Crypto Referral vs Affiliate Programs: The Real Differences

Open the menu of almost any crypto exchange and you will find a “Refer friends” page with your personal link. Look a little further and the same exchange runs an “Affiliate” or “Partner” program that promises up to 50% commission. Both pay you for bringing in new users, both use links and codes, and the people you invite often see the same sign-up page. So what is the actual difference, and does it matter which one you use?

It matters a lot, mostly in three places: how much you earn per dollar of fees, what you are allowed to do to promote your link, and what the exchange expects from you in return. This guide lays out the published terms of Binance, OKX, Bitget and Kraken, with a word on Bybit, and ends with a simple way to decide.

The short answer

A referral programA program open to every verified user. You share a personal link with friends and receive small commissions or one-time rewards when they sign up and trade. is built for ordinary users inviting friends. It is open to everyone, pays a modest rate or one-time vouchers, and asks very little of you.

An affiliate programA partnership track for creators, communities and businesses that bring in many users. It pays a higher share of trading fees but has entry requirements, performance reviews and strict promotion rules. is built for people who promote an exchange to an audience: YouTubers, Telegram and Discord admins, newsletter writers, comparison sites. It pays a much larger share of fees, often comes with a manager and custom tools, and in exchange comes with application forms, monthly or quarterly performance checks and a long list of banned promotion methods.

Referral programs: open to everyone, modest rewards

The referral side varies more between exchanges than the affiliate side does, because each exchange picks its own reward style.

Binance gives every user two modes. In Referral Pro, the base commission is 20% of an invitee’s spot and margin fees and 10% of futures fees, and the referrer can choose to pass part of it back to the invitee as a kickback. Futures commission at that 10% base lasts one year per invitee. In Referral Lite, ongoing commission is replaced by one-time trading fee rebate vouchers for both sides once the invitee hits purchase and trading milestones. Commission is settled in USDC to the Spot account, typically within six hours of the trades.

Bybit runs a task-based referral program. Its help center describes rewards paid to both the referrer and the new user when the invitee deposits and trades within set windows, for example a first deposit of at least $100 within seven days and trading milestones inside the first month. The rewards go through a short risk review and must be claimed. Our Bybit referral code review has the current task list.

Bitget pays both sides BGB airdrops when the invitee reaches trading volume milestones within 15 days, as covered in the Bitget referral code review. Kraken’s affiliate page, by contrast, focuses entirely on its partner program; it does not describe a refer-a-friend reward on that page.

The common thread: anyone with a verified account can take part, and the rewards scale with what a handful of friends do. For most people that means tens of dollars a year, not hundreds.

Affiliate programs: higher commission, real requirements

Here is what the four exchanges publish about their affiliate tracks.

Binance lists three entry routes for creators: individuals with 5,000 or more followers on one or more platforms, crypto communities with 3,000 or more members led by a recognized figure, and businesses such as platforms with a 10,000-user base or 10,000 daily visits. Any user who reaches Tier 1 in the spot or futures commission evaluation also becomes an affiliate automatically. Affiliates create Referral Pro links with different rebate percentages per channel, and their invitees can receive up to a 20% rebate on spot and margin fees.

OKX asks for a short application and then expects you to refer 10 valid new users. The default commission is 30%, levels are reassessed monthly, and new affiliates get a five-month protection period during which their rate cannot fall below the first month’s level. OKX also offers affiliates an “invite existing OKX users” feature, which requires the invitee to be logged in to a verified main account.

Bitget has the lowest entry bar of the four: 100 followers, a 100-member community or activity in at least five crypto communities. Its three levels require 5, 10 or 15 referred users with 100,000, 10 million or 20 million USDT of monthly volume, paying 40%, 45% and 50%. Fall below level 1 and the rebate drops to 0%.

Kraken runs an internal program for creators that pays “up to 50%” of revenue from qualifying volume to top partners, with revenue share or cost-per-acquisition deals negotiated individually. Media networks and traditional affiliate sites are sent to a separate Impact.com track. Internal partners are paid in USDC to their Kraken account, monthly by default; Impact partners can be paid in fiat. Our Kraken referral code page covers the user side.

Tracking: how each program knows who you referred

Both programs attach the new user to you at account creation, through the code in your link or typed into the sign-up form. That link is permanent on most exchanges. Binance states that once a referral relationship is established it cannot be changed or removed, which protects the referrer but also means a user who forgot your code is usually lost. The few exceptions are covered in our guide on how to use a referral code.

Affiliate programs add validation on top. Bitget counts a referred user as valid only after KYC, a first deposit of at least 100 USDT and 100 USDT of trading in the first month, and it rejects referrals that share the affiliate’s IP address or device. Binance runs a risk assessment on new traders and excludes flagged accounts from tier calculations. In other words, affiliate numbers are audited; referral numbers are mostly not, because the amounts are small.

KYC: required on both sides

You should expect to verify your identity whichever program you join. OKX says plainly that affiliates, co-inviters and sub-affiliates must complete identity verification to receive commissions. On Binance, identity verification is a condition for the new user’s welcome rewards, and Bitget’s valid-referral definition includes KYC. A referral link shared with someone who never verifies earns you nothing on any of these exchanges.

Affiliates also hand over more information during the application: social links, target countries, prior experience and sometimes a public account ID, as Kraken’s form asks. That is the price of the higher rate.

Compliance: the promotion rules that void commissions

This is where many new affiliates lose money. Exchanges protect their brand and their licenses aggressively, and the penalty for breaking the rules is usually losing commissions already earned.

Binance’s referral introduction says it voids commissions for referrals that come through prohibited advertising, including links placed as ads on search engines like Google or Bing and redirects from imitation websites; invalidated referrals show up on the referral dashboard. OKX forbids bidding on keywords such as “OKX” or “OKX Exchange,” impersonating OKX in emails or texts, and posting links anywhere people in prohibited jurisdictions could see them. Bitget prohibits false or disparaging statements, posing as an official representative and marketing to users in prohibited countries, and it can revoke commissions and claw back paid rebates for violations.

There is also the outside world. Advertising rules for crypto differ by country, and many regulators expect paid promotion to be disclosed. Referral and affiliate income may also be taxable; our guide to tax on crypto referral rewards covers the basics.

Payouts: when and in what asset

Referral commissions are usually small and frequent. Binance settles Referral Pro commission in USDC to the Spot account, typically within six hours. Bitget’s affiliate policy says commissions are “typically paid weekly or monthly,” depending on program terms. Kraken pays internal partners in USDC monthly or on demand once a payout threshold is reached. OKX pays DEX-related commissions on-chain to an external wallet you link.

Remember that affiliate commission is not guaranteed income. Bitget and OKX recalculate your level monthly, Binance quarterly. A slow month can drop you back down, and on Bitget missing every level means 0%.

Which one should you choose?

If you are just starting, use the referral program first. It costs nothing, shows you how much your audience actually trades and, on Binance, can turn into affiliate status on its own once you hit Tier 1. Our guide to multi-level referral systems explains how those tiers and sub-affiliate levels are structured.

What it means for the people you invite

For the new user, the difference shows up in one place: the kickback. A standard Binance referrer can share up to 10% of spot fees; an affiliate can give up to 20%. Generous affiliates pass part of their larger commission back to their audience, which is the main reason people look for affiliate codes rather than random friend links. The referral kickback guide shows how to turn those percentages into real numbers, and the exchange referral hub compares what each program offers new users. If you plan to share your own link, check the OKX referral code review as well, since OKX lets affiliates invite users who already have an account.