Crypto Exchange Volume Tiers: The Threshold Nobody Reaches and the Rate You Actually Pay

Every crypto exchange publishes a tier table. The top row shows a fee rate almost nobody qualifies for, and the row that applies to you is somewhere below it, frequently not labelled as the default. This paper examines the tier mechanics: what the tier is calculated on, the four tiers that exist in practice, why the top of the table is marketing, and how a referral discount (Binance code BBBKK, https://www.binance.com/register?ref=BBBKK) interacts with tiers in a specific and often misunderstood way. It also explains the tier trap - trading up a tier costs more than it saves - and how to compute your effective rate from statements.