What fees do I pay for margin trading?

Summary

This article outlines the different fees associated with margin trading on Bitvavo, including trading fees, borrowing fees, and liquidation fees.

When you open and manage a margin position on Bitvavo, three types of fees may apply:

1. Trading fees

Standard trading fees (maker and taker) apply both when you open a margin position and when you close it. This is similar to the fees you pay for a standard spot trade.

2. Borrowing fees

Because you are borrowing assets to execute your trade, an interest fee is charged. The asset you borrow depends on your strategy:

• If you go long, you borrow stablecoins to buy crypto.
• If you go short, you borrow crypto to sell for euros.

This fee is expressed as a daily rate (% per day), which varies depending on the asset. The fee is calculated and accrued hourly based on the borrowed amount. Fees continue to accrue for as long as your position remains open. The total accrued fee is automatically deducted when you close the position (or if it is liquidated).

How to calculate your daily cost

Borrowing fees are expressed as a daily rate. To estimate your hourly fee, divide the daily fee by 24 hours.

Example: If the borrowing fee is 0.0274% per day:

• Daily cost = 0.0274% of the borrowed amount
• Hourly cost = 0.0274% ÷ 24 ≈ 0.00114% per hour

If your position stays open for 24 hours, you pay 0.0274% of the borrowed amount. If it stays open longer, the fee continues to accumulate over time.

You can find an overview of the borrowing fees per asset on our fees page.

3. Liquidation fee

If the market moves against you and your position is automatically liquidated by Bitvavo to cover potential losses, an additional 2% liquidation fee is applied on top of the standard trading and borrowing fees.

You can easily avoid this fee by monitoring your position's "liquidation price" and closing the position manually before it reaches the liquidation price, or increasing the collateral.