Spread
The gap between the price at which you can buy something and the price at which you can sell it at the same moment. In an app that advertises no fees, it's often how you pay.
A market has two prices at any moment: the bid, what buyers offer, and the ask, what sellers want. FINRA, the US brokerage industry’s regulator, describes the bid-ask spread as “the difference between the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price at which a seller will sell.”
An app that sells to you sets its own prices: above the market’s when you buy, below it when you sell. That gap is the app’s spread, and it’s already in the price you’re shown, so it never appears as a fee. Ontario’s securities regulator warns that trading fees can be built into prices, and advises asking a platform how it sets the prices it quotes.
You pay it on the way in and again on the way out. In early 2026, researchers at the Frankfurt School bought and immediately sold crypto 432 times through the apps of nine regulated providers. On average, a round trip cost from 0.53% to 6.45%, depending on the app, and spreads played a significant role in the total.
Digital dollars have a spread too. In a test by Italy’s central bank in March 2026, selling 200 USDC for local currency cost up to 2.84%, fees included.
How to see it
Ask for the buy price and the sell price at the same moment, for the same amount. The gap between them is what a round trip costs before fees. If an app won’t show both, ask, or go elsewhere.
The guide on what buying bitcoin really costs puts the spread next to the other costs. See also slippage and payment for order flow.