> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.speculate.trade/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fees

> Every fee on Speculate

Speculate's fees are simple, and mostly gasless. Before the numbers, understand the two kinds of money on the platform:

<Note>
  **The trading is simulated, the stakes are real.** Your **\$10,000 practice balance** inside a competition isn't real money — it's simulated capital on Speculate's own engine, priced off live Kraken market data. What's real is the **USDC** that moves through entry fees, prize pools, duels, and HyperStake. Your maximum real loss in any paid competition is capped at your entry fee.
</Note>

This page is the full rulebook: every fee, every rate, no surprises.

## Competition platform fee

Speculate takes an **8% platform fee** on the prize pool of every paid competition. The other **92%** is distributed to winners.

$$
\text{Prize Pool} = \text{Entry Fee} \times \text{Max Participants} \times 0.92
$$

<Tip>
  The fee comes out of the pool once, up front — it's already baked into the prize pool you see before you join. There's no separate charge at entry or at payout.
</Tip>

**Worked example** — a 20-player competition at \$50 entry:

|                                |           |
| ------------------------------ | --------- |
| Entry fee                      | \$50      |
| Max participants               | 20        |
| Gross pool (entry × players)   | \$1,000   |
| Platform fee (8%)              | \$80      |
| Distributable prize pool (92%) | **\$920** |

That \$920 is what gets split across paid ranks. See [Payouts](/competitions/payouts) for how the curve divides it up.

## Duels

**Duels charge no platform fee at all.**

Both players post the same entry fee into escrow. The winner takes the entire pot — **2× the entry fee** — with nothing skimmed off the top.

|                         |             |
| ----------------------- | ----------- |
| Entry fee (each player) | \$E         |
| Total escrow            | 2 × \$E     |
| Platform fee            | **\$0**     |
| Winner receives         | **2 × \$E** |

Losing is capped at your entry — there's no way to lose more than you put in. See [Duels](/duels/overview) for the full 1v1 format.

## Simulated trading fees

Every trade you place *inside a competition* pays a small simulated fee, deducted from your **practice balance only** — never from your real USDC.

| Order type | Fee   |
| ---------- | ----- |
| Maker      | 0.02% |
| Taker      | 0.04% |

These fees exist to make the simulated engine behave like a real market — they affect your ROI and your rank, but they never touch your wallet. Read more on how orders execute in [The Trading Engine](/trading/overview).

## Withdrawal fees

Withdrawals are **gasless**. You sign an authorization, and Speculate's relayer submits the transaction and pays the network gas on your behalf.

<Steps>
  <Step title="You sign">
    No ETH required — just a signature.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Relayer pays gas">
    Speculate's relayer covers the on-chain gas cost.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Deducted in USDC">
    The gas cost, plus a small operational buffer, is deducted from your USDC. If you're withdrawing cross-chain, a bridge fee is added too.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  Withdrawing on the same chain you're funded on is the cheapest path. Bridging to a different chain adds a bridge fee on top of the gas buffer. See [Withdrawals](/wallet/withdrawals) for the full flow.
</Info>

## HyperStake fees

HyperStake is different from competitions — it executes **real trades on Hyperliquid**, not the simulated engine. Fees follow Hyperliquid's own fee schedule.

| Action        | Fee      |
| ------------- | -------- |
| Entry (taker) | \~0.045% |
| Exit (taker)  | \~0.045% |

<Note>
  Speculate's platform builder fee on HyperStake is **currently off** — you pay Hyperliquid's standard taker fee and nothing extra on top. See [HyperStake](/hyperstake/overview) for how bets work.
</Note>

## \$SPEC token benefits

<Tip>
  \*\*Paying with $SPEC pays you back.** Post-launch, buying into competitions with $SPEC gets you **up to a 5% discount** on your entry fee. And if you hold $SPEC, you share in the platform's revenue: **1.5% of the 8% competition fee** is distributed to $SPEC holders every month.
</Tip>

Full tokenomics — supply, allocations, and utility — live on [\$SPEC Tokenomics](/rewards/spec-token).

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Payouts" icon="trophy" href="/competitions/payouts">
    How the 92% prize pool splits across ranks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Duels" icon="swords" href="/duels/overview">
    1v1, winner-take-all, zero platform fee.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Withdrawals" icon="wallet" href="/wallet/withdrawals">
    Gasless withdrawals, fee breakdown, and bridging.
  </Card>

  <Card title="$SPEC Tokenomics" icon="coins" href="/rewards/spec-token">
    Supply, allocations, and holder utility.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>