We're changing the way we deduct fees for trading on the Luno Exchange. Previously, fees were always charged in the base asset. However, as we migrate markets over to our upgraded exchange, we’ll begin to charge fees in the base asset when buying, and in the quote asset when selling.
There is no change to maker and taker fee rates, and no changes to exchange fee tiers.
More detail
Previous model:
Regardless of whether you were buying or selling, fees were always charged on the base asset (the first asset of a trading pair, such as BTC in BTC/ZAR). Regardless of whether you were buying BTC with ZAR or selling BTC for ZAR, the fee would be charged in BTC.
New model:
Fees will be charged on the asset you receive from the trade: the base asset when you’re buying, or the quote asset when you’re selling. So, if you’re buying BTC, you’ll pay the fee in BTC, and if you’re selling BTC for ZAR, you’ll pay the fee in ZAR.
You may be familiar with this new model if you’ve traded on other platforms, as it is standard practice at most major exchanges.
API traders
Customers who use the API to trade will likely be most impacted by this change. You’ll need to update any algorithms that calculate position sizing, round-trip profitability, or available balance for the next trade leg.
For example, a buy and sell round trip on BTC/ZAR has always deducted fees in BTC, but now the sell leg deducts in ZAR, meaning the BTC balance after a buy will be different than previously expected.
API response changes
The order fill response will now include fields for both base and counter (quote) fees:
- base_fee / base_fee_delta: fee charged in the base asset
- counter_fee / counter_fee_delta: fee charged in the counter (quote) asset
Only one of the above will be a non-zero amount per trade: the received asset from which the fee was deducted.
Legacy fields (for example, fee_btc, fee_zar on /api/1/listorders) will remain for backwards compatibility.
What about rebates?
For maker trades that earn rebates rather than incurring fees, the same logic applies. Rebates will be credited in the received asset, rather than always in the base asset.
When will this change be made?
We will implement the change on a market-by-market basis as we migrate to Luno’s new exchange during October and November 2026. Once a market pair is migrated, the new fee model will be in place.