- Since 1 July 2026 an exchange may serve customers in Italy only with a MiCA license from CONSOB or with a license from another EU country that covers Italy. Both kinds are in the ESMA register.
- On 7 October 2026 the register listed 9 providers licensed or notified in Italy and 194 from other EU countries that may serve Italy.
- Fees differ a lot, from about 0.8% to 1.5% or more for a simple purchase, and the spread is often on top.
- Binance, Bitget, Nexo and MEXC were not in the EU register of licensed providers on 7 October 2026.
- Crypto at an exchange is not covered by the deposit guarantee. MiCA does require exchanges to keep customers’ crypto separate from their own assets.
This page compares crypto exchanges that serve residents of Italy and explains how to check one. We do not rank or recommend any exchange, and there are no affiliate links. Fees change often: the figures below are what each exchange published on its own pages, checked on 7 October 2026. Whether a provider is licensed comes from the ESMA register and CONSOB. The rules behind it are on regulation.
Who may serve you
Under MiCA, nobody may provide crypto-asset services in the EU without a license (Article 63) or a notification by an already licensed firm such as a bank (Article 60). A provider licensed in one EU country may serve the whole EU after notifying the other countries (passporting). In Italy the transitional period for providers registered with the OAM ended on 30 June 2026, so an OAM registration alone is no longer enough. CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia point to the ESMA register as the place to check.
These are exchanges widely used by consumers in Italy, with their license as shown in the ESMA register of 7 October 2026. All of them list Italy among the countries they may serve:
| Exchange | Legal entity | Licensed by | Authorized or notified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bit2Me | Bitcoinforme S.L. | CNMV (Spain) | 31 October 2025 |
| Bitpanda | Bitpanda GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 9 April 2025 |
| Bitstamp | Bitstamp Europe S.A. | CSSF (Luxembourg) | 15 May 2025 |
| Bitvavo | Bitvavo B.V. | AFM (Netherlands) | 26 June 2025 |
| Bybit EU | Bybit EU GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 28 May 2025 |
| Coinbase | Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. | CSSF (Luxembourg) | 20 June 2025 |
| Conio | Conio S.r.l. | CONSOB (Italy) | 16 June 2026 |
| Crypto.com | Foris DAX MT Limited | MFSA (Malta) | 27 January 2025 |
| Cryptosmart | Cryptosmart S.p.A. | CONSOB (Italy) | 24 June 2026 |
| eToro | eToro (Europe) Ltd | CySEC (Cyprus) | 16 January 2025 |
| Gemini | Gemini Intergalactic EU Ltd | MFSA (Malta) | 21 August 2025 |
| Kraken | Payward Europe Solutions Limited | Central Bank of Ireland | 25 June 2025 |
| KuCoin EU | KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 27 November 2025 |
| OKX | OKX Europe Limited | MFSA (Malta) | 27 January 2025 |
| Revolut | Revolut Digital Assets (Europe) Ltd | CySEC (Cyprus) | 20 October 2025 |
| Trade Republic | Trade Republic Bank GmbH (a bank, notification) | BaFin (Germany) | 28 April 2025 |
| Young Platform | Young Platform S.p.A. | CONSOB (Italy) | 30 June 2026 |
The date is the date of the license or notification in the home country, as given in the ESMA register. The other providers licensed by CONSOB are CheckSig, Hercle, Hodlie, Olliv Italia (CoinFlip) and Riv-Digital, and Banca Sella has notified its crypto services as a bank. Many of the 194 foreign providers that may serve Italy are not exchanges for consumers but, for example, payment or custody firms.
Not in the register
Binance, Bitget, Nexo and MEXC were not in the ESMA register of licensed providers on 7 October 2026. MEXC is on ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities, after the Dutch regulator found on 16 September 2025 that it served the Netherlands without the required license. Since the Italian transition ended, CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia say that unlicensed providers must stop, apart from closing their existing customer relationships.
Fees compared
MiCA requires exchanges to publish their pricing, costs and fees “in a prominent place on their website” (Article 66(4)). The table shows what each exchange’s own pages said on 7 October 2026, for a normal customer at the lowest fee level. “Simple buy” is the buy button in the app; “advanced” is the order book (maker / taker). A spread is the difference between the buying and selling price and is an extra cost on top of the fee. “Not found” means we could not find or read the figure on the exchange’s own pages.
| Exchange | Simple buy | Advanced (maker / taker) | Euro deposit by bank transfer | Euro withdrawal | Coins to your own wallet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bit2Me | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Bitpanda | 0.99% for bitcoin, 1.49% for other coins, included in the price | 0.25% (Fusion) | Not found | Free | Yes, 0.00000598 BTC |
| Bitstamp | Spread 1.8% plus 0–0.5% when markets are volatile | 0.30% / 0.40% | Free (SEPA) | €3 | Yes, variable fee |
| Bitvavo | Taker fee, at most 0.25%; the “price guarantee” option adds a spread | Maker not found / at most 0.25% | Not found | Free | Yes, 0.000017 BTC |
| Bybit EU | Spread 1.30% on weekdays 07:31–20:59 UTC, 1.80% at other times | 0.25% / 0.25% | Not found | Not found | Yes, fixed fee per coin |
| Coinbase | Fee plus spread; rate not found | From 0.0% maker (its own claim) | Not found | Not found | Yes, network fee |
| Conio | 0.99% (prices may include a spread) | – | €1 (minimum €50) | €2 | Yes, bitcoin with the network (mining) fee |
| Crypto.com | 0.80% | Not found | Free (bank transfer) | €1 (SEPA) | Yes, fee per coin |
| eToro | 1% plus spread | – | Not found | Free | Via eToro Money, 2% (minimum $1, maximum $100) |
| Kraken | 1% for instant and recurring buys, 1.5% for custom orders, plus spread | 0.40% / 0.80% | Not found | Not found | Yes, fee not found |
| OKX | Spread 1.00% | 0.08% / 0.10% | Not found | Free | Yes, fixed fee per withdrawal |
| Revolut | 1.49% (minimum €0.99 to €2.99) plus a spread of 0–3% | 0% / 0.09% (Revolut X) | Via your Revolut account | Not found | Yes on eligible plans, service fee plus network fee |
| Trade Republic | €1 per order plus spread (size not stated) | – | Not found | Not found | Yes, network fee only |
| Young Platform | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
A few things the table does not show:
- Young Platform publishes its trading fees on a page that only loads with JavaScript, which we could not read; its help center links to it. Bit2Me‘s fee page redirected to its legal portal, where we found no fee table.
- Conio charges no custody fee, 2% for topping up by card, and accepts only Italian payment methods in your own name.
- Bybit EU introduced its single fee of 0.25% on 5 October 2026. OKX publishes 0.08% / 0.10% on its fee page.
- Card payments usually cost extra, for example up to 4% at Crypto.com and 1.99% at OKX.
Features compared
| Exchange | Number of coins (its own claim) | Staking | Recurring buy | Bitcoin Lightning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bit2Me | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Bitpanda | 650+ | Yes (20% of rewards) | Yes | Not found |
| Bitstamp | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Bitvavo | 400+ | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bybit EU | 115+ | Earn (unregulated, in its own words) | Yes | Not found |
| Coinbase | “Hundreds” | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| Conio | Not found (bitcoin and other crypto) | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Crypto.com | 400+ | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| eToro | 150+ | Yes | Yes (from $25) | Not found |
| Kraken | 600+ | Yes (20% commission on flexible staking) | Yes | Yes |
| OKX | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Yes (up to 0.05 BTC per withdrawal) |
| Revolut | Not found | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| Trade Republic | 50 | Yes | Yes (savings plan) | Not found |
| Young Platform | Not found | Yes (ether and solana) | Not found | Not found |
Staking and lending are not regulated under MiCA; Bybit EU says so itself. Staking rewards are taxable income in Italy; see personal tax. Italian providers can also offer to pay the tax on your gains for you (regime del risparmio amministrato), which spares you part of the reporting; see filing and deadlines.
How to check a provider
- Look the provider up in the ESMA register of crypto-asset service providers. Check that Italy is among the countries it may serve, and that the legal entity you sign up with is the one in the register: CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia stress this point.
- Check ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities and CONSOB’s notices of blocked websites.
- Read the fee page before you deposit: the exchange must publish it. Look at the spread as well as the fee, and at the cost of withdrawing coins.
A license means a provider is supervised; it does not make the coins themselves safe.
Enforcement
CONSOB acts against unlicensed crypto services mainly by having their websites blacked out, using its powers under Legislative Decree 129/2024. On 7 October 2026 ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities held 164 entries from CONSOB, almost all small or anonymous websites; none of the exchanges in the first table was among them. More on scams and where to report them is on regulation.
If an exchange fails
There is no guarantee scheme for crypto. The Italian deposit guarantee (Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi) protects bank deposits up to €100,000; crypto held at an exchange is not a bank deposit, and we found no Italian compensation scheme for crypto (October 2026). What MiCA does require:
- Separation. An exchange that holds your crypto must keep it separate from its own, also on the blockchain, and legally separate from its estate, “so that creditors of the crypto-asset service provider have no recourse to crypto-assets held in custody … in particular in the event of insolvency” (Article 75(7)).
- Your euros. Customer money must be placed with a bank or central bank by the end of the next business day, in an account separate from the exchange’s own (Article 70(3)). This does not apply to exchanges that are themselves a bank, payment or e-money institution.
- Liability. The exchange is liable for crypto lost through an incident attributable to it, up to the market value at the time of the loss (Article 75(8)).
- Statements and wind-down. You get a statement of your holdings at least every three months (Article 75(5)), and custodians must have a plan for an orderly wind-down (Article 74).
These rules lower the risk but do not remove it: a failure can still mean a long wait before you get your coins back. Coins in your own wallet do not depend on an exchange at all; the rules for that are on regulation. If you move a larger amount of bitcoin into self-custody, this comparison of a single hardware wallet and a multisig setup explains the options.
Where to complain
- The exchange first. Under MiCA every exchange must have a published complaints procedure, free of charge and with a template, and must investigate complaints “in a timely and fair manner” (Article 71).
- CONSOB or the Banca d’Italia. Both receive complaints (esposti) about crypto providers under MiCA, each for its own area (Legislative Decree 129/2024, Article 7). For a provider licensed in another EU country, its home regulator supervises it.
- Out-of-court bodies. CONSOB’s Arbitro per le Controversie Finanziarie (ACF) handles disputes with banks and investment firms about investment services. We found no rule that brings crypto-asset service providers under the ACF (October 2026); if your provider is a bank or investment firm, ask the ACF whether your case qualifies.
- Court. You can always start legal proceedings.
Sources
- ESMA: Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), interim MiCA register (CASP and non-compliant entities files of 7 October 2026) (last checked October 2026)
- CONSOB and Banca d’Italia: Termina il periodo transitorio del regolamento MiCA sulle cripto-attività in Italia: 9 soggetti abilitati (30 June 2026) (last checked October 2026)
- Normattiva: Decreto legislativo 5 settembre 2024, n. 129, articles 4, 7 and 45 (last checked October 2026)
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), Articles 59, 60, 63, 66, 70, 71, 74 and 75 (last checked October 2026)
- Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi: FAQ (last checked October 2026)
- CONSOB: Arbitro per le Controversie Finanziarie (last checked October 2026)
Exchange pages (not official sources)
Fees and features come from each exchange’s own pages, checked on 7 October 2026. They are the exchange’s own statements, not checked by a regulator.
- Bitpanda: Cost transparency, crypto (last checked October 2026)
- Bitstamp: Fee schedule (last checked October 2026)
- Bitvavo: Fees (help center) (last checked October 2026)
- Bybit EU: Trading fee structure (last checked October 2026)
- Coinbase: User agreement (EEA) (last checked October 2026)
- Conio: Commissioni e limiti minimi (last checked October 2026)
- Crypto.com: Fees and limits (EEA) (last checked October 2026)
- eToro: Fees (last checked October 2026)
- Kraken: Fee schedule (last checked October 2026)
- OKX: Fees (last checked October 2026)
- Revolut: Fees for exchanging cryptocurrencies (last checked October 2026)
- Trade Republic: Crypto (last checked October 2026)
- Young Platform: Come attivare lo staking su Young Platform (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not financial advice. Fees and licenses change, so check the register and the exchange’s own fee page before you open an account.