What We Learned Since March 2025: Reintroducing Batcher Fees
Over the past few weeks, our founder has emphasized the importance of . Particularly the need to prioritize initiatives that drive on-chain activity and long-term ecosystem growth. While these initiatives do require funding, we don’t believe the Treasury should be the sole source. That belief is part of why we are reintroducing batcher fees this Wednesday.
Before anything else, we want to address this topic with full transparency. In March 2025, we made the decision to drop Minswap batcher fees to 0. In hindsight, that decision did not achieve its intended objective.
This article explains:
- Why we removed batcher fees
- What actually happened to trading activity afterward
- Why we are now reintroducing batcher fees
- How this ties into strengthening the MIN ecosystem
Why We Dropped Batcher Fees
When we removed batcher fees in March 2025, the rationale was simple: encourage trading activity on Cardano and improve DEX competitiveness.
At the time, there was a strong belief that trading costs were a barrier to volume growth. Lower trading costs were expected to attract more users, increase aggregator routing to Minswap, and drive higher activity from smaller traders. In practice, this functioned as a growth experiment that prioritized volume expansion over protocol revenue.
What the Data Shows
Nearly a year later, we can evaluate the results objectively. Cardano DEX volumes have declined since batcher fees were removed, recently reaching all-time lows. While broader market conditions are a contributing factor, the key takeaway is that removing batcher fees did not drive sustainable trading growth.
Order count analysis across smaller size buckets (< $100 and $100–$1K) shows no increase in activity. Small-size orders remained flat and at times declined alongside overall volume.
We also assessed aggregator routing behavior to determine whether zero batcher fees would increase order flow to Minswap. We saw no sustained change in either total orders routed via aggregators or overall routing share. Volumes fluctuated without a structural upward shift. Isolated spikes appeared event-driven (e.g., activity) rather than fee-driven. Overall, batcher fee removal did not materially improve aggregator market share.
Why Reintroduce Batcher Fees Now
Batcher fees exist to finance order execution infrastructure. These costs never disappeared, they were simply absorbed. Reinstating fees restores sustainability to the protocol’s execution layer.
Moreover, reintroducing Batcher Fees gives us an avenue to grow the protocol without relying on the Cardano Treasury or Catalyst. Minswap wants to lead by example showing its possible to finance growth by relying on usage of the protocol.
Strengthening the MIN Ecosystem
There is also a forward-looking component. Over the past year, focus has increased on strengthening MIN. with protocol fees. This is in addition to the ADA that is given to MIN Stakers who currently receive a . With batcher fees reintroduced, a portion of these fees can be allocated toward MIN buybacks to strengthen momentum.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this move is about aligning protocol economics with long-term sustainability. The data is clear that fee removal did not drive the growth we intended. Reintroducing batcher fees restores execution viability, strengthens MIN, and allows Minswap to fund its own expansion through real usage. We believe this is the responsible path forward.
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