Bitstamp Review: Fees, Safety and Availability by Country

A Bitstamp review for a first-time buyer starts with the company: as of October 2026, Bitstamp by Robinhood is a cryptocurrency exchange that a different Bitstamp company serves in each region. Confirm which company serves your country before you deposit anything (see availability by country).

What Bitstamp offers and where

As of October 2026, the Bitstamp crypto exchange is centralized, meaning a company holds your account and your coins while you trade, and its website uses the name "Bitstamp by Robinhood". Robinhood completed its purchase of Bitstamp (opens in a new tab) on 2 June 2025. Bitstamp was founded in 2011. You open an account with the Bitstamp company for your country: one each for the US, the UK and the EU/EEA, and others elsewhere. Bitstamp no longer serves Canada. Some products, such as staking and lending, are not offered everywhere (see downsides to weigh).

Bitstamp against the eight checks

As of 19 October 2026, the table shows what Bitstamp or a regulator publishes for each of the checks on our exchanges page.

"Documented" means the answer is published. It is not a score, and "partly" means a piece is missing.

Bitstamp fees

As of 19 October 2026, Bitstamp's fee schedule (opens in a new tab) (valid from 15 October 2026) is one schedule for all its companies. The figures below also appear unchanged in the schedule that takes effect on 21 October 2026 (opens in a new tab), so read the schedule again on the day you buy.

Costs of buying:

• Trading fee (Pro mode). Standard fees start at 0.30% for makers and 0.40% for takers while your trading volume over the last 30 days is under $10,000. Rates fall as that volume rises, counted across all pairs in USD. Maker and taker orders are explained in exchange fees explained.
• Spread (Basic mode). Bitstamp says (opens in a new tab) a spread is a small difference in price that is already in the price you see, with no extra trading fee. The fixed Basic spread is 1.8% for crypto other than stablecoins and 0.5% for stablecoins. A variable volatility spread of 0% to 0.5% can be added when markets move, and its size at the moment you buy is not visible from the documentation. See how the spread works.
• Card fee. Instant Purchase with a debit or credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay costs 4%, and your card issuer may add its own fees.
• Bank routes. EUR by SEPA and GBP by Faster Payments are free to deposit and carry a small fixed fee to withdraw. USD by ACH is free both ways. An international wire costs 0.05% to deposit and 0.1% to withdraw, each with a minimum fee, so small wires cost more in proportion. Your bank may charge more.
• Inactivity and closing. Bitstamp Limited clients outside the US may be charged a monthly fee after six months without activity, taken in crypto if there is not enough cash and never below a zero balance (check Profile/My information to see whether this is your company). Small cash balances below a threshold are not returned when you close an account, except for Bitstamp USA clients, so withdraw before closing.

Costs of sending crypto out later:

• Crypto deposits are free.
• Withdrawal fee. Bitstamp charges a variable fee made of its estimate of the network fee plus a processing fee. It publishes no BTC or ETH figure, and the exact fee is shown before you confirm. Compare the amount you will receive with the amount you entered, and ask support if the gap is bigger than the fee shown. See exchange withdrawal fees versus network fees.

Availability by country

As of 19 October 2026, Bitstamp's legal page (opens in a new tab) lists its companies, and these are Bitstamp's own descriptions unless a register is named.

• United States: Bitstamp USA, Inc. provides the service. The New York regulator's table lists Bitstamp USA, Inc. (opens in a new tab) with a virtual currency license (BitLicense) granted in April 2019. Bitstamp says it holds state money transmitter licenses and a FinCEN money services business registration, which we could not check. Bitstamp's app FAQ (opens in a new tab) lists the US except Hawaii and Nevada, and we found no Bitstamp list of states where an account cannot be opened, so ask Bitstamp support from inside your account to confirm yours before depositing.
• United Kingdom: Bitstamp UK Ltd says it is registered with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations (FRN 978690). That is an anti-money-laundering registration, not FCA authorization, and Bitstamp UK's own promotion (opens in a new tab) says crypto assets and crypto asset services are not regulated by the FCA. Search FRN 978690 on the FCA register (opens in a new tab). Robinhood UK says (opens in a new tab) crypto held through Bitstamp UK is not protected by the FSCS, and Bitstamp says (opens in a new tab) the Financial Ombudsman Service will not be able to consider complaints related to Bitstamp by Robinhood. For UK sign-ups, Bitstamp also says deposits and trading are disabled until 24 hours after registration, and trading stays blocked until you pass an appropriateness test, which follows the FCA's first-time investor rules (see the UK cooling-off period).
• EU and EEA: Bitstamp Europe S.A. says it is authorized by Luxembourg's CSSF as a payment institution and crypto-asset service provider. ESMA's MiCA register (opens in a new tab) lists it as authorized on 15 May 2025 for seven services, including running a trading platform and exchanging crypto for funds, with passporting to 30 EEA states.
• Canada: Bitstamp no longer serves Canada. It says (opens in a new tab) the decision was primarily due to timing and resource challenges in meeting new regulations. On 26 April 2024 WonderFi announced (opens in a new tab) that its subsidiary Bitbuy had acquired the 110,000+ Canadian accounts. Robinhood bought WonderFi in June 2026, which does not mean Bitstamp serves Canada.
• Australia: Bitstamp lists Australia among its app countries and its card-purchase countries (opens in a new tab). We did not check which company serves Australia or any AUSTRAC registration, so search for the company on the AUSTRAC website before you deposit.

Elsewhere, Bitstamp has a British Virgin Islands company and a Singapore company, and Robinhood's filing (opens in a new tab) says Bitstamp also offers services in other countries. Check your own country's financial regulator before you deposit, and read how to check that a crypto exchange serves your country.

Is Bitstamp safe? Security features and proof of reserves

As of 19 October 2026, a documentation review can show what Bitstamp publishes and what is missing, but cannot answer "is Bitstamp safe" with a yes or no.

Security features

Bitstamp's security FAQ (opens in a new tab) describes two-factor authentication (2FA, a second check besides your password) with a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on a separate device. Email confirmation of every withdrawal is on by default for new accounts, and a suspicious-login email carries a "Freeze" link. Bitstamp's home page (opens in a new tab) also names whitelisting and transaction confirmations, but we found no help page that explains how whitelisting works. For setup steps, read how to secure your exchange account.

On custody, Bitstamp says (opens in a new tab) its hot wallet uses multi-signature technology and holds a very small portion of crypto, with the majority in offline cold storage. Its About page (opens in a new tab) says customer assets are kept apart from corporate funds and that its custodians insure client assets held in cold wallets, but gives no insurer, limit or terms. Robinhood's filing (opens in a new tab) says Bitstamp uses third-party custodians and that problems at them are a risk. A custodian is a company that holds assets for another.

Proof of reserves

We found no proof-of-reserves report on bitstamp.net on 19 October 2026: its proof-of-reserves web page (bitstamp.net/proof-of-reserves/) returned an error, and web searches for a Bitstamp report found none. Without a report, you have only Bitstamp's own statements.

Bitstamp says instead that its financial control team reconciles customers' funds against its custodians' records and that a Big Four firm has audited it each year since 2016. The page shows no audit report or firm name, and neither is a proof-of-reserves report. For what happens if a platform fails, read what happens to your crypto if an exchange fails.

Regulatory and security history

As of 19 October 2026, searches of the SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC, FCA, CSSF, ESMA, Canadian, Australian and New York regulators' sites found no enforcement action, settlement or penalty against a Bitstamp company in the last five years. Robinhood's SEC filing for the quarter to 30 June 2026 (opens in a new tab) names no Bitstamp company in its legal proceedings. A search can miss things, so this is what we found, not a guarantee.

On 3 October 2022, the CSSF warned the public (opens in a new tab) about a website that misused the name of Bitstamp Europe S.A. The CSSF said Bitstamp Europe was not related to it. It was a warning about an impostor, not an action against Bitstamp.

Older history: CoinDesk reported (opens in a new tab) that Bitstamp said some of its operational wallets were compromised on 4 January 2015, with a loss of less than 19,000 BTC (about $5 million at the time). Bitstamp said customer balances held before the suspension would be honored in full. CoinDesk reported (opens in a new tab) that service resumed on 9 January 2015 after a move to new infrastructure and multi-signature wallet technology.

Support you can reach

As of 19 October 2026, Bitstamp's support page (opens in a new tab) lists phone lines for the US, EU, Singapore and a global line, plus a web form. The page title says 24/7, but its phone hours read Monday 06:00 to Sunday 06:00 CET/CEST. Use the numbers on that page, not ones from a search result.

Read what real crypto support never asks for.

Downsides to weigh

As of 19 October 2026:

• Basic buys and card purchases cost more than Pro orders at the entry tier, and some routes have fixed fees. See Bitstamp fees for each figure.
• Bitstamp Earn staking (opens in a new tab) is not available to customers in the US, Singapore and Japan. Lending (opens in a new tab) is not available in the UK, US, Singapore and Japan, and Robinhood's filing (opens in a new tab) says lent crypto leaves Bitstamp's custody. Derivatives are not available in certain jurisdictions.
• Bitstamp does not serve Canada, and its app FAQ (opens in a new tab) leaves out Hawaii and Nevada.
• UK customers have limited protections, set out in the UK entry.
• No proof-of-reserves report was found, and this review could not check the app, real spreads or support response times.

Alternatives by type

Compare any alternative against the same eight checks.

• A broker app is an investing app that also sells crypto. Check which company holds your crypto and whether you can withdraw it.
• Another crypto exchange with a public fee schedule lets you compare costs and registration for your country. Our Kraken review is another documented review, not a recommendation.
• A self-custody wallet holds your own keys after you buy elsewhere. Read how to store crypto safely for the trade-offs.

To compare types, see how to choose a crypto exchange. Before you sign up anywhere, read how to buy crypto step by step.