A study by researchers at Stanford University and Columbia Business School, published on September 18, 2026, shows that retail traders systematically pay higher fees than their institutional counterparts in the crypto perpetual futures markets. The research, focused on the Hyperliquid platform, reveals that individual traders tend to place market orders rather than limit orders, consistently positioning themselves on the taker side of the order book where fees are higher. This behavior stems from a preference for immediacy over cost efficiency in a market that never closes. The maker-taker fee structure creates a structural transfer of value from less experienced traders to more sophisticated market participants and market makers. The study does not disclose specific fee percentages or named tokens, but confirms a cost disadvantage that scales with retail traders’ activity level.
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