Original research · the True-Cost Index
What a trade really costs.
measured by Skontro · same engine as every public comparison
7,798 measurements across 6 exchanges on dollar books, hourly, October 2026 — what a $1,000 buy really costs.
This monthCheapest measured exchange: Kraken (avg $4.13 per $1,000) · most expensive: Coinbase (avg $12.24).
This weekCheapest measured exchange: Kraken (avg $4.19 per $1,000) · most expensive: Coinbase (avg $12.27).
01 · This week — USD books
The weekly find, in dollars.
Skontro's dollar series · rolling week
Cheapest measured — full basket
Kraken
$4.19 all-in
Most expensive measured — full basket
Coinbase
$12.27 all-in · 2.9× the cheapest
This week’s notes (2)
The widest measured exchange gap this week was on BTC: a $1,000 buy averaged $1.08 all-in at OKX vs $12.01 at Coinbase — 11.1× apart over 63 paired hourly measurements.
Time of day showed up in the measurements this week: the average hidden spread was $1.45 in the 08–12 UTC window vs $0.89 in 04–08 — 63.8% apart for the same $1,000 buy.
Window: 2026-09-27 → 2026-10-04 · 16,740 measurements · estimated exchanges excluded · Method: /true-cost/methodology
01 · This week — USDT books
The weekly find, in USDT.
Skontro's dollar series · USDT books, never blended with USD
Cheapest measured — full basket
MEXC
0.98 USDT all-in
Most expensive measured — full basket
Coinbase
13.42 USDT all-in · 13.7× the cheapest
“Full basket” = every asset measured this week; the week-over-week note below uses only the basket both weeks share.
“0% fee” check: MEXC advertises a near-zero taker fee — measured all-in this week 0.98 USDT, 0.48 USDT hidden spread.
This week’s notes (3)
The widest measured exchange gap this week was on NEAR: a 1,000 USDT buy averaged 0.39 USDT all-in at Bitget vs 14.11 USDT at Coinbase — 35.8× apart over 151 paired hourly measurements.
Time of day showed up in the measurements this week: the average hidden spread was 0.78 USDT in the 20–24 UTC window vs 0.47 USDT in 12–16 — 66.7% apart for the same 1,000 USDT buy.
Week over week, MEXC's measured average all-in cost per 1,000 USDT buy moved from 1.22 USDT to 0.98 USDT (-19.6%, 4000 vs 3811 measurements, same 24-asset basket both weeks).
Window: 2026-09-27 → 2026-10-04 · 28,479 measurements · estimated exchanges excluded · Method: /true-cost/methodology
01 · This week — EUR, the founding service
The weekly find, founding EUR series.
Skontro's founding EUR series · longest continuous record
Cheapest measured — full basket
OKX
€2.34 all-in
Most expensive measured — full basket
Coinbase
€13.13 all-in · 5.6× the cheapest
“Full basket” = every asset measured this week; the week-over-week note below uses only the basket both weeks share.
“0% fee” check: MEXC advertises a near-zero taker fee — measured all-in this week €2.80, €2.30 hidden spread.
This week’s notes (2)
The widest measured exchange gap this week was on BTC: a €1,000 buy averaged €1.32 all-in at Binance vs €12.43 at Coinbase — 9.4× apart over 160 paired hourly measurements.
Week over week, Crypto.com's measured average all-in cost per €1,000 buy moved from €7.44 to €9.22 (+23.9%, 1006 vs 958 measurements, same 25-asset basket both weeks).
Window: 2026-09-27 → 2026-10-04 · 31,879 measurements · estimated exchanges excluded · Method: /true-cost/methodology
Cite: Skontro Weekly Find 2026-W40, 16,740 hourly order-book measurements. skontro.com/research/finds/2026-W40
02 · Monthly index
The dollar edition — month to date · USD books
What a $1,000 buy cost across 6 exchanges, October 2026 (month to date) — fee plus hidden spread.
| Exchange | Measurements | Avg fee | Avg hidden spread | Avg all-in | Cheapest | Dearest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 405 | $1.00 | $0.35 | $1.35 | 20.6% | 0.0% |
| Kraken | 1854 | $4.00 | $0.13 | $4.13 | 48.1% | 0.1% |
| Bitstamp | 1724 | $3.94 | $0.36 | $4.29 | 30.9% | 5.6% |
| Crypto.com | 1776 | $5.00 | $0.82 | $5.82 | 0.1% | 5.7% |
| Coinbase | 1773 | $12.00 | $0.24 | $12.24 | 0.0% | 85.7% |
| Bybitthin order book · not assessed | 162 | $1.00 | $13.01 | $14.01 | — | — |
2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 7,798 measurements · Method: /true-cost/methodology
The “0% fee” check
No exchange in the set advertised a (near-)zero taker fee this period.
Sources & method
Skontro's dollar series. Each exchange is priced separately on every measured asset, then averaged into one number. 7,798 measurements in 2,042 asset-hour rounds (1,938 rankable), observed 2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 94.7% of scheduled asset-hour rounds so far (period still running).
Basket v2: the 25-asset series (from 2026-08-01). Not assessed = a thin order book or an exchange no longer compared; shown for the record, never ranked. 28 implausible rows (fills more than 0.5% below the reference) never entered the index. Ranking is by net amount received; affiliate relationships never move a number. How “hidden spread” is measured: /true-cost/methodology. Corrections → hello@skontro.com, applied and dated visibly.
The dollar edition — month to date · USDT books
What a 1,000 USDT buy cost across 9 exchanges, October 2026 (month to date) — fee plus hidden spread.
| Exchange | Measurements | Avg fee | Avg hidden spread | Avg all-in | Cheapest | Dearest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEXC | 1937 | 0.50 USDT | 0.36 USDT | 0.86 USDT | 78.3% | 0.0% |
| Binance | 1936 | 1.00 USDT | 0.32 USDT | 1.32 USDT | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Bitget | 1934 | 1.00 USDT | 0.33 USDT | 1.33 USDT | 10.8% | 1.8% |
| OKX | 1859 | 1.00 USDT | 0.36 USDT | 1.36 USDT | 3.1% | 0.2% |
| Bybit | 1859 | 1.00 USDT | 0.42 USDT | 1.42 USDT | 2.8% | 0.6% |
| KuCoin | 1959 | 1.00 USDT | 0.42 USDT | 1.42 USDT | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Kraken | 728 | 4.00 USDT | 0.26 USDT | 4.26 USDT | 0.0% | 4.1% |
| Crypto.com | 1717 | 5.00 USDT | 1.10 USDT | 6.10 USDT | 0.0% | 35.9% |
| Coinbase | 1050 | 12.00 USDT | 1.12 USDT | 13.12 USDT | 0.0% | 51.7% |
2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 14,982 measurements · Method: /true-cost/methodology
The “0% fee” check
- MEXC advertises a near-zero taker fee — measured all-in 0.86 USDT per 1,000 USDT, 0.36 USDT hidden spread.
Sources & method
Skontro's dollar series. Each exchange is priced separately on every measured asset, then averaged into one number. 14,982 measurements in 1,964 asset-hour rounds (1,961 rankable), observed 2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 91.1% of scheduled asset-hour rounds so far (period still running).
Basket v2: the 25-asset series (from 2026-08-01). 48 implausible rows (fills more than 0.5% below the reference) never entered the index. Ranking is by net amount received; affiliate relationships never move a number. How “hidden spread” is measured: /true-cost/methodology. Corrections → hello@skontro.com, applied and dated visibly.
The founding EUR series — continuing service, longest continuous record
What a €1,000 buy cost across 12 exchanges, October 2026 (month to date) — fee plus hidden spread.
| Exchange | Measurements | Avg fee | Avg hidden spread | Avg all-in | Cheapest | Dearest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KuCoin | 324 | €1.00 | €1.01 | €2.01 | 3.4% | 0.0% |
| OKX | 2024 | €0.96 | €1.36 | €2.32 | 53.9% | 0.8% |
| MEXC | 810 | €0.50 | €2.32 | €2.82 | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Bitget | 729 | €1.00 | €2.01 | €3.01 | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Bitvavo | 1952 | €2.50 | €0.71 | €3.21 | 3.6% | 0.0% |
| Binance | 1700 | €1.00 | €2.28 | €3.28 | 35.2% | 2.0% |
| Kraken | 2023 | €4.00 | €0.71 | €4.71 | 0.0% | 7.7% |
| Bitstamp | 1818 | €3.97 | €3.94 | €7.90 | 0.0% | 17.1% |
| Crypto.com | 485 | €5.00 | €4.45 | €9.45 | 0.0% | 1.7% |
| Coinbase | 1457 | €12.00 | €1.15 | €13.15 | 0.0% | 53.5% |
| Bitpanda * | 2034 | €0.00 | €14.49 | €14.49 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Bybitthin order book · not assessed | 854 | €0.99 | €30.26 | €31.25 | — | — |
2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 16,232 measurements · Method: /true-cost/methodology
The “0% fee” check
- MEXC advertises a near-zero taker fee — measured all-in €2.82 per €1,000, €2.32 hidden spread.
Sources & method
Skontro's founding EUR series — the longest continuous record, running on as a continuing service beside the dollar edition. Each exchange is priced separately on every measured asset, then averaged into one number. 16,232 measurements in 2,050 asset-hour rounds (2,034 rankable), observed 2026-10-01 → 2026-10-04 · 95.1% of scheduled asset-hour rounds so far (period still running).
Basket v2: the 25-asset series (from 2026-08-01). * = estimated, not measured: a list-price exchange with no public order book; excluded from the cheapest/dearest rounds. Not assessed = a thin order book or an exchange no longer compared; shown for the record, never ranked. 8 implausible rows (fills more than 0.5% below the reference) never entered the index. 177 thin-book rows (spread above 20% of the order size) are left out of the averages since September. Ranking is by net amount received; affiliate relationships never move a number. How “hidden spread” is measured: /true-cost/methodology. Corrections → hello@skontro.com, applied and dated visibly.
Cite: Skontro True-Cost Index, October 2026 — measured 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-04, 7,798 hourly order-book measurements, $1,000 buy. skontro.com/research/2026/10
03 · Get the monthly index
Next edition, in your inbox.
What crypto really cost this week, measured — one mail, every Thursday.
Each new edition by mail — the table, the “0% fee” check, nothing else. Same opt-in as The Thursday Measure.
Want the whole desk? A free account is one click away.
Share thisPost on X ↗
Skontro — built in Vienna by OptiRisk Consulting e.U. Not investment advice; Skontro is not a CASP under MiCAR.