Imposing taxes on capital gains from crypto for traders ostensibly would not affect whether or not an exchange charges commissions.
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To clarify the reasoning behind me saying capital gains could affect exchange commissions. Its based on the idea that anything which makes an exchange more expensive to run, could upset their business model and force them to implement commissions on trades, higher fees and other policies to maintain profit margins.
In a broad sense, when property taxes are raised the cost is often passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent. Higher tobacco and alcohol excise taxes are passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive beer and cigarettes. Gasoline taxes are passed on to drivers in the form of more expensive gasoline.
These types of tax programs come at a cost, that money has to come from somewhere and it makes sense that the cost will be passed on to crypto traders in the form of higher commissions.
If you disagree with my reasoning, I would be interested to hear why.
Ah, I understand a little better now, however an exchange that isn't charging commissions... what aspect of their business plan is being affected that would necessitate charging commissions now? In the other examples you listed, the tax is imposed on the business owner who passes them on to consumers. (Raising gas taxes means the station has to pay more based on what they sell, which means they pass the cost along to maintain their margins.) In this case however, the tax is imposed on the consumers directly and bypasses the exchange. It's the same as if in your example of consumers who buy gas, their income taxes were increased. That's a tax directly on the consumer that doesn't involve the station owner, so there's no extra cost to pass along.
