Bitvavo is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in the Netherlands and was founded in 2017. Bitvavo has won multiple industry awards for its trading platform, including “Best Crypto Broker” from CashCow in 2021. The exchange offers more than 175+ cryptocurrencies to buy, sell, and trade, and is available in almost 30 European countries.

The Amsterdam-based service also offers advanced features including staking, allowing users to earn up to 7.5% in passive income on their tokens.

This review analyses the features of Bitvavo to help you decide whether it is the right crypto exchange for you.

3 Steps to Sign Up to Bitvavo

1. Register and verify your ID

To get started with Bitvavo, you’ll need to create an account. Click “Sign Up” from the homepage, enter your personal details, and click “Create Account”. Head over to your email inbox and verify your account using the link sent to you by Bitvavo. 

You will need to verify your ID now, in accordance with anti-money laundering regulations—have a photo of your driving license or passport ready, and have some proof of address to hand. 

2. Make a deposit

To make a deposit, click “Deposit Euro” from the Bitvavo dashboard. As the name of this button suggests, Bitvavo only accepts deposits denominated in EUR.

The most universal deposit option is a bank transfer (this also incurs no fees), but other third-party payment processors can be used as well.

3. Purchase your crypto 

Search for the asset you wish to purchase from the dashboard and click on your desired cryptocurrency. On the following screen, enter the amount you wish to purchase and double-check the fees shown before clicking “Buy”.

To make a purchase, input the amount you wish to buy, and the price you wish to If you are in need of more advanced trading tools such as more detailed charts, scroll down slightly and click the “Advanced” button to enable these features.

Bitvavo Compared

Bitvavo’s clean, minimal trading platform is a godsend for new crypto investors who might otherwise be intimidated by the barrage of charts, numbers, and indicators that characterise most crypto interfaces. This makes it an excellent option for European investors looking for stress-free exposure to the crypto market.

Bitvavo is also well-regulated and has a strong reputation, and so is a great alternative to other flagship exchanges like Coinbase, where users have to pay quite the premium for this perceived security.

History of Bitvavo

Bitvavo was founded in 2017 in Amsterdam. The platform’s stated aim is to successfully bridge the worlds of crypto and “normal” money, a grey area that has historically generated significant friction for cryptocurrency novices.

In 2020, Bitvavo became registered by the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). The founders later set up a user payment protection system, the Bitvavo Payments Foundation, to protect users in case of insolvency, demonstrating their efforts to shift the “wild west” reputation of the crypto industry.

Since its inception, Bitvavo has expanded into more and more countries and has added new crypto tokens regularly. Most recently, built-in staking functionality has been added, allowing users to earn passive income on their cryptocurrency,

Bitvavo Regulation and Security

As previously mentioned, Bitvavo is registered by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands. Bitvavo is fully compliant with European anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) laws, and as such is fully regulated and compliant in all countries in which it operates.

This means that new users will have to verify their identity when signing up. This does, of course, reduce the amount of privacy afforded to investors, but the general consensus in the industry is that this helps to remove criminality from the system, thus improving the overall security and reputation of the cryptosphere.

Is Bitvavo Safe?

Bitvavo allows 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) to help users keep their accounts safe. 2FA is encouraged by Bitvavo (and by CoinJournal) and adds a second layer of security on top of your username and password combination. 

Bitvavo also uses industry standard security protocols such as anti-phishing email signatures, SSL encryption across their whole site, cold wallets with insurance for coin storage, customer data protection, and a dedicated support system to ensure users enjoy a good level of service.

Bitvavo Reputation

Bitvavo has a great reputation, with a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5 on review aggregator Trustpilot. Additionally, users can usually take comfort in knowing that a platform is regulated by a major central bank, as Bitvavo is. 

Bitvavo is also yet to face a major hack, theft, or other exploit, which is worth bearing in mind when choosing between exchanges. The platform is also active across social media, which tends to be a sign of a good company, and they publish their annual earnings publicly, which aids transparency.

Is Bitvavo for Me?

You will have different requirements from a crypto exchange depending on your level of experience and investment style. In this section, we’ll take a look at how Bitvavo performs for different users.

I’m a Beginner

Bitvavo is an excellent option for beginners. The interface is extremely easy to understand and makes buying crypto as easy as using an online banking service. This is one of Bitvavo’s principal draws in our books. 

Bitvavo’s regulatory status, security measures, and reputation also make it a great choice for beginners, although it would be useful for newbies if there were some educational resources available directly from the exchange.

I’m Advanced

If you’re an advanced user, you’ll also be at home on Bitvavo. The Advanced interface is sleek and modern and offers various indicators, a depth chart, an order book view, and a trade log alongside a detailed price chart. This, in combination with Bitvavo’s competitive fee schedule, makes it a perfectly good choice for veteran traders.

Advanced features like staking pools also make for a great bonus for those who want to maximise returns on their crypto investments.

Bitvavo Wallets: Features, Supported Cryptocurrencies, and Security

Bitvavo operates a custodial wallet service. This means that coins that you purchase are held on the exchange, and can then be transferred into a private wallet if you so desire. 

While custodial wallets always carry more risk than private wallets due to the possibility of an exchange hack, Bitvavo’s reserves are stored offline in cold wallets, reducing the unavoidable counterparty risk introduce by custodial storage.

As with any trading platform, we advise users to only leave funds on the exchange when actively trading. For long term storage, cold wallets such as those offered by Trezor, KeepKey, and Ledger are the safest options.  

2-factor authentication (2FA) can also be enabled on Bitvavo, allowing users to add a secondary layer of protection on top of their username/password combination. This is highly recommended if you plan on leaving your coins in your Bitvavo wallet.

Almost 200 coins can be bought and held on Bitvavo, including “blue chip” coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as more obscure altcoins. 

Fees and Costs of Bitvavo

Bitvavo offers extremely competitive fees on trades, especially compared to other beginner-oriented exchanges like Coinbase, which can run on the more expensive side. 

Fees decrease as your trading volume increases, and users with extremely high volume will pay as little as 0.03% on trades. However, for beginners, a fee of 0.25% is levied on standard trades. You can always see the fees and spread you will pay before you complete trades, which is a nice touch to increase transparency,

Bank transfer deposits are totally free, with no flat fee and no percentage charge, whereas even the most expensive methods like Giropay and Sofort incur just 1.75% and 2.25% respectively. 

Furthermore, no fees are charged whatsoever on cash withdrawals. If you withdraw cryptocurrency to an external wallet, a small transfer fee is levied, and this varies between coins. You can check the fees for each coin here.

Payment Methods & Limits

Payment methods available on Bitvavo include bank transfers via SEPA, as well as third party systems such as Bancontact, EPS Überweisung, Giropay, iDeal, MyBank, and Sofort. 

Limits vary between payment methods; however, SEPA Instant Transfers allow up to €15,000 and ordinary SEPA transfers are apparently unlimited. Bancontact and iDeal allow up to €10,000; MyBank allows up to €5,000; and GiroPay, Sofort, and EPS have limits of €1,000. 

Transaction Limitations

The lower limit for trades (the minimum lot size) is just €5 on Bitvavo, allowing new users to get started with small trades.

Bitvavo: Performance, Features and Functionality

Bitvavo’s uses range from the basic to the advanced, and there are features on offer that are aimed at both beginners and advanced traders. In this section, we’ll examine the performance and features of Bitvavo.

Trading Platform

Bitvavo offers a browser-based exchange and a mobile format, with apps available for both iOS and Android users. This means that there is a purpose-built trading platform for you regardless of the device you use to access Bitvavo.

Spot trading can be done in Euros, and there is also a range of crypto-to-crypto trading pairs available. Advanced mode offers a more detailed trading interface with multiple chart variations and indicators as well as the ability to set limit orders, whereas the standard version is more focused on quick, simple cash purchases.

Staking can also be done directly from the Bitvavo dashboard, making it easier than ever for users to earn passive income on the coins in their Bitvavo wallet.

Educational Resources

Bitvavo doesn’t offer any dedicated educational material, but the intuitive, simple interface makes trading on the platform rather self-explanatory. It would be nice for Bitvavo to offer some guides and other resources for investors to expand their crypto knowledge, though.

Trading Options

Bitvavo is a spot exchange only, so users aren’t able to trade derivatives like CFDs, options, or futures. This probably won’t affect beginner and intermediate users, but advanced traders may miss this kind of functionality. 

The Advanced interface allows both limit and market orders to be made, and accommodates serious traders, whereas the normal interface is better suited to “HODLers” who plan to buy and hold for the long run.

As mentioned earlier, a large number of tokens are available to purchase, from the biggest coins like BTC and ETH all the way through to some of the most niche altcoins.

Account Types

There are three types of account on Bitvavo: Starter, Intermediate, and Pro.

If you sign up but do not verify your ID, you have access to a Starter account. You can not make a deposit or place any trades until you verify your ID. This account level is suitable for those who want to take a look around the platform before depositing any money.

Once your account is verified in accordance with AML and KYC checks, you will be able to deposit and withdraw money with an Intermediate account. You can also place trades with this account type. 

Deposit/withdrawal limits are set at €25,000/day, €50,000/month, and €90,000/year for fiat. For crypto deposits and withdrawals, you may transact an equivalent value to €15,000/day, €30,000/month and €45,000/year.

If you need to transact more than this, you can apply for a Pro account by providing POSOF (Proof of Source of Funds). Pro accounts may be granted unlimited deposit/withdrawals, depending on the proof of funds demonstrated. 

The Bitvavo Account Guarantee

Bitvavo already makes great strides to provide security of assets to its customers. However, in order to increase the level of security which their users have, they created the Bitvavo Account Guarantee.

What this essentially means is that if someone were to access your account without your permission and steal your funds, Bitvavo would make users eligible for a reimbursement up to 100,000 EUR.

Final Thoughts on Bitvavo

Bitvavo is a great option for new investors based in Europe. It is fully compliant, affordable, offers a strong range of coins, and is very easy to use. It is obviously not an option for American, African, and Asian users at the moment, but for Europeans, it would be one of our top picks for new investors. 

As novices learn more about crypto, they will still find Bitvavo perfectly usable, thanks to its Advanced trading interface and staking options, making it a great exchange to call home.

Bitvavo have joined many other crypto brands in opening up an affiliate program which offers healthy rewards for their affiliate brands. Bitvavo affiliates receive an uncapped, permanent commission starting at 15% on all trading fees paid by users you refer.

For American, African, and Asian users, there are plenty of other options available—check out our full range of cryptocurrency exchange reviews for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions