Here's a harsh reality: in the crypto world, exchanges are the real money-printing machines.

A lot of people think exchanges make the most money from listing fees. Wrong. The real cash cow is trading fees.

Let’s do some math. Spot trading fees are typically 0.1%. If you invest 10,000 yuan, you’re charged 10 yuan when you buy, and another 10 yuan when you sell. A complete trading cycle costs you 20 yuan. What does this mean? If you do 500 trades of equal value, your entire principal gets eaten up by fees.

Now, look at most people’s trading habits—they can’t hold a coin for more than a week. When they're stuck in a losing position, they might hold longer, but as soon as there's profit, they can't go three days without moving their fingers. On average, if you trade once every three days, that's 122 trades a year. At this rate, your principal will theoretically be entirely converted into fees within 3 to 5 years.

Derivatives? It’s even worse. With leverage, your fee consumption doubles.

That’s why many high-frequency traders eventually realize their losses aren’t from picking the wrong tokens, but from getting drained by fees. The brutality of the exchange profit model is clear from this angle.

This is also why fee rebates have become essential. Getting a kickback on trading fees basically means grabbing a slice of the exchange’s profit pool. It sounds simple, but the competition is fierce. Industry veterans have traffic, networks, and resources. If newcomers want a piece of the pie, they need a differentiated approach and a clear entry point—otherwise, they don’t stand a chance.

There’s still upside in this market, but you have to find the right way in and move quickly—don’t waste time circling the periphery. The people who really make money are those who first understand the rules of the game, then find their own niche.