Why fees hit harder than you think
The taker fee looks tiny — 0.06% a side on Bybit, 0.12% round trip. But it's charged on notional, not on the margin you put up. A $100 position at 10x controls $1,000, so that "tiny" round trip costs $1.20, not 12 cents. Crank leverage to 25x and the same $100 margin pays $3.00 per round trip. Leverage doesn't just multiply your risk — it multiplies every fee you pay, on every trade, win or lose.
Then multiply by frequency. Five round trips a day, 22 days a month, is 110 trades — and at $1.20 each that's $132/month, ~$1,580/year of pure fee drag on a $1,000 account. Your strategy now has to make 158% a year just to stand still. This is the silent reason most high-frequency retail accounts bleed out even with a decent win rate: the edge gets eaten before it can compound.
Two levers cut the drag: trade less often, and use maker (limit) orders where the fee is lower or zero on some venues. Check whether your strategy actually survives fees with the bot profit reality check and the real futures profit calculator, and compare venues on the exchange fees page.
FAQ
Are fees on margin or notional? Notional — margin × leverage. That's why high leverage makes fees painful even on small accounts.
What's a typical round-trip fee? Around 0.10–0.12% taker on major futures venues; maker orders are often half that or free. Use your own venue's number for an exact result.
Does this include funding? No — funding is separate and depends on hold time. Use the funding fee calculator for that.