A crypto exchange affiliate (also called an agent, partner or IB) brings users to an exchange and earns a commission on the trading fees those users pay. According to the official pages (checked 2026-10-22), Binance and BingX both advertise affiliate commission of "up to 50%", a Binance affiliate can pass up to 20% back to invitees, and on OKX the invitee rebate ranges from 0% to 20%, set by the affiliate. How much you get back depends on how much the affiliate shares: through Fee Otter, Binance is 40% (20% automatic exchange rebate + 20% extra rebate), and BingX is 45%, all paid automatically by BingX.
This article covers how one trading fee is split, the official affiliate rules at the big four exchanges, how an affiliate differs from a rebate site or just typing in a code, and how to start if you want to become an affiliate yourself.
Agent, affiliate, IB, KOL code: are they the same thing?
Mostly, yes; the names differ. Exchanges usually run two promotion schemes:
- Referral program: for ordinary users, who invite friends for a one-off reward or a smaller share. BingX's referral program lists Lv1 commission at 10%, rising to Lv2 at 20% once you invite 10 friends who sign up and trade (BingX referral program, published 2022-05-26).
- Affiliate program: you apply and get reviewed; it is meant for people with traffic or a network of traders, and pays an ongoing share based on referred users' trading. Bybit separates the two clearly: the referral program pays a one-time bonus, while the affiliate program pays a "perpetual commission based on the trading volume of their referred traders" (Bybit Affiliate Program FAQ, updated 2026-09-19).
In Chinese-speaking markets "agent" (代理) usually means this affiliate layer; forex traders say IB (introducing broker); a KOL code is simply an affiliate's code posted in a community or a video. Whatever the name, the money comes from the same place: the trading fees you pay.
How one trading fee is split: exchange, affiliate, you
You pay the listed fee when your order fills, and the price is the same whether or not you used a code. The exchange then sets part of that fee aside as a promotion budget and credits it to the affiliate whose code you signed up with. An affiliate can do one of three things with that commission:
- Keep all of it: you entered a code and got nothing back.
- Share it through the exchange's automatic rebate: the affiliate sets a percentage in the back office and the exchange refunds it straight to your account. Binance caps this at 20%; OKX says 0% to 20%.
- Pay an extra rebate on top: the affiliate passes part of its own share back to you. This is what rebate sites do.
Commission is calculated on fees actually paid. Bybit defines the base as "Trading fees − Market maker rebates − Bonuses/Coupons", and BingX says the rebate a referee receives is not counted toward commission. Zero-fee pairs and fees covered by coupons usually generate no commission, so there is no rebate for you either.
Official affiliate programs at the big four (checked 2026-10-22)
| Exchange | Who can apply | Public commission wording | Share for invitees | Payout timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | Any user can apply; creator threshold is 5,000+ followers on a social account, or 3,000+ members in a community | Up to 50% on spot, margin and futures; no time limit on futures | Up to 20% on spot and margin | Converted to USDC hourly, credited to the Spot Account within 6 hours |
| OKX | Apply and wait for review; review time varies | No fixed public rate; depends on the allocation in the affiliate portal | 0% to 20%, set by the affiliate | Normally 1 to 2 hours after the trade; several hours of delay is possible in extreme markets |
| Bybit | Bloggers, influencers, publishers and content creators with a qualifying website, trading software or app, or Bybit customers with an extensive network of traders; reviewed, free to join | A share of "trading fee profit"; no fixed public rate | The page does not mention an invitee rebate | Paid daily by 4 AM UTC |
| BingX | Content creators, community leaders, KOLs and similar, via the official page | Up to 50% of trading-fee commission | Part of the commission can be set as a fee rebate for invitees | The previous day's commission is credited to the Fund Account at 03:00 (UTC+8) the next day |
Sources: Binance affiliate program guide (updated 2026-07-15), Binance Referral Pro FAQ, OKX affiliate FAQ (updated 2026-09-15), Bybit Affiliate Program FAQ (updated 2026-09-19), the BingX affiliate page and BingX partner commission FAQ; checked 2026-10-22. Rules can change at any time; the official pages prevail.
"Up to 50%" is a ceiling that not every affiliate reaches. Neither Binance nor BingX lists the volume needed for each level on its public page, and OKX and Bybit publish no rate at all; you see yours in the affiliate portal after approval.
When the affiliate earns nothing, you get no rebate either
Your rebate is carved out of the affiliate's commission, so if that layer is zero, yours is too. Cases the official pages spell out:
- Binance VIP3 and above: the Referral Pro FAQ says spot and margin commission applies to regular and VIP 1-2 referrals and stops once the referral reaches VIP 3; futures likewise covers only regular and VIP 1-2 users.
- No Bybit trades for 180 days in a row: the affiliate relationship may be terminated, after which the affiliate earns nothing from that user.
- Bybit users in another program: Bybit says users who receive a rebate, discount or incentive under another Bybit program may not contribute to an affiliate's commission.
- Reopening a Binance account under another referral with the same identity: commission from that user is terminated and the user cannot receive rebates.
If you trade large size, check your VIP level before choosing where to sign up. Binance's thresholds are in Binance VIP fee tiers.
Affiliate, rebate site or your own code: what's the difference?
| Route | Who gets the commission | What you get back | Can you see records? | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct sign-up (no code) | The exchange keeps it | 0% | Nothing to see | Not recommended |
| An ordinary KOL or affiliate code | The affiliate | Whatever the affiliate sets, typically the exchange's 20% auto-rebate | Only the exchange's automatic part | People who want a small saving with no extra steps |
| A rebate site such as Fee Otter | The site, which passes most of it back | Automatic rebate + extra rebate; Fee Otter pays 40% to 70% by exchange (OKX: 20% automatic rebate + exclusive rewards) | Fee Otter lists every day's rebate line by line | Anyone paying fees every month |
| Becoming an affiliate | You | A share of the fees your referred users pay, at the rate you're given | The affiliate portal | People with a community or a steady group of traders |
Being an affiliate doesn't let you earn commission on your own trading: Pionex's rules say commission from self-registration or self-invitation may be reclaimed, and Binance terminates commission on accounts reopened under the same identity. Affiliates earn on other people's fees; to cut your own fees, a rebate code is enough.
For why a rebate site can pay more than 20%, see why rebates can exceed 20%; for how rebates work end to end, see the crypto exchange fee rebate guide.
Worked example: 1,000 USDT of fees a month
Say you pay 1,000 USDT of futures fees a month on Binance:
- Direct sign-up: 0 back.
- An ordinary affiliate code sharing 20%: Binance refunds 200 USDT automatically, 2,400 USDT a year.
- Through Fee Otter: 40% (20% automatic exchange rebate + 20% extra rebate), 400 USDT in total. Binance converts 200 USDT to USDC and credits your Spot Account; the other 200 USDT is settled by Fee Otter after the daily 16:00 (UTC+8) update and paid on request as USDT on BEP20, with the 0.015 USDT network fee borne by you, so 199.985 USDT arrives. About 4,800 USDT a year.
Same person, same volume, and a 2,400 USDT gap per year just from the code entered at sign-up. The exchange pays the same commission in every case; what changes is how much the middle layer passes back to you.
On BingX the same 1,000 USDT of fees returns 450 USDT, 45% paid automatically by BingX with no UID binding. Bybit works the other way round: there is no automatic exchange layer, and the whole 40% is paid by Fee Otter.
What is a sub-affiliate?
A sub-affiliate (sub-agent) sits under another affiliate. The upper affiliate passes part of its commission to the sub-affiliate, who in turn shares with its own users. Rules the exchanges publish:
- OKX: a sub-affiliate's rate cannot be higher than its senior affiliate's; users who haven't completed identity verification, or who are in excluded regions, cannot be upgraded to sub-affiliate.
- Bybit: a master affiliate receives 10% of the sub-affiliate's rebate (the "override"); for VIP clients total rebates are capped at 50% of fees, so if the sub-affiliate is set at 50% the master gets nothing.
- Gate: direct referrals, indirect referrals and junior affiliates (Junior Affiliate Ultra) are counted separately (Gate referral FAQ).
The upside of being a sub-affiliate is that you can start bringing in users without negotiating with an exchange or meeting its official threshold first.
Want to become an affiliate? Two routes
Route one: apply to an exchange's affiliate program directly. Submit an application on each exchange's affiliate page and wait for review. Binance states a creator threshold (5,000+ followers, or 3,000+ community members), Bybit looks at your website, software or trader network, and OKX says review time varies. You apply, and reconcile, one exchange at a time.
Route two: ask Fee Otter for sub-affiliate permissions. If you run a community or a trading group, or simply have a circle of friends who trade regularly, contact Fee Otter support and apply to become our sub-affiliate. It helps to have ready:
- Which exchanges you want to promote.
- Your channels (community, channel, trading group, website) and roughly how many people they reach.
- Your referrals' approximate trading volume, and whether it's mostly spot or futures.
Support will explain which exchanges are available, how the commission rate works and how reconciliation is done, based on your situation. As a Fee Otter sub-affiliate you don't have to apply to each exchange yourself.
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