to all for this complicated but interesting and useful discussion from many key viewpoints, imo
Just to share, there are a few interesting articles about popular crypto exchanges and a little bit on their fee structures/solutions:
http://www.coindesk.com/bucks-to-bitcoin-top-exchange-platform-fees-compared/While anyone who is/will be interested in Bitshares could be willing to pay a little more due to the philosophy/current brand(what we have and are aiming for that noone else provides yet: no counter-party risk, privacy, stability(but still dependent on liquidity), blockchain speed & DAC platform, economically fair/ideal ecosystem & more), it's very important to keep our existing users preferences in mind, of course, as well. And bc the crypto exchange business is competitive- Gemini has low volume currently, though they seem to be aiming for more institutional traders
http://www.coindesk.com/winklevoss-bitcoin-exchange-gemini-win-traders/ , maybe there are some ideas in them to consider(possibly another way to support the merchants as well)?:
http://theblogchain.com/bitcoin-exchange-reviews/bitfinex-review/"Another benefit of Bitfinex is a very nice fee structure. They run a partial maker-taker system, where the market maker ends up paying between .1% and 0(!)%, and the taker pays .2%. I believe they’re able to offer these fees because of the unique free market leverage system they utilize. By moving their risk to the lenders, they lower fees. They also pick up a percentage of the interest (15%), which again helps to keep their advertised fees down while keeping profits up."
Also, I believe OKcoin uses withdrawal fees though not sure how well that's going as their CTO left to work for Bitfinex.
And Bitstamp seems to have lowered their fees to .25%.
http://www.coindesk.com/high-frequency-trading-on-the-coinbase-exchange/"Market-making also delivers real social utility. The deeper the liquidity provided by market makers, the more difficult it is to cause erratic spikes in price. Market makers also reduce the bid-ask spread, a concept most people aren’t even aware of: a testament to successful practitioners on Wall Street.
Even at current trading volumes, a lot of value can be captured by smoothing out market fluctuations. If bitcoin were to grow, the need for liquidity would also increase. I’ve learned that infrastructure isn’t just servers and github repos. It’s also financial middlemen(bots) who make markets work. The mere fact that I could dabble in this, as nobody, illustrates the wonderful openness of bitcoin."
(Bitshares currently seems to be working on this now)