Bid-Ask Spread
The gap between the highest buy offer and lowest sell offer — the invisible fee you pay on every trade.
The bid-ask spread is the difference between the best price buyers will pay (bid) and the best price sellers will accept (ask). If Bitcoin’s bid is $63,990 and ask is $64,010, the spread is $20 (~0.03%). Cross the spread with a market order and that gap is your cost, before any commission.
Spreads widen when liquidity is thin — small coins, small exchanges, volatile moments — and “zero-commission” platforms often earn precisely by quoting wide spreads. Comparing a platform’s quote against a live reference price (like our coin screener) reveals the real fee.