How the arithmetic works
grid step = (upper − lower) ÷ number of grids
profit per grid = (step ÷ lower) × capital per grid − fees on both sides
A range of $55,000 to $70,000 split into 20 grids gives a step of $750 — about 1.36% at the bottom of the range. With $5,000 allocated, each grid holds $250, so a completed round trip earns roughly $3.41 gross.
Then the fees. At 0.05% per side, each round trip costs $0.25 — 7% of the gross. That ratio is the number this page is built around.
More grids is not more profit
The instinct is to add grids: narrower steps, more fills, more profit. The arithmetic disagrees.
Halving the step halves the profit per fill, while the fee per fill stays exactly the same. Fees are charged per transaction, not per percentage moved.
| Grids in the range | Step | Gross per grid | Fee share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2.7% | larger | small |
| 20 | 1.36% | half of that | double |
| 50 | 0.55% | a fifth | five times |
| 100 | 0.27% | a tenth | ten times |
Past a certain density the exchange earns more from the strategy than the trader does. The calculator warns when fees exceed 30% of a completed grid and stops the configuration outright when they exceed the profit entirely — which is easier to reach than it sounds on a standard fee tier.
This is also why grid bots are advertised alongside fee discounts and VIP tiers: the fee tier, not the range, is usually what decides whether the strategy is viable.
The risk the profit figures do not show
Every number here assumes completed round trips — bought at one level, sold at the next.
What actually accumulates when the price falls through the range is a position. Each buy fills, no sell follows, and by the lower bound the entire allocated capital is held as an asset bought on the way down. If the price then exits below the range and does not come back, the grid has not lost a few fills; it is holding a full position at an average price above the market.
That is the real risk profile: many small gains while price oscillates, one large open loss when it trends. The same shape as averaging down, running automatically.
The defence is the same as it always is — the capital allocated to the grid is the amount you are prepared to hold at the bottom of the range, not a working balance.