Understanding our Fees and Spread
This article explains the spread and fees that users will encounter when using HardBlock Bitcoin Exchange. Our aim is to make things as simple and transparent and possible, if you have any questions please contact us: support@hardblock.com.au
Exchange
When exchanging Australian Dollars (AUD) for Bitcoin or vice-versa, users will encounter two quoted prices for Bitcoin.
- The BUY price is the price that users can buy bitcoin from HardBlock for.
- The SELL price is the price that users can sell bitcoin to HardBlock for.
Please note that these prices are frequently updating, so you may not always see the exact same price in a buy or sell order as what was previously visible in the website header, however these prices all display from the same source.
The difference between the BUY and SELL price is called the spread. A spread is a commonly used mechanism in exchanges, and can be found in exchanges such as the Australian Stock Exchange or a foreign currency changer. HardBlock's revenue is sourced entirely from the spread.
For example:
At the time of writing, the BUY and SELL prices are as follows:
If you wish to buy 0.1 bitcoin, the cost in AUD would be: 0.1 X $57,779 = $5,777.00
If you wish to sell 0.1 bitcoin, you would receive in AUD: 0.1 X $56,184 = $5,618.00
Some exchanges also charge a fee (eg 1%) in addition to the spread when exchanging bitcoin. HardBlock does not charge a fee when buying or selling bitcoin. This means at times that our spread is higher than that of other exchanges although once fees are taken into account our users can generally achieve a better overall exchange price. We believe having only a spread and no exchange fee makes for a simpler and more transparent experience for our customers.
Comparing Exchange Spread and Fee
You may see some exchanges quoting a lower BUY price, however if they also have a fee, you may end up paying more for the same amount of bitcoin. For example:
If another exchange quotes a buy price of $57,498, but also has a fee of 1%, then:
To buy 0.1 bitcoin would cost: $5,749.80 (quoted buy price) + $57.49 (1% fee) = $5,807.29
Hence, the additional fee is adding a significant amount to the bitcoin purchase which is not immediately obvious from the quoted price.
Withdrawal Fees
The only fee that we charge users is for withdrawing bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions require a fee to be paid to miners who secure the network. The fee that HardBlock charges users is designed to recover this cost only, we do not take a profit from this fee.
Our bitcoin withdrawal fee changes with network demand. The live bitcoin withdrawal fees can be seen in the Send BTC page. As of May 2022 onwards users will be able to select from a standard or fast transaction fee. The standard fee will be displayed in the website header from May 2022 onwards.
For a more technical explanation of our bitcoin withdrawal fees, see our article here.
HardBlock also offers users Automated Bitcoin Withdrawals for a fixed fee of 99 Sats (0.00000099 BTC); equivalent to AU$0.06 at time of writing.
For more details on the Automated Bitcoin Withdrawal feature and how to use it for regular purchases (eg dollar cost averaging or DCA), see our article
here.
Comparing Bitcoin Withdrawal Fee
If you wish to self-custody your bitcoin (ie store it in a hardware wallet) you will need to consider the cost of bitcoin withdrawal fees as well as exchange fees. We recommend maximising the amount of bitcoin you can receive for your Australian dollars. The graphic below provides a comparison of the fees charged by some larger Australian exchanges in comparison to HardBlock's Automated Bitcoin Withdrawals.
Automated Bitcoin Withdrawals are scheduled weekly to keep fees as low as possible. However, for reference, even our manual bitcoin withdrawals, which are available anytime, can generally be sent for under 1,000 Sats, and sometimes as low as 200 Sats, still significantly less than our competitors.
If you have any further questions please contact us: support@hardblock.com.au
