The third bucket of fees are for users of the Active Trader platform. Please note that this section is not applicable to those who use Gemini’s default web and mobile trading platform.
Gemini’s Active Trader platform is made specifically for advanced users. The platform provides investors with a more premium trading experience that includes advanced charting and multiple order types. To learn more about the active trader platform, check out Gemini’s official landing page for the Active Trader platform.
Unlike the transaction and convenience fees for Gemini’s default trades, Active Trader platform fees are based on the maker and taker system.
According to Gemini Active Trader, the two types of transactions on the platform are maker or taker transactions. Maker transactions are those that provide liquidity to the market and taker transactions are those that take liquidity.
When you execute a market trade at the current market price, you are considered a taker. This is because your transaction will be executed immediately. Takers can expect to pay a fee of up to 0.40% per transaction.
Makers on the other hand place orders that are not immediately executed. Because of this, the order is placed on the order book. Makers can expect to pay a lower fee than takers for up to 0.20% per transaction.
These fees are variable and depend on the market price at purchase. To see the complete breakdown of these Gemini Active Trader fees head to Gemini’s Active Trader fee schedule page. Below are a couple of examples of how the fees are distributed.
Gemini has played a big role in the recent cryptocurrency boom. Platforms like Gemini have allowed retail investors from around the world to experience the ease and simplicity of trading cryptocurrency.
As this article discussed, Gemini is not a commission free trading platform. As such, there are fees that Gemini charges for each and every transaction on the platform. However, there are also some fees that Gemini doesn’t charge. This includes but is not limited to the fee free 10 crypto withdrawals a month.
As a quick recap though, the three buckets of fees evident on the Gemini platform are shown below.
It is also important to understand that this article does not include a comprehensive list of fees. The above fees are the common fees that apply to the majority of transactions. There are additional fees that cover a variety of transactions including credit card transactions.
To get the complete list of fees, as well as an update on all fee costs, feel free to check out Gemini’s Fee FAQs.
Since creating a Gemini account is free, feel free to use one of Investing Simple’s affiliate links to get a free stock from signing up!
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