Bitfinex fees, explained for lenders
Bitfinex’s fee page is written for traders; the number that actually matters to a margin funding lender is buried in a footnote: 15% of every interest payment you earn goes to Bitfinex before it reaches your wallet — 18% if you place hidden offers. This page covers that fee in detail, plus the deposit and withdrawal costs around it, and the arithmetic of stacking a lending bot’s percentage cut on top.
All figures verified against the official Bitfinex fee schedule on July 10, 2026. Bitfinex can change fees at any time — treat bitfinex.com/fees as the authoritative source. Not financial advice.
The 15% margin funding fee (18% for hidden offers)
When a borrower pays interest on funding you provided, Bitfinex keeps 15.0% of that interest as its fee and credits the remaining 85% to your funding wallet. The fee applies to interest only — never to your principal. Place a hidden offer (one other participants can’t see in the funding book) and the fee rises to 18.0%: visibility costs nothing, privacy costs three points.
Concrete math: lend $10,000 at an average 10% annual rate and borrowers pay $1,000 of interest over the year. Bitfinex keeps $150, you receive $850 — a net 8.5% return. Remember this when comparing quoted rates anywhere: funding-book rates and FRR are gross rates; your wallet receives net. Any tool quoting you returns without saying whether they are gross or net of the 15% is hiding a sixth of the number.
In your account this shows up per payment: the Bitfinex ledger records the interest and the fee deduction on the day each loan pays. That per-payment ledger is also the correct basis for tax reporting — Stratum’s reports and backtests are all stated net of the 15% fee for exactly this reason.
Bot fees stack on Bitfinex’s 15% — mind the combined cut
Bitfinex’s 15% is unavoidable. What you control is the second layer: a lending bot that charges a percentage of earnings takes its cut from the same interest stream. A bot charging 5% of gains on top of Bitfinex’s 15% leaves you ~80.75 cents of every gross interest dollar (0.85 × 0.95), and that second cut scales with your book forever. A flat-fee bot costs the same at $25k as at $250k. Which model is cheaper depends on your book size — the crossover math is on our comparison pages, including the sizes where percentage models or cheaper flat rivals beat us.
Getting money in and out
Crypto & stablecoin deposits
Free for standard deposits. You pay only the sending network’s transaction fee, which never goes to Bitfinex.
Crypto withdrawals
Free for standard withdrawals of digital assets; internal transfers between Bitfinex users are free as well.
Bank wire (USD/EUR)
Deposits 0.1% with a $60/€60 minimum; withdrawals 0.1% with a $100/€100 minimum. Express withdrawal (within 24h) costs 1% with a $125 minimum.
Trading fees
Maker/taker fees are tiered by 30-day volume and don’t apply to funding providers at all — lending is not trading. If you also trade, check the current tier table on the official fee page.
Always compare net numbers
The single most common mistake in Bitfinex lending math is mixing gross and net: quoting the funding book’s 10% while your wallet compounds at 8.5%. Everything Stratum shows — calculator projections, backtest APRs, earnings reports, tax exports — is net of the 15% fee, reconciled against the actual ledger entries Bitfinex writes. When you evaluate any lending tool (ours included), the first question to ask of every advertised number is: gross or net?
Frequently asked questions
What fee does Bitfinex charge on margin funding (lending)?
Bitfinex keeps 15.0% of the interest generated by your active funding contracts — 18.0% if the offer was placed hidden. The fee applies only to earned interest, never to your principal. Verified against the official fee schedule on July 10, 2026.
Is the 15% charged on my capital or my earnings?
Earnings only. If your $10,000 earns $1,000 of interest, Bitfinex takes $150 of the interest; your $10,000 principal is untouched. Your net receipt is $850 — an 8.5% net return on a 10% gross rate.
Are the rates shown in the Bitfinex funding book gross or net?
Gross. The funding book, FRR, and candle data all quote rates before the 15% fee. Multiply by 0.85 for what actually reaches your wallet (0.82 for hidden offers). Stratum’s calculator, backtests, and reports are already net.
Why do hidden offers cost 18% instead of 15%?
Hidden funding offers don’t appear in the public book, and Bitfinex prices that privacy at three extra points of your interest. Most lenders and bots use visible offers; hiding an offer also gives up the queue-position advantages visibility provides.
Can I avoid or reduce the Bitfinex funding fee?
No — it is the platform’s revenue on the funding market and applies to everyone, bot or not. What you can control is the layer on top: whether your automation charges a second percentage of the same earnings, and whether your strategy earns a gross rate high enough to be worth 85% of.
What does it cost to move money onto Bitfinex?
Crypto and stablecoin deposits are free (you pay the network fee only). Bank wires cost 0.1% with a $60 minimum for deposits and $100 minimum for withdrawals; express withdrawals cost 1% (min $125). Figures verified July 10, 2026 — check the official page before a large transfer.
See your net number, not the brochure number
The calculator projects strategy returns net of the 15% fee on three years of real funding data, and the earnings reports reconcile every fee deduction against the Bitfinex ledger. Gross rates are for marketing; you get paid net.