Best crypto exchange for altcoins in the EU: 5 licensed picks

The best crypto exchange for altcoins for most EU residents is Kraken. It lists more than 600 assets in its public API, holds a MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland and takes free SEPA deposits, although Kraken Pro’s entry fees rose to 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker in July 2026. If you buy in euros and care most about low fees, Bitvavo offers 450+ coins at 0.15% maker and 0.25% taker.

An altcoin is any crypto asset other than bitcoin, from ether and XRP to small tokens with a tiny market cap. We compared the cryptocurrency exchanges that are MiCA-authorised and open to residents of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland on how many altcoins they list for EU accounts, what trading them costs and how each platform protects customer assets. We checked every fee, coin count and licence on official pages and regulator registers on 23 October 2026. Altcoins are among the most volatile digital assets, and you can lose everything you put in.

The best altcoin exchanges at a glance

The top altcoin exchanges for EU residents are Kraken, Bitvavo, Gate, OKX and Crypto.com. All five hold a MiCA licence and accept euros, but they differ widely in coin range, trading fees and track record.

• Kraken: the widest range we could count (600+), but higher fees at low trading volume.
• Bitvavo: 450+ coins in euros, with free iDEAL, Bancontact and SEPA deposits.
• Gate: a flat 0.10% spot fee on hundreds of markets, but unpublished deposit and withdrawal fees.
• OKX: the lowest spot fee, if you also open a derivatives account.
• Crypto.com: 400+ coins and a card in one platform, but app buys cost 0.8% plus a spread.

How we ranked these cryptocurrency exchanges

We ranked the crypto exchanges first on the number of altcoins an EU resident can actually trade, then on licence and track record, then on cost. A global coin count is no use if the EU entity offers only part of it, so we counted the EU offer wherever the data allowed.

Regulation and availability

Every exchange here is authorised under MiCA, the EU’s crypto law, and serves the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Since the MiCA transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, only MiCA-authorised firms may provide crypto services in the EU, so we left out exchanges without a licence or with one they don’t use for EU customers.

Altcoin selection and liquidity

We counted the crypto assets an EU account can trade, from each exchange’s own pages or public API. More trading pairs only help if there is liquidity: on a thin order book, the spread on a small token can cost more than the fee.

Costs and security

We compared maker and taker fees, deposit fees, withdrawal fees and other fees, plus the gap between instant buys and the order book. We also weighed proof of reserves, hacks and fines, as described in our methodology.

The 5 best crypto exchanges ranked for altcoins

These five exchanges cover almost every altcoin buyer in the EU, from €50 a month in a few large coins to active traders in small tokens. Each comes with a catch.

1. Kraken: best overall for altcoins in the EU

Kraken has the widest altcoin range among exchanges licensed for EU residents: more than 600 assets in its public API, with pairs between digital and fiat currencies in euros, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD and JPY. Founded in 2011 and run by Payward, it serves the EEA through Payward Europe Solutions Limited, authorised under MiCA by the Central Bank of Ireland on 25 June 2025.

Kraken Pro, its advanced platform with an order book and limit orders, charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at the entry tier since July 2026, up from 0.25% and 0.40%. Stablecoin pairs cost 0.20% either way, and fees fall as your 30-day trading volume grows. The simple Kraken app charges 1% plus a variable spread. SEPA deposits are free, a SEPA withdrawal costs €1, and a bitcoin withdrawal costs 0.000015 BTC.

Kraken also offers staking, and crypto derivatives through a CySEC-licensed entity for clients who pass the MiFID II appropriateness test. It publishes a Merkle-tree proof of reserves checked by an independent accountant, latest snapshot 30 June 2026. Its record includes a $362,159 OFAC settlement in 2022 and a $30 million SEC settlement over US staking in 2023; the SEC’s 2023 lawsuit was dismissed in March 2025. There’s no hack in our records, though our incident check isn’t complete.

The catch: higher fees at low volume. A €500 market order on Kraken Pro costs €4.00, more than three times as much as at Bitvavo. Read our Kraken review.

2. Bitvavo: best for altcoins in euros

Bitvavo is the simplest low-cost way to buy and sell a wide range of altcoins with euros. It lists 450+ coins on a euro order book at 0.15% maker and 0.25% taker, falling to 0.10% and 0.20% from €100,000 of 30-day volume.

The Amsterdam exchange was founded in 2018, authorised under MiCA by the Dutch AFM on 26 June 2025, and serves 25 SEPA countries. It uses one fiat currency, the euro. To deposit funds by iDEAL or Wero, Bancontact or SEPA costs nothing, while a card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal payment method costs 1.00%. SEPA withdrawals are free and a bitcoin withdrawal costs 0.000018 BTC. Its optional Price Guarantee has a spread built into the price, and Bitvavo doesn’t publish its size.

Bitvavo offers margin trading with up to 10x leverage on 20 assets, plus staking and lending, which it says are not regulated under MiCA. It says the vast majority of assets sit in offline cold wallets, and The Network Firm attested reserves for selected assets as of 31 March 2026. In 2022 about €280 million Bitvavo had lent to Genesis became inaccessible; Bitvavo said customer withdrawals were not affected.

The catch: euros only, no futures and no crypto card. More in our Bitvavo review.

3. Gate: best for niche altcoins on a licensed exchange

Gate, formerly Gate.io, is the licensed route to a long list of smaller tokens at a flat 0.10% spot fee. Its global site advertises 5,400+ coins, but EU residents use Gate EU, whose markets page lists roughly 420 to 440 EUR and USDC markets.

Gate was founded in 2013. Gate Technology Ltd was authorised under MiCA by the MFSA in Malta on 29 September 2025. Spot trading costs 0.10% maker and taker at VIP 0, down to 0% and 0.02% at the top VIP tiers. Convert is advertised with no fees, but the spread isn’t published. The EU offer covers spot, OTC, custody, convert, staking and a card, without derivatives, margin or copy trading.

Gate’s proof of reserves uses a Merkle tree and zk-SNARKs, with the implementation audited by Hacken in January 2024. Gate EU supports SEPA deposits, but we found no published deposit, withdrawal or card fee, and we couldn’t verify its incident history or whether the app works for Gate EU accounts.

The catch: you can’t work out the full cost in advance. See our Gate review and Kraken vs Gate.

4. OKX: best for active altcoin traders

OKX offers 270+ assets with EUR pairs and the lowest spot fee on this list, as long as you open its X-Perps derivatives account. With X-Perps you pay 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker; without it, 0.20% and 0.35%.

OKX Europe Limited was authorised under MiCA by the MFSA in Malta on 27 January 2025. SEPA deposits and withdrawals are free, card purchases cost 1.99%, and a bitcoin withdrawal costs from 0.000015 BTC. Some pairs, such as USDC-EUR, carry zero fees.

For experienced traders, OKX adds spot margin with up to 10x leverage on BTC and ETH, and X-Perps, MiFID-regulated futures with up to 10x leverage for retail clients and institutional investors, launched in April 2026. Most retail traders lose money with leveraged crypto derivatives. OKX publishes a monthly proof of reserves; its October 2026 report showed a BTC reserve ratio of 110%. It also faces regulatory scrutiny: the global operator pleaded guilty in the US in February 2025 and agreed to pay about $504 million, and DNB fined it €2.25 million.

The catch: the cheap fees depend on a derivatives account. Read our OKX review.

5. Crypto.com: best for altcoins in an app

Crypto.com puts 400+ coins, staking and a prepaid Visa card in one platform, which suits buyers who want everything on their phone. App buys and conversions cost 0.8% plus a possible spread, and buying with a card costs up to 4%.

Its EU entity, Foris DAX MT Limited, holds a MiCA authorisation from the MFSA in Malta. The separate Crypto.com Exchange uses an order book at 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker, so it’s the cheaper way to trade cryptocurrencies there. SEPA deposits are free from €1, and a SEPA withdrawal costs €1.00 with an €80 minimum.

Crypto.com says its Earn and staking products are not regulated under MiCA. In 2022 attackers withdrew about $34 million from 483 accounts; Crypto.com said affected users were reimbursed. DNB fined it €2.85 million for serving Dutch customers without registration, and its proof of reserves rests on a December 2022 snapshot.

The catch: higher fees in the app and an old proof of reserves.

Crypto trading costs: a €500 altcoin buy compared

On a €500 market buy of an altcoin, the taker fee ranges from €0.50 at Gate and OKX (with X-Perps) to €6.00 at Coinbase Advanced. The table uses each exchange’s published entry-tier fees for EU accounts on 23 October 2026.

Exchange	Altcoins for EU accounts	Maker / taker fees	Taker fee on €500	SEPA deposit	MiCA licence
Kraken Pro	600+ (public API)	0.40% / 0.80%	€4.00	Free	Central Bank of Ireland
Bitvavo	450+	0.15% / 0.25%	€1.25	Free	AFM (Netherlands)
Gate EU	400+ (estimate)	0.10% / 0.10%	€0.50	Fee not published	MFSA (Malta)
OKX with X-Perps	270+ with EUR pairs	0.08% / 0.10%	€0.50	Free	MFSA (Malta)
OKX without X-Perps	270+ with EUR pairs	0.20% / 0.35%	€1.75	Free	MFSA (Malta)
Crypto.com Exchange	400+	0.25% / 0.50%	€2.50	Free (min €1)	MFSA (Malta)
Crypto.com app	400+	0.8% + spread	€4.00 + spread	Free (min €1)	MFSA (Malta)
Coinbase Advanced	400+	0.60% / 1.20%	€6.00	Free	CSSF (Luxembourg)
Bybit EU	100+	0.25% / 0.25%	€1.25	No Bybit EU fee	FMA (Austria)

How we worked it out: €500 × the taker fee, for an order that fills straight away. A limit order that waits in the order book pays the maker fee instead, for example €0.75 at Bitvavo. Spreads come on top and are widest on less liquid pairs. The Coinbase rate is the entry Advanced tier as copied by NerdWallet and may differ for EU accounts. Bitpanda prices crypto with a premium instead: 1.49% for most coins (€7.45 on €500) and 2.49% for assets under €100 million market cap (€12.45). Withdrawal fees vary by coin and network, so check them before you move tokens to your own digital wallet.

Also considered: Coinbase, Bybit EU and Bitpanda

Three more licensed exchanges serve EU residents but fall short for altcoin buyers on cost or range. They may still suit other goals.

• Coinbase lists 400+ assets under a MiCA licence from Luxembourg’s CSSF, with free SEPA deposits and withdrawals. On the Coinbase exchange’s Advanced platform the entry tier is 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker, the highest here. Its record includes two Central Bank of Ireland fines, of €21.46 million in 2025 and €3.25 million in October 2026.
• Bybit EU charges a single 0.25% spot fee under an Austrian MiCA licence, but its spot API showed only 108 base coins on 23 October 2026. The Bybit group lost about $1.5 billion in ETH in a February 2025 hack.
• Bitpanda is licensed in Austria, Germany and Malta and mixes crypto with traditional investments such as stocks, ETFs and metals in one app. Its 2.49% premium on small coins makes it an expensive route to altcoins.

Why Binance, MEXC, KuCoin, Bitget and Gemini aren’t ranked

None of these exchanges is licensed and operating for EU residents today, so we don’t rank them, however long their altcoin lists are. Since 1 July 2026 only MiCA-authorised firms may serve EU residents, and ESMA told unauthorised firms to stop onboarding and wind down.

• Binance has no MiCA licence, and since 1 July 2026 EU users can only withdraw: no sign-ups, deposits or new spot orders.
• MEXC lists more than 1,400 coins but has no MiCA licence, its operator is registered in the Comoros, and the Dutch AFM warned on 16 September 2025 that it serves Dutch residents without one.
• Bitget has no MiCA licence: Bitget EU has only applied to Austria’s FMA. Germany, France and Austria are barred, and in September 2026 attackers drained about $351.6 million from its hot and warm wallets.
• KuCoin has an EU entity with an Austrian MiCA authorisation, but the FMA said on 18 May 2026 that it may not commence operations yet.
• Gemini closed all EEA accounts on 6 April 2026 and now serves the US and Singapore.

If you still hold altcoins on one of these other exchanges, withdraw them to a licensed exchange or your own crypto wallet while withdrawals are open.

Altcoin risks: liquidity, spreads and delistings

Altcoins carry more risk than bitcoin on almost every count: prices move more, trading volume is thinner and tokens can disappear from an exchange. A licensed exchange reduces platform risk, not market risk.

• Volatility. Small tokens can lose most of their value quickly, and many never recover.
• Liquidity and spreads. On a thin order book, a market order can fill at a worse price than you saw. Use limit orders.
• Delistings. Exchanges can remove tokens, and you may then have to sell or withdraw before a deadline.
• Market manipulation. Small tokens are easier to pump and dump. A sudden spike in price is a warning sign, not a buy signal.
• No compensation scheme. Crypto-assets aren’t covered by investor compensation: the Dutch scheme explicitly excludes them.

Centralised exchanges, DEXs and your own crypto wallet

A centralised exchange holds your coins and matches buy and sell orders in its order book; a decentralised exchange (DEX) lets you trade from your own wallet through smart contracts. For EU residents buying altcoins with euros, a licensed centralised exchange is the simpler on-ramp, and a wallet you control is the better home for coins you plan to keep.

A DEX doesn’t take euro deposits from a bank account, so you first need crypto from a centralised exchange. Trading there is peer-to-peer through smart contracts: you pay network fees on every trade, carry code risk and have no support desk to call.

Your own digital wallet changes who is responsible. You hold the private keys, so an exchange failure can’t touch your coins, but losing your seed phrase means losing everything. Always send a token on a network the receiving wallet supports. Our guide to wallet types explains the options.

How to buy altcoins on a licensed exchange

Buying altcoins on a licensed exchange takes five steps. This route keeps fees and mistakes down.

How to choose the best crypto exchange for your altcoins

Start from the coin, not the exchange: check that the token is listed before you compare fees. Then match the platform to how often you trade.

• Widest choice: Kraken, with more than 600 assets, or Gate EU if you accept unpublished fiat fees.
• Euro buyers who want low, clear fees: Bitvavo, at 0.25% taker with free iDEAL, Bancontact and SEPA deposits.
• Advanced traders: OKX with an X-Perps account, at 0.10% taker. See our lowest-fee exchanges too.
• One app with a card: Crypto.com, but trade on the Exchange rather than in the app.

All five serve the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Dutch and Belgian buyers get free iDEAL and Bancontact deposits at Bitvavo.

Our verdict: the best cryptocurrency exchange for altcoins

Kraken is the best cryptocurrency exchange for altcoins for EU residents: more than 600 assets, a MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland and a Merkle-tree proof of reserves. Its weak spot is cost, at 0.80% taker on Kraken Pro’s entry tier.

Bitvavo is the better pick if you buy in euros and want the lowest fee you can check in advance with no conditions attached. Gate and OKX charge less per trade, but Gate doesn’t publish its fiat fees and OKX’s lowest rate needs a derivatives account. Whichever you choose, check the exchange in ESMA’s MiCA register and confirm the token is listed before you deposit.