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Trading fees on Arcus follow a maker/taker fee-tier model: the rate you pay depends on whether your order adds liquidity (maker) or removes it (taker), on your tier, which is set by your trailing 30-day trading volume, and on the market you trade, since each market has its own fee schedule.
This page explains the model and does not quote rates. The rates each market charges are on GET /v1/markets/feeSchedules; to read your own tier, see Your tier. Rates can change without a release, so always read them from the API rather than hard-coding them. You can also see your current tier on the Arcus portfolio page.

The model

  • Maker orders rest on the book and provide liquidity; taker orders execute against resting liquidity and remove it. Makers are charged less than takers, and higher tiers can earn maker rebates.
  • Tiers are determined by your trading volume (see How volume counts). The volume thresholds and the default maker/taker rate for each tier are in GET /v1/feetiers.
  • Per-market schedules: your tier picks a row in the fee schedule of the market you trade. A market charges the default table unless it has its own schedule.
  • Liquidations carry a separate liquidation fee, charged only on some liquidation outcomes. See Liquidations for when it applies.
  • Funding payments are not a fee — they are transfers between traders. See Funding.

Your tier

GET /v1/feetiers returns the exchange-wide default table only. To read the tier that applies to you, call GET /v1/account/stats with address=<your address>&include=feeTier. The response carries tradingFeeTier, with your level and, when you have a referral discount, feeDiscountPpm. It carries no rates: the rate you pay is your level’s rate in that market’s fee schedule, less feeDiscountPpm.

Per-market fee schedules

Each market charges its own maker/taker rate for every tier:
  • GET /v1/markets/feeSchedules lists every market’s full per-tier schedule (filter with market). hasCustomSchedule is true when the market has its own schedule rather than the default table.
  • GET /v1/markets carries the same schedule per market as feeTiers, plus hasCustomFeeSchedule and the market’s base-tier rates (effectiveMakerFeePpm / effectiveTakerFeePpm, next to the default table’s baseMakerFeePpm / baseTakerFeePpm).
RWA perpetuals (equities, commodities and indices) and crypto perpetuals use different fee schedules. Fills are charged at your tier’s row of the market’s schedule. Schedules can change without a release, so read them from the API before trading a market.

How fees are calculated

  • Rates are expressed in ppm (parts per million) of notional: 100 ppm = 0.01%.
  • The fee on a fill is fill notional × rate ppm / 1,000,000.
  • A negative maker rate is a rebate: it is credited to you instead of charged.
  • A maker rebate on a fill is capped at the taker fee charged on that same fill.

How volume counts

  • Volume is your filled notional over a rolling 30-day window.
  • Volume on RWA and crypto perpetuals counts toward a single tier, which applies in both schedules.
  • It is tracked per wallet address and shared by all of that address’s subaccounts. Every subaccount on the address trades at the same tier.
  • Your tier is recalculated periodically, so it moves up shortly after your volume crosses the next threshold (not on the fill itself), and it can move down without any new trade as older volume leaves the 30-day window.

Referrals

  • If your address is registered under a referral code, you get a 5% discount on positive maker and taker fees. Zero fees and maker rebates are not affected.
  • Referrers earn a commission paid as a share of the referred trader’s trading fee, not of their notional. The live commission rates per tier are at GET /v1/commissionrates. A tier not listed there earns the rate of the highest listed tier below it.
  • Codes, referees, and commission claims are managed through the referral endpoints.

Account costs beyond trading fees

  • Deposits/withdrawals: Arcus charges no fee of its own; USDG deposits and withdrawals carry zero fees. Third-party processing or conversion costs (for card/fiat or cross-chain routes) are shown upfront. See Onboarding & deposits.