Updated Rules checked 2026-10-21
The main difference between Convert and spot trading is where the cost sits. On spot you pay the trading fee the exchange publishes, and the price comes from matching on the order book. Convert usually advertises “0 fees”, but the quote already includes a spread: the exchange or a market maker quotes you a price directly. OKX states on its official disclosure page that Convert quotes include a spread, capped at 1.00%. Binance, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, Gate, BingX, KuCoin, HTX and Pionex all say Convert charges no fee, but none of them publishes the size of the spread.
So whether Convert is worth it has to be measured against the real cost of spot. At 16:57 on 2026-10-21 (Taiwan time) I pulled the public BTC/USDT order books of 13 exchanges at the same moment and worked out the cost of buying BTC with a 1,000 USDT market order. On a major pair like BTC, slippage is almost 0, so the cost is just the Taker fee: about 1 USDT, or 0.1%, at most exchanges. If a Convert quote is more than 0.1% away from the mid price, it costs more at these exchanges than a spot market order.
None of the 13 exchanges offers a way to see live Convert quotes without logging in (they are not published officially). So the Convert side below shows the official rules and the break-even threshold, the spot side shows calculated figures, and at the end there is a method for checking a quote yourself.
Key points
The “0 fees” that Convert advertises means no separate fee line; the cost is built into the spread in the quote. OKX officially discloses a Convert spread cap of 1.00% (including market maker fees); the other exchanges publish no spread figure.
Buying BTC with a 1,000 USDT market order at 16:57 on 2026-10-21 (Taiwan time) cost about 1.00 USDT at Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and WEEX, about 0.51 USDT at MEXC, about 0.50 USDT at Pionex, and about 2.00 USDT at HTX and XT. Ourbit charges 0 fees on spot, so the cost was under 0.01 USDT.
At exchanges with a 0.1% spot Taker fee, the Convert spread has to be below about 0.1% to beat a spot market order. If the spread reaches OKX’s disclosed cap of 1%, a single 1,000 USDT conversion costs about 10 USDT, 10 times the spot cost.
None of the 13 exchanges publishes Convert quotes you can check without logging in; Binance and Gate publish only the convertible pairs and the minimum and maximum amounts.
Convert has no fee, so there is nothing for a referral rebate to refund. OKX’s affiliate rules state that trades that generate no fees earn no commission.
The information below was verified against official pages on 2026-10-21 (check date) and is shared for your reference.
What is Convert, and how is it different from spot trading?
Convert is an exchange’s one-click swap: you enter the coin you’re paying with and the amount, the system quotes a price, and once you confirm, the trade is done. You don’t look at the order book or choose between a market and a limit order. Pionex explains it most plainly: Convert “doesn’t place the order on the order book; Pionex acts as the counterparty”, while spot means “trading with other traders on the order book”.
| Item | Convert | Spot market order | Spot limit order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counterparty | A quote from the exchange or a partner market maker | Resting orders on the order book | Takers on the order book |
| Fees | Most say 0 fees | Taker rate; 0.1% at VIP 0 on most exchanges | Maker rate; 0.1% at VIP 0 on most exchanges, 0% on MEXC and Ourbit |
| Hidden cost | The quote includes a spread; most exchanges don’t publish its size | Half the bid-ask spread + slippage from filling at worse prices | No spread cost, but the order may not fill |
| Can you see the amount before the trade? | Yes, the quote is locked for a few seconds | Only an estimate; the fill price depends on the order book at that moment | You set the price yourself |
| When it fits | Small, occasional swaps when you don’t want to learn the trading screen | You need an immediate fill and the pair is liquid | You’re in no hurry and want to keep fees as low as possible |
Sources: Pionex: How to convert crypto (updated 2026-08-05) and the Binance Convert FAQ (updated 2026-04-20), checked 2026-10-21; for fee rates, see the spot fee table for each exchange below.
The difference between Maker and Taker, and why resting orders are usually cheaper, is covered in the difference between Maker and Taker fees.
Is Convert really 0 fees? What the 13 exchanges officially say
“0 fees” is broadly accurate; the cost has simply moved into the quote. The Binance FAQ says Convert “pricing does not include traditional trading fees”, that the amount shown in the quote is the amount actually credited, and that it is common for Convert prices to differ from other markets. OKX states the spread cap outright. KuCoin’s Convert terms say the spread is “determined by KuCoin at its discretion” and included in the conversion price. Gate’s guide says “the price is slightly higher than the spot price when buying and slightly lower when selling”.
| Exchange | Convert fee as officially stated | Spread or pricing method | Quote available without logging in? | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | No traditional trading fee; no extra fee beyond the quote | Dynamic quotes; prices differing from other markets is common; a limit mode is also available | No; the quote API requires a signature, and only pairs and limits are public (USDT to BTC minimum 0.01 USDT) | Convert FAQ, API docs |
| OKX | No separate fee | The quote includes a spread, capped at 1.00% for all pairs (including market maker fees); may differ by market and region | No, the quote API requires an API key | Spread disclosure (updated 2026-08-11) |
| Bybit | No traditional trading fee; some countries or regions may charge extra | Best quote from multiple market makers, refreshed every 15 seconds; above USD 50,000, OTC quotes are used | No, the quote API requires an API key | Convert guide (updated 2026-04-08) |
| Bitget | 0 trading fees | A small spread may apply depending on market conditions; up to 3,000,000 USDT per trade | No, the quote API requires an API key | Fee explanation, Convert guide |
| MEXC | No trading fee | Quoted on current market conditions; the spread is not stated officially | No, the Convert API requires an API key | Convert launch announcement |
| Gate | No fee | Buy price slightly above spot, sell price slightly below spot; minimum 1 USDT per trade | No; the public API lists only pairs and limits (USDT to BTC: 1 to 20,000,000 USDT) | Flash Swap guide, pairs API |
| BingX | 0% | Calculated from BingX’s trading volume and the prices and depth of multiple spot exchanges | No public quote API from the exchange | Convert FAQ (2023-11-23) |
| KuCoin | No fee | Spread set by KuCoin at its discretion and included in the quote | No, the quote API requires an API key | Convert terms (2025-03-13) |
| HTX | No fee | Quoted on real-time market conditions | No public quote API from the exchange | Convert launch announcement (2024-11-15) |
| XT | Not stated officially | Not stated officially | Not published officially | — |
| WEEX | Not stated officially | Not stated officially | Not published officially | — |
| Pionex | No conversion fee | Officially states “there is a spread and slippage”; Pionex is the counterparty, and for a better price it recommends trading manually on spot | No public quote API from the exchange | Convert guide (updated 2026-08-05) |
| Ourbit | I found no Convert feature in its official documentation | — | — | Spot itself has 0 fees |
Data from each exchange’s official documentation, checked 2026-10-21; dates in parentheses are the update dates shown on the pages. “No” is the result of calling each exchange’s official Convert quote API without logging in on 2026-10-21: Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, KuCoin and Gate all returned errors saying an API key or signature was required.
Of the 13, only OKX puts the spread in numbers. 1.00% is a cap, not the figure on every trade, but it shows that a Convert spread can be several times the spot fee. The others use phrases like “a small spread” or “slightly higher than the spot price”, and you have to work out the actual size yourself from the quote screen after logging in.
Buying BTC with 1,000 USDT: what does a spot market order actually cost?
Method: at 08:57:43 UTC on 2026-10-21 (16:57 Taiwan time), I read the BTC/USDT order books from the official public APIs of 13 exchanges at the same moment, filled upward from the lowest ask, and calculated the average fill price for a 1,000 USDT market buy. Slippage cost = 1,000 USDT − (BTC bought × mid price), where mid price = (highest bid + lowest ask) ÷ 2; I then added the VIP 0 Taker fee. “Buy and sell back” means immediately selling the BTC left after fees back to USDT with a market order, to see how much of the 1,000 USDT is lost in one round trip.
| Exchange | Spot Maker / Taker | Lowest ask (USDT) | Slippage cost | Taker fee | Cost to buy with 1,000 USDT | Buy and sell back cost | Convert is cheaper only if the spread is below |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,352.70 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| OKX | 0.08% / 0.1% | 83,355.50 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| Bybit | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,351.80 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| Bitget | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,354.88 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| MEXC | 0% / 0.05% | 83,344.80 | 0.01 | 0.50 | 0.51 | 1.03 | About 0.05% |
| Gate | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,337.40 | 0.03 | 1.00 | 1.03 | 2.03 | About 0.10% |
| BingX | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,352.70 | 0.03 | 1.00 | 1.03 | 2.08 | About 0.10% |
| KuCoin | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,344.30 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| HTX | 0.2% / 0.2% | 83,294.70 | <0.01 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 | About 0.20% |
| XT | 0.2% / 0.2% | 83,352.70 | <0.01 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 | About 0.20% |
| WEEX | 0.1% / 0.1% | 83,352.71 | <0.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | About 0.10% |
| Pionex | 0.05% / 0.05% | 83,352.70 | <0.01 | 0.50 | 0.50 | 1.00 | About 0.05% |
| Ourbit | 0% / 0% | 83,352.70 | <0.01 | 0 | <0.01 | <0.01 | Almost no room |
Sources and method: order books from each exchange’s official public market data API (the BTC/USDT depth endpoints of Binance api.binance.com, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, Gate, BingX, KuCoin, HTX, XT, WEEX, Pionex and Ourbit), read at 08:57:43 UTC on 2026-10-21; amounts in USDT, rounded to 0.01. Fee rates follow each exchange’s official fee page as checked from 2026-10-11 to 10-12 (see the 13-exchange fee table in spot vs futures); the BTC/USDT rates for MEXC and Ourbit were rechecked on 2026-10-21 with the official MEXC trading pair API and Ourbit trading pair API. Platform token discounts, VIP levels and referral rebates are not included. Last column = (slippage + fee) ÷ 1,000 USDT.
Two things stand out in this table. First, on most exchanges the best ask on BTC/USDT is deep enough to absorb 1,000 USDT, slippage is under 0.01 USDT, and almost all of the cost is the fee. Running it again at 10,000 USDT (same day, 08:57:46 UTC), the highest slippage was about 0.58 USDT at BingX and about 0.17 USDT at Gate; the rest were still under 0.01 USDT. Second, the lowest asks differed by up to about 61 USDT between exchanges (HTX 83,294.70 vs OKX 83,355.50). That is a price gap between exchanges and has nothing to do with the Convert spread; when you compare costs, use the mid price on the same exchange as the baseline.
This test covers only BTC/USDT, the most liquid pair. Smaller coins have thinner order books, so market order slippage will be higher than in the table, and Convert spreads may be wider too. Both sides need to be recalculated with live quotes.
How small does the Convert spread need to be? Working out the break-even point
The test: if Convert gives you more coins than “a spot market order after fees” does, Convert is the better deal. Take Binance. The mid price at the time was 83,352.695 USDT, and a 1,000 USDT spot market buy, after the 0.1% fee, got about 0.01198521 BTC. If Binance Convert, at the same moment, quotes more than 0.01198521 BTC for 1,000 USDT, Convert is cheaper; if it quotes less, a spot order saves you money.
As a percentage, Convert spread = 1 − (BTC received from Convert × mid price ÷ 1,000). At exchanges with a 0.1% Taker fee, the threshold is about 0.1%; MEXC and Pionex charge 0.05% Taker, so their threshold is about 0.05%; Ourbit charges no spot fee, so Convert has almost no room to be cheaper than spot.
Take OKX’s disclosed 1% cap as the worst case: converting 1,000 USDT to BTC costs at most about 10 USDT in spread, and you receive at least about 0.01187685 BTC (at OKX’s mid price at the time, 83,355.45). At the same moment, a spot market order on OKX cost about 1.00 USDT. Convert back to USDT and the two spreads add up to at most about 19.90 USDT, against about 2.00 USDT to buy and sell back on spot. OKX does not publish the actual spread on each trade, but the cap alone is 10 times the Taker fee.
| Scenario (1,000 USDT to BTC) | One-way cost | Total after converting back to USDT |
|---|---|---|
| Spot limit order (Maker 0.1%, e.g. Binance) | 1.00 USDT, may not fill | About 2.00 USDT |
| Spot limit order (Maker 0%, MEXC) | 0 USDT, may not fill | 0 USDT |
| Spot market order (Taker 0.1%) | About 1.00 USDT | About 2.00 USDT |
| Convert, assuming a 0.1% spread | About 1.00 USDT | About 2.00 USDT |
| Convert, assuming a 0.5% spread | About 5.00 USDT | About 9.98 USDT |
| Convert, spread at OKX’s disclosed 1% cap | About 10.00 USDT | About 19.90 USDT |
Sources and method: spot figures come from the previous table (08:57:43 UTC on 2026-10-21); Maker rates from the Binance fee page and the MEXC fee overview (checked 2026-10-11) and the MEXC trading pair API (2026-10-21); the 1% cap from the OKX spread disclosure. The 0.1% and 0.5% spreads are assumptions I set for comparison, not quotes from any exchange. Total after converting back = 1,000 − (1,000 × (1 − spread) × (1 − spread)).
How do you work out the Convert spread yourself?
Convert quotes are only visible after you log in, so the most accurate approach is to check them yourself. These steps work on both the website and the app:
- Open the Convert page and enter the amount, for example 1,000 USDT to BTC. Don’t confirm yet; write down the BTC amount under “You will receive”.
- At the same moment, switch to the spot BTC/USDT order book, write down the highest bid and the lowest ask, then add them and divide by 2 to get the mid price. Quotes are locked for only a few seconds (Binance’s API docs say a quote is valid for 10 seconds by default; Bybit refreshes every 15 seconds), so read both numbers as close together as you can.
- Plug them into the formula: Convert spread = 1 − (BTC received × mid price ÷ 1,000).
- Compare the result with this exchange’s spot Taker fee. If the spread is higher than the Taker rate, use a spot market order instead; if you’re not in a hurry, the Maker rate on a limit order is usually even lower.
Selling works the same way in reverse: compare the USDT you receive for selling BTC through Convert with “BTC amount × mid price × (1 − Taker rate)”.
When should you use Convert, and when a spot limit order?
Going by the rules and the calculations, it breaks down like this:
- Small, occasional swaps: Convert shows you what you’ll receive before the trade, so you won’t pay extra by picking the wrong order type, market or limit. On 100 USDT, a 0.1% spread and a 0.5% spread differ by only 0.4 USDT.
- Large amounts or frequent swaps: the spread’s impact grows with the amount, while a spot market order on BTC/USDT costs close to the Taker rate, which is easier to predict.
- No rush to fill: a spot limit order pays only the Maker rate, which is 0% on MEXC and Ourbit; the trade-off is that it won’t fill unless the price gets there.
- Large conversions: Bybit says Convert trades above USD 50,000 switch to OTC quotes, and Bitget caps a single trade at 3,000,000 USDT and offers block trading. Before a large trade, compare against the depth of the spot order book first.
- Stablecoin swaps: when swapping USDT and USDC, the spot USDC/USDT pair has 0 fees on exchanges such as OKX, MEXC, XT and WEEX, so Convert has no fee advantage. Details in USDT vs USDC.
Pionex’s official guide gives the same advice: Convert “may have some slippage”, and for a better price it recommends trading manually on “Spot”. The cost of buying crypto with recurring purchases is covered separately in Crypto DCA fees.
With a referral rebate, how do Convert and spot compare?
A referral rebate refunds the fees you pay. Convert has no fee, so there is nothing to refund. The OKX affiliate program rules (updated 2026-09-29) state that no commission is counted when the traded coin generates no fees; XT and WEEX also state that rebates are calculated on the fees actually generated. Spot orders generate fees, so they earn rebates; the spread cost of Convert never shows up in your rebate records.
Take Binance: sign up with this site’s referral code KEVINWU and Binance automatically refunds 20% of your net spot (including margin) trading fees. This rate syncs with the exchange every day, and it brings the actual cost of a spot market order down a bit further.Each exchange’s actual rates after the rebate are listed in actual fees after referral rebates and low-fee crypto exchanges compared. Bybit has no automatic exchange rebate on this site; its rebate channel is Fee Otter, see Bybit fee rebate.
FAQ
Does Convert really have no fees?
Convert usually charges no separate fee, but the quote includes a spread. OKX officially discloses a Convert spread cap of 1.00%, KuCoin’s terms state that the spread is set by KuCoin at its discretion and included in the quote, and Gate states that the Convert buy price is slightly above the spot price. Binance, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, BingX, HTX and Pionex all say there is no fee but do not publish the size of the spread.
Which is cheaper, Convert or spot?
On a liquid pair such as BTC/USDT, a spot market order is cheaper as soon as the Convert spread exceeds the spot Taker fee. In the 2026-10-21 calculation, buying BTC with a 1,000 USDT spot market order cost about 1.00 USDT (0.1%) at Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and WEEX, about 0.51 USDT at MEXC and about 0.50 USDT at Pionex. Convert is only worth it if its spread is below these figures.
Is Binance Convert worth it?
It depends on the gap between the live quote and the spot cost. Binance’s spot VIP 0 Taker fee is 0.1%, and on 2026-10-21 a 1,000 USDT market buy of BTC got about 0.01198521 BTC after fees. A Binance Convert quote above that at the same moment is the better deal; below it, spot is cheaper. Binance does not publish its Convert spread, and quotes are only visible after you log in.
Why is the Convert quote different from the price on the candlestick chart?
Because the Convert quote includes a spread and is a separate price calculated from current market conditions. The Binance FAQ explains that Convert uses dynamic quotes and that it is common to see different prices for the same coin in Convert and in other markets. Bybit’s Convert rate comes from the best quote among multiple market makers, and Gate states that the Convert buy price is slightly above the spot price and the sell price slightly below it.
Can you place a limit order in Convert?
Binance Convert and Bybit Convert both have a limit mode. Binance states that whether a limit order fills depends on the quote, the price you set, market depth and liquidity, and that it may not fill even if the market price briefly touches your price; Bybit’s Convert limit orders are valid for 30 days. If you want to be sure you pay only the Maker rate, a spot limit order is simpler.
Does Convert earn a rebate?
Convert generates no fees, so there is no referral rebate. The OKX affiliate program rules state that trades generating no fees earn no commission; rebates only appear on trades that actually charge fees, such as spot and futures.
Is there a minimum amount for Convert?
Yes, depending on the exchange and the coin. Gate Flash Swap requires at least 1 USDT per trade, and its public API shows a maximum of 20,000,000 USDT for USDT to BTC; Binance’s public API shows a minimum of 0.01 USDT for USDT to BTC; Bitget caps a single trade at 3,000,000 USDT. Other exchanges show the limits only when you enter an amount on the Convert page.
How are large Convert trades priced?
Bybit states that Convert trades above USD 50,000 per trade switch to OTC quotes, which apply only to USDT, USDC, ETH, BTC and MNT; Bitget’s Convert integrates its block trading service. Before converting a large amount, use the formula above to compare the Convert quote with the cost on the spot order book.
For each exchange’s full spot fee rules, see Binance fees, OKX fees, Bybit fees, Bitget fees, MEXC fees, Gate fees, BingX fees, KuCoin fees, HTX fees, XT fees, WEEX fees, Pionex fees and Ourbit fees. The difference between maker and taker orders is explained in the difference between Maker and Taker fees. If you’re buying crypto for the first time, terms are explained in the crypto glossary, and every exchange’s referral code is collected in the crypto exchange referral codes roundup.