What does a "zero-fee" crypto app cost? Spread, slippage and the price you actually get

In this article we cover:

1. How do you measure what a crypto app really charges?
2. What is slippage, and when does it cost more than the spread?
3. Why is the instant-buy price different from the order book price?
4. What does a round trip cost, from buying to selling?
5. What does it cost to rebalance a crypto basket yourself?
6. Where do trading costs go inside an index product?
7. When is a visible annual fee cheaper than a "free" app?

Where each cost shows up, and how to spot it

Only the first row is a fee in the usual sense. Most of the others sit inside a price, which is why the method below measures prices rather than reading fee pages.

How do you measure what a crypto app really charges?

Run a round trip. Note the reference price, buy a fixed rupee amount, sell it straight back, and record what returns to your account. Add back any TDS, because that is tax rather than cost. Whatever is still missing is the platform's real cost, irrespective how the fee page terms it.

The test works on any app, needs no cooperation from the platform, and costs only the amount you choose to test with. Five steps:

1. Open a price tracker you do not have an account with, and note the asset's price.
2. Buy a fixed amount, for example ₹10,000, and note how much of the asset you received.
3. Sell the whole amount straight away.
4. Note the rupees credited, and the TDS deducted on the sale.
5. Add the TDS back to the rupees credited. The gap between that number and ₹10,000 is the cost of the trip.

A worked example, with illustrative figures

You buy ₹10,000 of a coin on an app that shows no commission. You sell it immediately. The sale is worth ₹9,820, 

1% TDS of ₹98.20 is deducted, and ₹9,721.80 reaches your account. 

Add the TDS back and you have ₹9,820. The round trip cost ₹180, or 1.8%, and none of it appeared as a fee.

One more check matters in India. Many apps convert rupees into a dollar-denominated stablecoin before buying. Divide the rupees you spent by the stablecoin you received, and you have the rate you actually got. In one test our team ran, a screen displayed a stablecoin rate of about ₹96 while the effective rate worked out to about ₹102. 

That premium is a market price rather than a charge, as explained in what you actually pay: spreads, stablecoins and the real crypto fees. It is worth knowing which rate you were given before you read your portfolio value.

What is slippage, and when does it cost more than the spread?

Slippage is the gap between the price you expected when you placed an order and the average price you actually paid. It grows with order size and shrinks with market depth. On a large order in a thinly traded coin, slippage can cost more than the spread itself.

The spread is the gap between the best buy and best sell price at one moment. Slippage is what happens when your order is bigger than the quantity available at that best price, and has to fill at the next prices in the order book.

An illustrative order book. The best ask is ₹100 for 5 units, then ₹100.50 for 5 units, then ₹101.20 for 5 units. The best bid is ₹99.80, which makes the spread 0.2%. Buy 5 units and you pay ₹100 each. Buy 15 units and you pay ₹1,508.50 in total, an average of about ₹100.57. That is 0.57% above the price you saw, nearly three times the spread.

Two things make slippage larger: the size of the order relative to the market, and how thinly the coin trades against rupees. A small purchase of Bitcoin barely moves the price. A large purchase of a smaller coin can move it a long way. A limit order caps the price you will accept, at the risk of only part of the order filling.

Why is the instant-buy price different from the order book price?

An instant-buy screen shows one price and fills the whole order at it. That price covers the spread, expected slippage and the platform's margin for filling at once. The order book shows the live best price. The gap between them is a markup you can measure, not a fee.

Many apps offer both routes. The instant route is simpler: one number, one tap. The order book route asks you to read bids and asks and place an order yourself. Comparing the two at the same moment, for the same amount, shows what the convenience costs.

The gap is not fixed. It widens when liquidity is thin at that moment. A premium paid on the way in can come back on the way out, if the sale happens at the same rate. What decides whether a reader can judge it is whether the rate is shown.

BitSave does not quote a live price at all. Every order placed before the day's cut-off is executed at that day's NAV, in the same way an Indian index fund allots units. There is no quote to widen, and the price you get does not depend on how quickly you tap. The NAV is published, which means its movement can be checked against the underlying asset's price over any period you choose.

What does a round trip cost, from buying to selling?

On an exchange, a round trip pays the spread twice, once going in and once coming out, plus any slippage and commission, deposit and withdrawal fees, and 1% TDS on the sale. TDS is tax paid early rather than a cost. Everything else is the real price of the trip.

The test in the first section measures all of it at once. If the asset was bought through a stablecoin, the INR-to-stablecoin rate also applies on both legs, which is one more reason to measure by what comes back rather than by any single line.

On BitSave the round trip has fewer lines. Going in, rupees convert to a stablecoin at the market rate with no conversion charge, and TDS applies on the swap into the product. While you hold, the expense ratio applies only for the days you are invested. Coming out, units are redeemed at the day's NAV, the stablecoin converts back to rupees at the market rate, and TDS applies on the sale. A 1% exit load applies only if you redeem within 30 days. The full line-by-line bill on ₹50,000 is worked through in what you actually pay.

What does it cost to rebalance a crypto basket yourself?

Each rebalance is a sale and a purchase. The spread and any slippage apply on both legs, 1% TDS applies to the sale, and 30% tax applies to any gain realised, with no set-off for losses under Schedule VDA. Rebalance every month and that bill repeats twelve times a year.

The rate on each line does not change from one rebalance to the next. The frequency does. How the tax adds up across a multi-year holding is worked through in crypto tax in India, what every rebalance actually costs.

Basket products that charge for rebalancing usually charge on the value traded at each rebalance, not on the whole holding. Compare that fee per rebalance, rather than multiplying it into an annual figure on the full amount invested.

Where do trading costs go inside an index product?

An index product still trades. It buys on subscriptions, sells on redemptions and swaps tokens at each periodic rebalance. At BitSave those costs, including minor swap fees at the monthly rebalance, sit inside the expense ratio. Nothing is charged to you per trade, and no rebalance is taxable for you.

The expense ratio is all-inclusive. It covers trading, rebalancing, custody and tax statements, and it is 0.95% a year on the Bitcoin product and 1.5% a year on Crypto Index and Crypto & Gold, charged daily on the day's NAV. The cost of a rebalance is real. It is absorbed by the product inside one published rate, and not passed to each investor as a separate line.

That is the practical difference from rebalancing a basket yourself. One rebalance or twelve, the rate you pay is the same, and it is knowable before you invest. Why the rates differ by product is covered in why BitSave's products have different expense ratios.

When is a visible annual fee cheaper than a "free" app?

When you invest regularly and rebalance. A single purchase held untouched is usually cheaper on an exchange. A monthly SIP across a basket pays the spread, slippage and tax on every trade, and that bill grows with activity. An annual fee grows only with time and the value held.

The longer comparison, over 5 to 10 years, is set out in what you actually pay. Whether a small fee is worth paying for a product that is safer and simpler to hold is a separate question, and the answer depends on what the fee buys. That is covered in what BitSave's fee actually covers, and the structural difference between the two routes in a crypto investment platform, and not an exchange.

FAQs

Is slippage the same as the spread?
No. The spread is the gap between the best buy and sell price at one moment. Slippage is the extra cost when an order is too large to fill at the best price and moves into worse prices in the order book. Small orders mostly pay the spread. Large orders can pay both.

Does a limit order avoid slippage?
It caps it. A limit order sets the highest price you will pay or the lowest you will accept, so that the order cannot fill beyond it. The trade-off is that part of the order may not fill at all if the market moves away.

Do I pay a spread when I invest through BitSave?
There is no spread in BitSave. Orders execute at the day's NAV, and the costs of the product's own trading, including rebalancing, sit inside the expense ratio. Rupees convert to a stablecoin at the market rate, with no conversion charge, and the same rate applies when you redeem.

Is TDS a fee?
No. TDS is 1% tax deducted at source on a transfer, and it is set off against the tax you owe when you file. It reduces what reaches your account on the day, which is why the round-trip test adds it back.

Can I run the round-trip test on BitSave?
You can, with one difference. A 1% exit load applies if you redeem within 30 days of investing, so that an immediate round trip includes it. The test is more useful for comparing apps that quote a live price, where the spread and markup sit inside every trade.

How do I compare an annual fee with a per-trade fee?
Put both on the same basis. Estimate how many trades and rebalances you will make in a year, multiply the per-trade cost you measured by that number, and compare the total with the annual fee on the amount you expect to hold.

This article is educational and not investment advice. Crypto products in India are not regulated by SEBI and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss. The figures in the worked examples are illustrative. Fees and tax treatment depend on the product and your circumstances. Check current charges in the BitSave app before investing.