# What a session costs before you are right about anything

Updated: 24 September 2026 — Venue facts read 18 September 2026 — Books polled six times an hour until the log closed on 22 September 2026 — Session Log staff

An intraday position is opened and closed on the same screen, often twenty times before the session ends, and almost nothing that decides the outcome appears on a venue's front page. Two bills are paid on every round trip: the taker fee, published in a schedule, and the fill, which depends on what was resting in the book at that second. This desk reads the first and measures the second. 10 order-book venues are scored on one formula, fixed on 22 September 2026 and published before any venue here was read against it. Who gets ranked is a separate decision, made before the scores and stated once: the register holds the venues whose entry tier takes five basis points or less to cross and does not charge for that price in delay, because a strategy that crosses the spread forty times a session can carry neither a dearer rate nor a slower queue. Placement on this site is paid for.

- **Venues on the register:** 7 of 10 — the entry tier has to take five basis points or less to cross, and not buy that price with delay; the other three are read and scored, and hold no place in the standings
- **One round trip on $10,000:** $5.00 to $10.00 — taker fees at the entry tier, both sides, across the seven the register holds
- **Deepest book at the mid:** $29.3 million — resting within ten basis points on edgeX, the deepest of the 10 books read here
- **Tightest quote we read:** 0.01 bps — the median top of book on Aster, narrowest of the seven on the register
- **Widest published BTC multiple:** 200x — two venues print it, each only up to the notional shown beside it in the ladder below

## Standings at the close of the session

This table is the register: the seven venues whose entry tier, without a delay charged for it, takes five basis points or less to cross, each scored out of 25. Aevo is outside it at 0.080%; Lighter and Paradex are outside it although they publish nothing, because each pays for that zero in latency rather than money, and a free trade that arrives late is not free to a trader working the same day. The three are read and scored like the rest, and set out on the [venue list](/crypto-day-trading-platform-list) with the reason each is off; none of them holds a place in the standings. Cost of a round trip and measured liquidity carry thirty of the hundred points each; custody and security record fifteen each, coverage and access five. Nothing below is ordered by hand.

| # | Venue | Score of 25 | Points earned, each criterion out of ten | Round trip on $10,000 | Taker | $100,000 moves the price | Readings behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Extended | 19.3 | cost 8.5 · liquidity 5.8 · custody 7.0 · security 10.0 · coverage 9.6 · access 8.0 | $5.00 | 0.025% | 0.06 bps | 53 |
| 2 | Aster | 18.6 | cost 7.0 · liquidity 6.3 · custody 7.0 · security 10.0 · coverage 10.0 · access 8.0 | $8.00 | 0.040% | 0.37 bps | 128 |
| 3 | edgeX | 18.4 | cost 6.5 · liquidity 6.9 · custody 10.0 · security 7.0 · coverage 8.0 · access 8.0 | $9.00 | 0.045% | 0.02 bps | 127 |
| 4 | Hyperliquid | 16.6 | cost 6.5 · liquidity 5.7 · custody 7.0 · security 7.0 · coverage 9.6 · access 8.0 | $9.00 | 0.045% | 0.06 bps | 128 |
| 5 | ApeX Omni | 16.4 | cost 6.0 · liquidity 4.4 · custody 10.0 · security 7.0 · coverage 7.7 · access 10.0 | $10.00 | 0.050% | 0.46 bps | 127 |
| 6 | EVEDEX | 16.3 | cost 6.5 · liquidity 6.5 · custody 5.0 · security 7.0 · coverage 7.8 · access 8.0 | $9.00 | 0.045% | 2.06 bps | 126 |
| 7 | dYdX | 14.3 | cost 6.0 · liquidity 3.9 · custody 7.0 · security 7.0 · coverage 5.2 · access 8.0 | $10.00 | 0.050% | 6.93 bps | 128 |

Weights: Cost of a round trip 30 · Measured liquidity 30 · Custody and settlement 15 · Security record 15 · Market coverage 5 · Access 5. One formula for the whole site, fixed on 22 September 2026: https://coinlen.com/how-we-rate

CoinMarketCap published the open-interest and 24-hour volume figures on 22 September 2026, each of them the venue's own; market counts were read in the venue's documentation on 18 September 2026.

## Cost of a session, venue by venue

Each line is one venue's published taker fee, charged twice on every round trip and added up as the session goes on. Only the register is drawn. The steepest pair sits on the five basis points the register stops at, $200.00 by the twentieth round trip; the shallowest is Extended, at $100.00 for the same twenty. Every total in the fan is printed in the table underneath, so the picture carries no figure the table does not, and what the three venues outside the register charge is set out on the [venue list](/crypto-day-trading-platform-list). Fees read from each venue's own schedule on 18 September 2026.
Twenty round trips is an ordinary session for an intraday trader and an unusual month for everybody else, so the fourth column is the one to read. Inside the register one round trip runs from $5.00 to $10.00, which over twenty is $100.00 against $200.00, before a fill has gone wrong. Five basis points a crossing is the line the register stops at, and every schedule the desk read that misses it is costed on the [venue list](/crypto-day-trading-platform-list).

| Venue | Maker / taker | One round trip on $10,000 | Twenty round trips | Perp markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extended | 0% maker / 0.025% taker | $5.00 | $100.00 | 325 |
| Aster | 0% maker / 0.040% taker | $8.00 | $160.00 | 578 |
| edgeX | 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker | $9.00 | $180.00 | 172 |
| Hyperliquid | 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker | $9.00 | $180.00 | 324 |
| ApeX Omni | 0.020% maker / 0.050% taker | $10.00 | $200.00 | 125 |
| EVEDEX | 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker | $9.00 | $180.00 | 52 |
| dYdX | 0.010% maker / 0.050% taker | $10.00 | $200.00 | 78 |

A round trip here means one $10,000 position opened and closed again, with the taker fee paid on both sides at the entry tier. Rebates for makers, volume tiers and cashback paid after the fact are excluded.

## What trades there, and when the book is open

| Venue | Asset classes | Perp markets | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extended | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices, pre-IPO | 325 | not stated in the documentation we read |
| Aster | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices, pre-IPO | 578 | not stated in the documentation we read |
| edgeX | crypto, stocks, commodities, FX | 172 | not stated in the documentation we read |
| Hyperliquid | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices | 324 | not stated in the documentation we read |
| ApeX Omni | crypto, stocks, commodities, indices | 125 | not stated in the documentation we read |
| EVEDEX | crypto, commodities, FX, stocks, indices, pre-IPO | 52 | All markets 24/7, shares and commodities included |
| dYdX | crypto, commodities | 78 | not stated in the documentation we read |

Asset classes, market counts and trading hours as each venue's own documentation reported them on 18 September 2026.

## Getting on the book in the first place

| Venue | How a session opens | Papers asked before a first order |
|---|---|---|
| Extended | Wallet signature, EVM or Starknet | Terms reserve the right to deny access after a KYT risk assessment |
| Aster | Wallet signature or email | Terms allow limited identity verification procedures |
| edgeX | Wallet or MPC login | None in the user terms we read |
| Hyperliquid | Wallet signature or email code | None in the onboarding documentation |
| ApeX Omni | Wallet, or email with a Privy wallet | Docs state no KYC and no forms |
| EVEDEX | Wallet signature | None to trade; on-chain AML screening on deposits |
| dYdX | Wallet signature, or Google, Apple or email | None to trade |

Read taken from each venue's terms and help pages, read 18 September 2026.

## How far the leverage ladders go

A leverage cap is two numbers, not one: the multiple, and the notional it holds to. The widest multiple on this desk runs out at four hundred USDT of notional on one venue and at $50,000 on another, while a venue with less than a quarter of that headline figure holds its own cap to $150 million.

| Venue | Top BTC multiple | How far that multiple reaches |
|---|---|---|
| EVEDEX | 200x | up to $50,000 of notional, the only notional step its terms publish |
| Aster | 200x | any position to 400 USDT; 100x carries it to $800,000 |
| edgeX | 100x | any position to $1 million; 75x to $3 million |
| ApeX Omni | 100x | to $100,000 before the margin rate rises |
| Extended | 50x | any position to $4 million; 25x to $8 million |
| dYdX | 50x | two per cent of the position, whatever its size |
| Hyperliquid | 40x | to $150 million before the cap halves |

Caps read from each venue's own margin schedule or public endpoint on 18 September 2026. A published multiple is the most a venue allows at the smallest size; it steps down as the position grows, and the last column says where each stops. What closes a position is the distance to liquidation.

## How much was resting at the mid

This is the only column on the site we produce ourselves. Each BTC perpetual book was read every 10 minutes through the session named below, and the figure is the median of every successful snapshot: the dollars resting within ten basis points of the mid, both sides added together.

| Venue | Median depth within 10 bps | Median spread |
|---|---|---|
| edgeX | $29.3 million | 0.04 bps |
| EVEDEX | $18.5 million | 4.12 bps |
| Aster | $14.9 million | 0.01 bps |
| Extended | $7.8 million | 0.12 bps |
| Hyperliquid | $7.0 million | 0.12 bps |
| ApeX Omni | $1.7 million | 0.83 bps |
| dYdX | $866,108 | 1.69 bps |

Median of 127 snapshots per venue, polled six times an hour until the log closed on 22 September 2026.

## The two bills a day trader pays

The first bill is printed. A taker fee is charged when an order crosses the spread, and an
intraday trader crosses it twice per position. At 0.050%, the dearest rate the
register admits, that is $10.00 on a position of $10,000, and twenty of those is
$200.00. At 0.025% it is
$5.00 and $100.00.

The second bill is printed nowhere. A market order eats the book from the top down, and what it
pays above the mid depends on what was resting there when it arrived. On the deepest book here,
a $1 million order would have paid 0.23 bps; on the thinnest book that filled
that order at all, 10.90 bps —
$1,067
of difference, about the size of the round-trip fee at either venue.

## What the scores do not tell you

A total out of 25 compresses six things into one number, and the number is
only as useful as the question behind it. A trader taking twenty small positions a day is paying
mostly fees; a trader moving size is paying mostly impact. The ordering pages here exist for that
reason.

Two things the scores cannot see. Conduct, because custody and security come from documents and
audit records rather than from watching a venue under stress. And the trader: a venue that suits
a scalper at $2,000 a position is a poor choice at $200,000.

## Every page in this log

**Standings and lists**

- [The best platform for day trading crypto](https://coinlen.com/best-platform-for-day-trading-crypto) — the register ranked on the site formula
- [Every venue on the desk](https://coinlen.com/crypto-day-trading-platform-list) — on the register and off it, with the facts behind each
- [Ordered by the book we measured](https://coinlen.com/best-crypto-exchange-for-day-trading) — re-sorted by resting depth, not by the total
- [Ordered by what a round trip costs](https://coinlen.com/best-crypto-exchange-for-scalping) — for sessions the fee limits, not the fill
- [Ordered by the leverage ladder](https://coinlen.com/best-crypto-day-trading-platform) — each multiple and the notional it holds to
- [Alternatives to a centralised exchange](https://coinlen.com/bybit-alternatives-for-day-traders) — for a trader leaving an account-based venue
- [Fee schedules side by side](https://coinlen.com/day-trading-fees-compared) — maker, taker and twenty round trips

**Head to head**

- [Lighter against Paradex](https://coinlen.com/lighter-vs-paradex) — two schedules of nothing, neither one on the register
- [Aster against Aevo](https://coinlen.com/aster-and-aevo-compared) — the longest market list against a short one

**Method and background**

- [What slippage is, in plain words](https://coinlen.com/slippage-in-crypto-trading) — the second bill, shown in our own readings
- [How we rate](https://coinlen.com/how-we-rate) — six criteria, their weights, the arithmetic
- [About this desk](https://coinlen.com/about) — who writes here and what was measured
- [Privacy](https://coinlen.com/privacy-policy) — what this site stores, which is very little
- [Terms](https://coinlen.com/terms) — the terms this site is read under

This site is paid placement. Corrections: editorial@coinlen.com.

Session Log staff, 24 September 2026

This site is paid placement.