Fees

Verus v1: zero protocol fee

Verus does not charge a fee on your trades in v1. We are using this period to build a dataset of the savings best execution actually generates for different traders, on different markets, at different sizes. That data informs the model.

What still has a cost (handled by Verus, paid to the venue)

Even with no Verus fee, perpetual trading has real costs. Verus models all of them when it routes so you pay the lowest total:

• Venue taker / maker fees. Each venue sets its own. Verus uses your actual fee tier per venue, not a sticker rate.
• Slippage. The difference between mid-price and your actual fill, on both entry and exit, benchmarked across venues so the comparison is fair. See Best execution for the benchmarking detail.
• Funding. Only if you supply an expected hold time. Verus then adds the expected funding cost on each venue to the comparison.
• Venue withdrawal cost. Modeled per venue in the routing decision.

The point of best execution is to optimize this whole picture, not just the sticker fee. A venue with a slightly higher taker fee but much better depth can still be the cheapest place to land your trade.

Gas

Verus uses the Circle Paymaster (with a Pimlico bundler) so you pay gas in USDC rather than ETH. A small USDC amount (typically a few cents) is deducted per on-chain action to cover the actual gas cost; unused USDC is refunded. You only need Arbitrum USDC. See Deposits & withdrawals for the mechanism.

Realized savings

After a trade closes, the Savings tab shows your realized savings: what you actually saved versus the alternative venues, based on the trade that really happened, not just the pre-trade simulation. That is the number we will use to shape any future fee model.