A trading fee rebate is the part of your trading fees an exchange pays back to you, and the rate is set by the referral code you used at sign-up. Through Fee Otter, rebates run from 20~70% depending on the exchange: for example, BingX pays 45%, all automatically, Binance pays 40% (20% automatic exchange rebate + 20% Fee Otter extra rebate), and OKX gives a 20% automatic rebate + exclusive rewards (rebate rates data page, 2026-10-24). This glossary explains the 58 terms that come up most around rebates, accounts, trading, futures risk and exchange safety, each in one or two sentences with a link to the full article.
Some terms look alike but mean different things: a referral code and UID binding are separate steps, the automatic rebate and the extra rebate are paid by different parties, and the funding rate is not a trading fee and earns no rebate. The first table sets out the five pairs people mix up most.
Quick reference: five pairs people confuse
| Often confused | Difference |
|---|---|
| Automatic rebate vs extra rebate | The exchange refunds the automatic rebate straight to your exchange account; Fee Otter pays the extra rebate, withdrawn as USDT on BEP20 |
| Referral code vs UID binding | You enter the referral code at sign-up and it sets the referral relationship; UID binding means submitting your account UID to Fee Otter after sign-up so the extra rebate can be matched (not needed on BingX) |
| Trading fee vs funding rate | The trading fee is paid to the exchange on each fill and earns a rebate; the funding rate is paid between longs and shorts and is not a fee |
| Withdrawal fee vs trading fee | The withdrawal fee is a fixed amount per network and is outside the rebate; rebates only count trading fees |
| Fee discount vs rebate | A discount means paying less up front (VIP tier, platform token); a rebate is money returned after you pay. They stack |
Rebate terms
- Trading fee rebate: a share of the trading fees you pay, returned by the exchange; it counts trading fees only, not funding or liquidation charges. See the crypto exchange fee rebate guide.
- Automatic rebate: refunded by the exchange straight to your exchange account through the referral relationship, with no third party, such as Binance's 20%, BingX's 45% or KuCoin's 60%. See automatic vs extra rebate explained.
- Extra rebate: the part Fee Otter pays on top of the exchange's automatic rebate; Bybit has no automatic layer, so its 40% is paid entirely by Fee Otter. See automatic vs extra rebate explained.
- Rebate rate: the percentage of fees returned, written total first with the split in brackets, for example 70% (20% automatic exchange rebate + 50% extra rebate). Rates are in the crypto exchange fee rebate comparison.
- Referral code / invite code: the code you enter at sign-up, which decides whose referral relationship you join, for example Binance's code FEEOTTER or MEXC's mexc-FEEOTTER. Codes are listed in the crypto exchange invite code list.
- Rebate platform / rebate site: a service that obtains a higher referral share and pays the extra rebate to users. How to choose one: crypto rebate site guide; how it compares with signing up directly: rebate site vs direct sign-up.
- Affiliate / IB (agent): a person or firm with a referral contract with an exchange, earning commission on referred users' fees; a rebate site is one kind of affiliate. See exchange affiliates and agents explained.
- Sub-agent: an agent under a higher-level agent who refers users and shares the commission. If you want to become a sub-agent, contact Fee Otter support to apply for sub-agent permissions. See exchange affiliates and agents explained.
- Rebind: moving an existing account to a new referral relationship, which usually means a new account; Binance only lets you add a referral code within 30 days of sign-up and before any deposit or trade, and Bybit lets you add affiliate ID 163627 within 14 days of sign-up. See crypto exchange rebind rules.
- UID binding: submitting your exchange UID to Fee Otter after sign-up so the extra rebate can be matched; BingX's 45% is all refunded automatically, so no binding is needed. See what is an exchange UID.
- Settlement: when the exchange or rebate platform calculates and credits your rebate, anywhere from hourly to the next day. See how fee rebates are settled, and rebate not received if it hasn't arrived.
- Rebate withdrawal: Fee Otter's extra rebate is withdrawn as USDT on BEP20, with a 1 USDT minimum per request and a 0.015 USDT network fee paid by you. See how fee rebates are settled.
- Effective rate: the fee rate you actually pay after the rebate, equal to the base rate × (1 − rebate rate). See perpetual fees after rebate.
- "X% off fees" claims: marketing that turns a rebate rate into a discount figure; check who pays, how, and whether there is a threshold. See referral discount claims explained.
- Platform token discount: paying fees in the exchange's own token, such as BNB, for a discount; it stacks with the rebate. See exchange token discount vs rebate.
Account terms
- UID: the number an exchange assigns to each account, used for rebate binding and support. Where to find it: what is an exchange UID.
- KYC (identity verification): the exchange's check of who you are, required at most exchanges before you can deposit and trade; at Bybit, a driver's licence, a passport and an ID card can each verify one account. See crypto exchange KYC compared.
- KYC identity transfer: moving verification from an old account to a new one; Bybit has an official self-service tool. See KYC identity transfer and rebates.
- Sub-account: an extra account under your main account, used to separate strategies or funds; whether its fees earn a rebate depends on the exchange. See sub-account rebate rules.
- Sign-up requirements: age, email or phone, ID and country requirements for opening an account. See crypto exchange sign-up requirements.
- Restricted regions: countries or regions an exchange doesn't serve; accounts opened there can be disabled. See restricted countries for the big four exchanges.
- VIP tier: a level based on trading volume or assets, with lower fees at higher tiers; Binance pays no referral commission on invitees at VIP3 or above. See crypto exchange VIP fees compared.
- New-user rewards / trial funds: vouchers or trial funds new users get for completing tasks, usually not directly withdrawable. See new-user rewards at the big four exchanges.
- 2FA (two-factor authentication): a second check on top of your password when you log in or withdraw, such as Google Authenticator or a passkey; after a 2FA change most exchanges pause withdrawals for 24 hours. See account frozen or withdrawal stuck.
- Withdrawal whitelist: lets you withdraw only to pre-registered addresses, with an optional waiting period for new ones. See how to transfer crypto between exchanges.
- Withdrawal limit: the most you can withdraw per day or per 24 hours, set by KYC and VIP level. See crypto exchange withdrawal limits.
- Deposit network (chain): the blockchain a transfer uses, such as BEP20, TRC20 or ERC20; both sides must use the same one. See USDT withdrawal fees compared.
- Memo / tag: a reference code some networks use to identify the recipient; if the receiving side shows one, you must enter it. See how to transfer crypto between exchanges.
- P2P trading: users buying and selling crypto for fiat with each other, with the platform holding the crypto in escrow while the buyer pays the seller directly. See the Binance P2P guide.
Trading terms
- Maker / taker: a maker order rests on the order book waiting to fill, a taker order fills against existing orders; maker fees are usually lower. See maker and taker fees explained.
- Trading fee: spot fee = trade value × rate, futures fee = notional value × rate; leverage raises the notional, not the rate. See how crypto trading fees are calculated.
- Post-only (maker only): an order option that only places a resting order, so it never fills as a taker at the higher rate. See maker-only fee savings.
- Spot trading: buying and selling the coin itself, with no leverage or liquidation. See fee rebates for spot investors.
- Perpetual futures: contracts with no expiry that track the spot price through the funding rate; fees are charged on notional value. See the futures exchange comparison for beginners.
- Zero fees: no trading fee on certain pairs or maker orders, often with conditions and end dates; spread and slippage still count. See zero-fee crypto exchanges.
- Slippage: the gap between the price you expected and the price you got, largest on market orders and thin markets. See zero-fee crypto exchanges.
- Copy trading: automatically copying a lead trader's orders; the fees still earn a rebate, and copy-trading fees on BingX get the 45% too. See the copy trading platform comparison.
- Trading bot / grid: a tool that places orders by rule, for example a grid that buys low and sells high inside a range; at Pionex every fee-generating trade, bots and arbitrage included, earns a rebate. See fee rebates for grid and arbitrage traders.
- API trading: placing orders through the exchange's programming interface; MEXC API orders earn no rebate. See the crypto exchange API comparison and fee rebates for quant traders.
- Earn: flexible, fixed-term and staking products where you lend coins to the platform for yield; they don't generate trading fees. See the crypto exchange Earn comparison.
Futures risk terms
- Leverage: opening a larger position with less margin; gains and losses scale with the notional value. See how liquidation price is calculated.
- Margin (isolated / cross): isolated margin limits losses to that position's margin; cross margin uses your whole available balance. See how liquidation price is calculated.
- Maintenance margin: the minimum margin a position needs to stay open; below it, liquidation starts. See how liquidation price is calculated.
- Liquidation price: the mark price at which your margin falls to the maintenance margin. See how liquidation price is calculated.
- Liquidation: the system closing your position by force; the largest single-day events are in the biggest crypto liquidation events.
- Funding rate: a periodic payment between longs and shorts on perpetual futures; it is not a trading fee and earns no rebate. See the real cost of funding rate arbitrage.
- Insurance fund: a pool the exchange uses to absorb liquidation losses so they don't pass to other users. See the insurance fund and ADL comparison.
- Auto-deleveraging (ADL): when the insurance fund falls short, the system reduces profitable positions in ranked order. See the insurance fund and ADL comparison.
- Signal and KOL scams: "sure win" groups or trading mentors that push you to deposit or use high leverage. See the KOL signal scam warning.
Exchange safety terms
- Proof of reserves (PoR): an exchange's published evidence of assets against liabilities, meant to show user funds are fully backed. See the proof of reserves comparison.
- Reserve ratio: the exchange's holdings of a coin ÷ users' balances in that coin; 100% or more means fully backed on paper. See the proof of reserves comparison.
- Merkle tree: the data structure that lets you check your own balance was included in the liabilities. See the proof of reserves comparison.
- Licence: a permit from a national regulator; one exchange can hold different statuses in different countries. See crypto exchange licenses by country.
- MiCA: the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation; an authorised firm can serve clients across EU member states. See MiCA-licensed crypto exchanges.
- Legal entity: which company you actually contract with and where it is registered, which affects who you can claim against if something goes wrong. See crypto exchange legal entities.
- Hacks and compensation: whether and how an exchange repaid users after a theft. See exchange hack history and compensation.
- Exchange collapse: a platform halting withdrawals or going bankrupt, with user assets entering insolvency proceedings. See the crypto collapse history.
- Account freeze: usually a 24-hour hold after a security change or a risk review; for a law-enforcement freeze, contact the authority that ordered it. See account frozen or withdrawal stuck.
Rebates are calculated on trading fees only; funding, withdrawal fees, liquidations and Earn generate none. Whether rebates themselves are safe: is a crypto fee rebate safe.
Worked example: the terms in one month of trading
Suppose you trade futures on BingX for a month with 1,000,000 USDT in notional volume, at a taker rate of 0.05% (an assumed figure; the official fee page is the reference):
- Trading fees: 1,000,000 × 0.05% = 500 USDT.
- Rebate: with code FEEOTTER, BingX automatically refunds 45%, so 500 × 45% = 225 USDT; a typical 20% code returns 100 USDT.
- Effective rate: 0.05% × (1 − 45%) = 0.0275%.
- Not covered: funding payments that month and the withdrawal fee for moving profits to another exchange are not part of the 225 USDT.
On the same 500 USDT of fees, BingX's 45% returns 225 USDT, all refunded automatically by BingX with no UID binding, 2.25 times a typical 20% code. Rate details are in BingX fee rebate, and estimates at other volumes in how much fee rebate you can earn.
Leverage scales the notional value, so a 10,000 USDT margin position at 10x pays fees on 100,000 USDT. The rebate scales with it, and so does the liquidation risk.
Spot and futures rates can differ on the same exchange; Gate, for example, is 70% on futures and 65% on spot. The rebate rates data page is the reference.
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