Maker

A maker is a trader whose order adds liquidity to an exchange's order book rather than removing it, typically by placing a limit order that does not execute immediately. Exchanges reward this behavior with lower fees, and maker fees on major crypto venues commonly range from 0 to about 0.2 percent, occasionally flipping to rebates for high-volume firms.

Why it matters

Makers are the supply side of market liquidity. Every resting bid and offer that a taker executes against was placed by a maker, so the depth of a market, and therefore how cheaply large orders can trade, depends on how many makers compete and how tight they quote. The maker-taker fee model exists to subsidize exactly that competition.

For ordinary traders, the distinction has a practical payoff: patient limit orders usually pay lower fees than instant market orders, a meaningful saving for anyone accumulating a position over time.

In the gold vs bitcoin debate

Bitcoin's spot markets publish their order books and fee tiers, so anyone can act as a maker with a small account. Gold's liquidity is concentrated in over-the-counter dealing between bullion banks, where liquidity provision is a dealer franchise, and retail participants face quoted spreads on coins and bars that are often several percent wide.