What is basis point (bp)?

One hundredth of a percentage point, so 50 basis points is 0.50% and 100 basis points is 1%.

Exchange fees, spreads, and deposit costs are often quoted this way because the numbers are small and comparisons stay exact. A taker fee of 0.10% is 10 basis points.

The unit exists to remove a specific ambiguity. If a fee rises from 0.20% to 0.30%, has it risen by 0.1% or by 50%? Both readings are defensible in plain percentages. In basis points there is only one: it rose by 10 basis points.

How it works

One basis point is 0.01%, which is 0.0001 as a decimal. To convert, divide basis points by 100 to get a percentage, or by 10,000 to get the decimal you multiply by.

The usual shorthand: 1 bp is 0.01%, 10 bps is 0.1%, 25 bps is 0.25%, 50 bps is 0.5%, and 100 bps is 1%.

Crypto uses the unit in three main places. Trading fees are quoted per side, so a venue's maker taker fee schedule might run from 40 bps down to 5 bps as volume rises. Spreads are quoted the same way, so a 5 bp spread on a $50,000 asset is $25 wide. Pool fee tier settings on decentralized venues use the same scale, commonly 1, 5, 30, and 100 bps.

The convention is to say a change is "up 10 basis points" rather than "up 50 percent," which keeps the arithmetic additive and avoids arguments about the base.

Example

Illustrative: you buy $5,000 of an asset on a venue charging a 40 bp taker fee, with a 6 bp spread on the pair. The fee is $5,000 times 0.0040, which is $20. Crossing the spread costs roughly half of it on entry, about $5,000 times 0.0003, or $1.50. Total round-trip cost of entering is about $21.50, or about 43 bps. Doing the same trade at a 10 bp fee costs $5 plus the same $1.50, or about 13 bps. The 30 bp difference in headline fee is $15 on this order.

Why it matters when you buy

Fee schedules and spreads are the two costs you actually control, and both are quoted in basis points. Adding them in the same unit is the only honest way to compare venues, because a low headline fee on a wide spread can cost more than the reverse. Compare both at the fee comparison and check spreads by asset at the liquidity pages.

Related terms

• maker taker fee — the schedule quoted in basis points
• spread — the other cost measured the same way
• fee tier — volume bands that lower the rate
• taker — the side that usually pays more
• slippage — the cost basis points do not capture
• price impact — what large orders add on top

Questions

Why not just use percentages?

Because "a 0.1% increase" is ambiguous between an absolute and a relative change. Basis points always mean the absolute change, which matters when the underlying numbers are fractions of a percent.

Are crypto fees higher than stock brokerage fees?

Typically yes, often by a wide margin, and the gap is larger on retail-facing apps that quote a spread rather than a fee. Compare the full cost including spread, not the headline number.

Does the spread count as a fee?

It is not billed as one, but it is money you pay to trade. A quote that is 10 bps wide costs you about 5 bps each way, and that cost is invisible on your statement.