Bitvavo
Bitvavo is a Dutch exchange for digital currencies. The company was founded in 2018 and is currently the Netherlands’ largest and cheapest trading platform. Bitvavo aims to become one of Europe’s most important parties and offer digital assets to everyone in Europe. At the time of writing, Bitvavo provides over 150 cryptocurrencies to buy, sell and hold.
Trading is possible on Bitvavo if you are in one of the 27 supported countries in Europe. The exchange speaks of a 30-day trading volume of more than 10 billion euros, coming from more than 1 million active users. The more than 8,500 reviews give the platform an average of 8.6 out of 10.
Low trading fees at Bitvavo
Bitvavo has relatively low trading fees or spreads. They are even the weakest of any platform currently available within the Benelux. The most recent feeds can be viewed on Bitvavo’s website and are between 0.25% and 0.03%. That percentage depends on whether you’re buying or selling and how high your trading volume was over the last 30 days. If you trade more, the fees are much lower, although it quickly becomes very large amounts that you must change.
| trading volumer (30 days) | Taker fee | Maker fee |
| € 0+ | 0,25% | 0,15% |
| € 100.000+ | 0,20% | 0,10% |
| € 250.000+ | 0,16% | 0,08% |
| € 500.000+ | 0,12% | 0,06% |
| € 1.000.000+ | 0,10% | 0,05% |
| € 2.500.000+ | 0,08% | 0,04% |
| € 5.000.000+ | 0,06% | 0,04% |
| € 10.000.000+ | 0,05% | 0,03% |
| € 25.000.000+ | 0,04% | 0,03% |
Bitvavo payment methods
Also when depositing and withdrawing fiat currency, the fees are very low. For the Netherlands, for example, there is support for the widely used iDEAL, but SEPA is also supported. You don’t have to deal with costs with either. iDEAL payments are processed immediately. A SEPA payment is processed within a day, but you also have the choice of SEPA Instant Transfer, where the limit is 15,000 euros per transaction.
| Betaalmethode | Totale fees | Relatieve fees | Max bedrag |
| Bancontact | € 0,00 | 0,00% | € 10.000 |
| EPS Überweisung | € 0,00 | 1,75% | € 1.000 |
| Giropay | € 0,00 | 1,75% | € 1.000 |
| iDEAL | € 0,00 | 0,00% | € 10.000 |
| MyBank | € 0,00 | 1,50% | € 5.000 |
| SEPA | € 0,00 | 0,00% | – |
| SEPA Instant transfer | € 0,00 | 0,00% | € 15.000 |
| Sofort | € 0,00 | 2,25% | € 1.000 |
The costs of withdrawing cryptocurrencies are more complicated because they are determined by which blockchain you use. You can see this in Bitvavo’s cost overview.
Bitvavo trading platform
Bitvavo has both a limited – and therefore easier user interface – and a more extensive interface. In basic mode, you will see an easy-to-read line chart with each cryptocurrency and a simple interface to enter an amount or amount of tokens. The orders processed here are standard market buy and market sell orders. The limited transaction costs that go to Bitvavo are included in the displayed price.
The advanced mode is more complicated. You get a complete graph for the choice, with extensive possibilities for the type of graph, indicators, your placed orders, an order book and a depth graph. You can choose whether you want a chart with, for example, the well-known candlesticks, with a line, coloured area, and Heikin Ashi candles. In addition to market orders, where you buy a token directly for the corresponding price, you can opt for limit and stop-limit orders. This allows you to determine from or up to what price you want to buy or sell, which reduces your risk. You can choose from three types: good-till-cancelled, fill-or-kill, and immediate-or-cancel orders.
As icing on the cake, Bitvavo also has an app for Android and iOS. It is very clear and easy to use. The advanced mode is only accessible via the computer, but on a small screen, the usefulness of a full graph is still very limited. Transferring euros is easy and fast from the app. Thanks to the presence of a dark mode, you save your eyes in less well-lit rooms. You can filter the list of coins by price, which token has performed best, alphabetically, and by highest trading volume. You can also create a list of favourites. So you have everything at hand to have a good overview of your portfolio.
Bitvavo’s limits and verifications
Bitvavo is a regulated exchange, meaning government users must undergo the necessary verification processes to use the business. However, this only applies if you deposit more than 5,000 euros, if you want to deposit cryptocurrencies into your Bitvavo account yourself or if you wish to send your purchased cryptocurrency to an external wallet. If it is a smaller amount, you will only be asked for the following:
- First name
- Surname
- Email address
Above 5,000 euros, the Dutch laws regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) and the anti-money laundering measures (AML) apply. This means that you must also upload a copy of your identity document in addition to the data mentioned above. This can be a passport, driver’s license or an ID card (front and back). You must be in one of the 27 European countries to be able to use the platform.
Safety Bitvavo
Unlike other crypto exchanges, Bitvavo is headquartered in the Netherlands; in Amsterdam. There are several additional security measures in which Bitvavo is unique:
The client’s assets are housed in a separate foundation, Stichting Bitvavo Payments. This foundation is different from the private company Bitvavo. This way you are assured that your credits remain yours.
The vast majority of digital currencies are stored in cold storage. These wallets are stored in a physically secure place and are not connected to the internet. That makes it virtually impossible to hack them.
Only a limited number of Bitvavo employees have access to these wallets. That makes them even safer.
Accessibility
You can contact Bitvavo for support in two ways, namely via [email protected] and the live chat. The latter can be found at the bottom right of the website. Below you will find the most recent opening hours:
Live chat:
Working days: 10:00 – 17:00
Saturday: closed
Sunday: closed
Email:
Working days: 09:00 – 21:00
Weekend: 10:00 – 18:00
