Augea Research · Retail Cost Index · Edition 2026-Q2 · Methodology v1

A 3.5× retail cost gap inside developed markets.

On a $500/month card-rail BTC dollar-cost-average, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive developed market tracked here compounds to roughly $210 per year. Every number is reproducible from public country-level snapshots, and the 3.5× framing must clear a fixed decision rule before it is used.

By Per Englund · Founder & Research Lead, Augea ResearchPublished 2026-04-21Next edition July 2026CC-BY-4.0

Headline finding · card rail · BTC · matched $100 baseline

3.50×

🇨🇦 Canada median card-rail cost is 3.50× 🇵🇱 Poland across this 10-country benchmark slice — with non-overlapping observed ranges.

🇨🇦 Canada median: 4.90%
🇵🇱 Poland median: 1.40%

The lens

The Augea Retail Cost Index measures what it actually costs a retail buyer to acquire crypto across markets, and only makes claims that clear a fixed decision rule.

This edition covers 10 developed markets and two payment rails (card and bank) on a matched $100 BTC baseline. Why it matters: rail choice and country routinely move retail buy costs more than exchange choice does.

Primary artifact · card rail

Card rail · BTC · matched $100 baseline · n=10

Canadian retail buyers pay 3.5× more than Polish buyers on card-rail BTC.

Country medians across 10 developed markets. Bars show the observed low–high range; dots mark country medians. Observed ranges between Canada and Poland do not overlap.

Compared pairOutlier · Canada 4.90%Low anchor · Poland 1.40%

Canada 4.90% vs Poland 1.40% = 3.50×

Absolute gap: +3.50% percentage points

OutlierLow anchorPeer cluster

Canada

4.90%Outlier

9-country cluster · 1.40%–2.30% medians

Singapore

2.30%

Australia

2.10%

United States

2.10%

Germany

1.50%

France

1.50%

United Kingdom

1.50%

Netherlands

1.50%

Sweden

1.50%

Poland

1.40%Low anchor

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

Median retail buy cost, % of $100 matched baseline

SVG PNG dark PNG whitealt · Card-rail cost ranges per country on a shared axis with median markers and non-overlap guide.

Three findings

Finding 1 · Country gap

Canada is 3.50× Poland on matched card medians.

Finding 2 · Rail gap

Card routes run 9.67× bank routes across country medians in this slice.

Finding 3 · Coverage

All 10 countries measured on both rails with 18 matched assets each.

Headline ratio

3.50×

Canada vs Poland · card rail

Coverage

10

countries · card routes 10 · bank routes 10

Comparable assets

18

per country for matched card and bank slices

What this means

The gap isn't about which exchange you pick. It's about where you buy from.

Retail users in different countries can face materially different estimated buy costs even when the base scenario is held constant. Country and payment rail often matter more than people expect.

The card-versus-bank gap is structurally consistent across countries in this slice. Card rails cluster around 2.03%; bank rails cluster around 0.21%. That holds even in countries where overall cost is well below the median.

This is a benchmark, not a price quote. It supports evidence-backed comparisons and route choices while staying out of causal claims about why the spread exists.

Claim boundary

Canada median card cost is 3.50× Poland in this benchmark slice (BTC, $100), with ranges 4.1%+ vs up to 1.6%.

Truth source: Live country summaries (card + bank) · Latest captured /cheapest snapshot (Q2 2026) · adapter cheapest-country-summary-truth/v1

What this proves

Cross-country retail buy-cost dispersion is visible in the live country summaries.
Card and bank rails show materially different country-level medians.
The selected headline ratio is reproducible from published country medians.

What this does not prove

Do not claim causality from this benchmark alone.
Do not claim the ratio holds for all amounts, assets, or future snapshots.
Do not present these values as guaranteed execution prices.

Country benchmark tables

Card rail	Median	Range
Canada	4.90%	4.10%–5.60%
Singapore	2.30%	1.90%–2.60%
Australia	2.10%	1.60%–2.80%
United States	2.10%	1.70%–2.60%
Germany	1.50%	1.20%–1.70%

Bank rail	Median	Range
Canada	0.30%	0.30%–0.80%
Australia	0.20%	0.20%–0.20%
Germany	0.20%	0.10%–0.20%
France	0.20%	0.10%–0.20%
United Kingdom	0.20%	0.20%–0.20%

Secondary views · Chart pack

Supporting views of the same benchmark slice for republish and download. The primary analytical artifact is the dispersion chart above; maps appear here as geographic context and share assets rather than as the lead read.

Rail split · country detail

Selected pair comparison

On-site summary of the claim-gated pair at $100 baseline. Use the press page for the hero stat card export.

Canada

4.90% · $4.90 on $100

Poland

1.40% · $1.40 on $100

Country ladder (card rail)

Country medians for card routes in this benchmark slice.

Canada
4.90%
Singapore
2.30%
Australia
2.10%
United States
2.10%
Germany
1.50%
France
1.50%
United Kingdom
1.50%
Netherlands
1.50%
Sweden
1.50%
Poland
1.40%

Solid bar = median · light range = observed low–high · 18 comparable assets per country

SVG PNG dark PNG whitealt · Country medians ranked by card-rail cost with observed range.

Country ladder (bank rail)

Country medians for bank routes in this benchmark slice.

Canada
0.30%
Australia
0.20%
Germany
0.20%
France
0.20%
United Kingdom
0.20%
Netherlands
0.20%
Poland
0.20%
Sweden
0.20%
Singapore
0.20%
United States
0.20%

Solid bar = median · light range = observed low–high · 18 comparable assets per country

SVG PNG dark PNG whitealt · Country medians ranked by bank-rail cost with observed range.

Card vs bank delta by country

Percentage-point difference between card and bank median costs within each country.

Canada
+4.60%
Singapore
+2.10%
Australia
+1.90%
United States
+1.90%
Germany
+1.30%
France
+1.30%
United Kingdom
+1.30%
Netherlands
+1.30%
Sweden
+1.30%
Poland
+1.20%

SVG PNG dark PNG whitealt · Percentage-point card-vs-bank median delta per country.

Outlier chart showing Canada as a clear cost outlier versus a tight 9-country cluster on card-rail medians.

Geographic context

World map context + exact country medians

Secondary · share asset

The map is intentionally context-first (where countries sit). Use the value panel for exact medians and ranges.

Measured markets are interactive. Drag the map to pan; use zoom buttons or a scroll wheel. Tap a highlighted country for details.

Country boundaries: Natural Earth 110m (public domain). Map is geographic context; exact medians are in the table.

Select a highlighted country on the map to see card-rail median, range, and comparable asset count from this benchmark slice.

SVG PNG dark PNG whitealt · Full world map of card-rail median cost across tracked countries.

Need white-background exports for editorial republish? Use the press page.