Compare Top Italian Cryptocurrency Exchanges

1. Kraken

Kraken is our first choice for Italian residents seeking deep markets and free euro deposits, backed by a long safety record. No security incident has cost its customers money since the exchange opened in 2011. The platform received MiCA authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland on 25 June 2025 and passports that permission into Italy. Regulated futures are offered through a separate Cypriot company under MiFID II.

Our largest BTC/EUR and ETH/EUR test orders caused little price movement, while SEPA Instant transfers from Intesa Sanpaolo arrived within seconds at no cost. Italian users can buy in the simple app or use Kraken Pro, where fees start at 0.25% for makers and 0.40% for takers. After a July 2026 fee overhaul, accounts can earn discounts based on their balance and trading volume.

We recommend switching to Kraken Pro before placing the first order. The one-tap purchase screen adds a spread several times the Pro commission. EEA residents also gained access to the Kraken Card in July 2026, a Mastercard debit card that draws on crypto or euro balances and offers up to 2% cashback. Spending crypto with it is a taxable disposal in Italy. Visit our Kraken review, which details the fee tiers and additional features.

Pros

• Irish MiCA authorization from one of the EU's stricter supervisors, and one of two exchanges on this list offering regulated futures trading
• The deepest euro order books of any licensed exchange we tested, limiting slippage on large purchases.
• Free SEPA Instant deposits, published Proof of Reserves reports, and a clean security record dating to 2011.

Cons

• Starting fees of 0.25% and 0.40% exceed those on Bybit, Gate, and OKX.
• Instant Buy includes a markup in the quoted price, while new users often miss the Pro interface.
• Access to regulated futures requires separate onboarding with the Cypriot company, including a knowledge questionnaire.

2. Bybit

Bybit serves Italian residents through bybit.eu, operated from Vienna by Bybit EU GmbH. The company received MiCA authorization from Austria's FMA on 28 May 2025, covering Italy and 28 other EEA countries. Euro payment services gained a second Austrian permission in August 2026, when the FMA granted Bybit Payments GmbH an electronic money license. The group has an Italian country manager and plans to open an Italian office.

Every spot order across roughly 600 cryptocurrencies costs 0.10%, with no maker-taker distinction, making pricing the simplest in this ranking. Our UniCredit transfer arrived within a minute. A single balance funds copy trading portfolios, automated grid and DCA strategies, and spot margin up to 10x. It also supports Earn products and the Bybit cashback card. USDC and EURC are available as MiCA-compliant stablecoins.

Perpetual futures remain unavailable pending a decision on Bybit X GmbH's Austrian MiFID II application. In February 2025, the global Bybit exchange lost about $1.5 billion in the largest theft in the sector's history. Customers were repaid in full, and the EU company operates separately, but the incident remains on the record. Our Bybit review examines the reserve reports published since the theft.

Pros

• The flat 0.10% spot fee is the lowest fixed rate among licensed exchanges serving Italy.
• Free SEPA Instant deposits from Italian banks settled within a minute in our tests.
• Both MiCA authorization and an e-money license come from the Austrian regulator.

Cons

• EEA customers cannot access perpetual futures until the Austrian investment firm license is granted.
• The 2025 cold wallet theft remains the largest exchange breach on record, although users lost nothing.
• The European platform does not list USDT because it is not a MiCA-compliant stablecoin.

3. Gate

Gate is our choice for tokens unavailable elsewhere. Its European catalog exceeds 1,000 tokens, the largest selection on any licensed exchange in Italy. Gate Technology Ltd received MiCA authorization from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) on 29 September 2025. That permission includes operating a trading platform, which many authorized firms lack. The Maltese company added a PSD2 payment institution license in February 2026.

Makers and takers pay spot fees from 0.10%, with reductions for GT holdings or higher monthly volume. Euro deposits by SEPA are free; withdrawals cost 0.06% plus €0.50. Alongside trading bots and copy portfolios, the account provides Simple Earn and a launchpad for new tokens. Projects often appear here months before larger exchanges list them, if they list them at all.

Basic functions can be difficult to find among nested menus and campaign banners. Liquidity is concentrated in a few hundred pairs, and on smaller tokens we found gaps between buy and sell quotes that exceeded the trading fee. We use Gate as a companion account for assets the other exchanges have not listed. The fee tiers and GT discount are covered in our Gate review.

Pros

• More than 1,000 tokens on the licensed European platform, the widest selection in this guide.
• Fees start at 0.10% on both sides of the order book, with further GT discounts.
• Maltese authorization covers custody, exchange, order execution, and trading platform operations.

Cons

• Wide gaps between buy and sell quotes on small tokens can cost more than the 0.10% fee.
• Nested menus and constant promotions make a first purchase confusing.
• Euro withdrawals incur a percentage fee, unlike those on Kraken and Bybit.

4. Bitpanda

Bitpanda brings crypto, shares, ETFs, and precious metals into one Italian-language app. Based in Vienna, it holds MiCA authorizations from Austria's FMA, Germany's BaFin, and Malta's MFSA. Investors can set savings plans to debit a chosen euro amount from an Italian bank account weekly or monthly. The money goes into selected coins, indices, or shares, while the Bitpanda Card lets users spend those holdings at any Visa terminal.

It ended 2025 with 7.4 million registered users across Europe. From download to first purchase, Bitpanda was the quickest platform we tested. Verification of our Italian identity card took minutes. SEPA and SEPA Instant deposits were credited promptly, and we used Apple Pay for small top-ups. Its tax export follows Italian filing categories, saving time when the Quadro W and Quadro T are due.

Instant purchases include a markup of up to 1.49% in the quoted price, several times the cost of the same order on Kraken Pro or Bybit. Limit orders are unavailable in the standard app. In August 2026, the FMA fined Bitpanda €70,000 for a late token whitepaper and marketing material missing required statements. Our Bitpanda countries guide lists the products available to EEA residents.

Pros

• Three MiCA authorizations, with a full Italian interface and support in Italian.
• Crypto, fractional shares, ETFs, and metals in one account, supported by automated savings plans.
• Tax reports that match Italian filing categories.

Cons

• At up to 1.49%, the markup makes this the second most expensive buying method in our ranking.
• The standard app lacks an order book, limit orders, and margin.
• The August 2026 FMA fine counts against its compliance record, despite its small size.

5. Young Platform

Young Platform is the only exchange in this guide supervised directly from Rome. CONSOB authorized the Turin company as a crypto-asset service provider on 30 June 2026 through resolution 24059. Its permission covers eight of MiCA's ten services, the broadest scope of any Italian-authorized firm. These include custody, exchange, order execution, advice, portfolio management, and placing new tokens. It reports over 2 million registered users.

Italian users can fund accounts by SEPA, SEPA Instant, card, or Satispay, and pay cash at participating tabaccherie and supermarkets. Support is in Italian, and the yearly tax report follows Italian declaration forms. The Young Card pays cashback in YNG. Members who lock the token can access fee discounts through the Club tiers.

A €100 purchase in the retail app costs a fixed €2.49 plus a spread, making small buys expensive. Purchases above €100 incur a 1.89% fee plus the spread. Young Platform Pro offers limit orders and charges makers and takers 0.20%. Its catalog of about 70 assets includes the major coins and compliant stablecoins, but buying smaller tokens requires a second account.

Pros

• The widest CONSOB authorization among Italian CASPs, including advice and portfolio management alongside trading.
• Italian-language support and deposits through Satispay, cash points, and instant bank transfers.
• Azimut-backed capital, plus tax reports matched to Italian forms.

Cons

• Retail fees of €2.49 on a €100 purchase or 1.89% on larger purchases.
• Around 70 assets, the smallest selection among the licensed platforms here.
• YNG discounts require holding a small, volatile token.

6. OKX

OKX has the lowest per-order charges of the licensed exchanges here, starting at 0.08% for makers and 0.10% for takers before volume discounts. OKX Europe Ltd received MiCA authorization from the Malta Financial Services Authority on 27 January 2025, among the earliest approvals granted to a global exchange. A MiFID II investment firm license followed in March 2025, then a PSD2 payment institution license in February 2026.

The app includes a non-custodial wallet. Euros deposited by SEPA can be converted and moved to self-custody across more than 130 blockchains without installing separate software. EEA customers have access to roughly 300 cryptocurrencies and TradingView charts, while monthly zk-STARK reserve reports confirm that customer balances are backed. Launched with Mastercard in January 2026, the digital OKX Card spends stablecoin balances.

Malta's FIAU fined the local company about €1 million in April 2025 for earlier anti-money-laundering weaknesses. ESMA subsequently asked the MFSA to tighten its licensing practices. An exchange account and self-custody wallet sharing one login can also lead to costly mistakes, since transfers sent to the wrong side of the app cannot be undone. Our OKX review examines the two products separately.

Pros

• Starting maker and taker fees of 0.08% and 0.10%, the lowest on any licensed order book here.
• MiCA, MiFID II, and payment licenses from the same Maltese regulator cover spot trading, derivatives, and stablecoin spending.
• A built-in wallet gives Italian users a supervised path from euros to DeFi and back.

Cons

• The 2025 anti-money-laundering fine and ESMA's review of Maltese supervision remain on the record.
• Combining custody and self-custody in one app increases the risk of a costly user error.
• Staking choices and Earn yields trail Kraken and Bybit.

How to Choose a Crypto Exchange in Italy

All six platforms hold MiCA authorization. Choosing between them means assessing the supervisor and full purchase cost, then checking how euros move from an Italian bank. Before sending money, we make five checks:

1. Find the legal company on the ESMA register: Authorization belongs to a legal entity, and a brand may operate several. Identify the company in the terms of service, then look it up in the ESMA MiCA register. CONSOB warns that an authorized EU company and an unauthorized offshore company can share a group name. Our guide to the best MiCA-licensed crypto exchanges maintains a verified list.
2. Check that your bank supports the transfer: Italian banks send SEPA Instant to authorized CASPs without difficulty. Transfer limits and instructions for adding an exchange as a payee are covered in our guides to Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, and Postepay.
3. Add every cost, not only the commission: To compare Bitpanda's 1.49% markup with Bybit's 0.10% commission, include the spread and euro withdrawal fee, plus any card charge. Across both legs of a €1,000 trade, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive platforms here exceeded €25.
4. Confirm which products reach Italy: Spot trading and custody fall under MiCA. Derivatives require a MiFID II license, which allows Kraken and OKX to offer regulated futures, while Bybit EU cannot. Kraken, Bybit, and Bitpanda have removed USDT from their European platforms. 
5. Complete a small purchase and withdrawal first: Send €50, buy Bitcoin, then sell it and withdraw the euros to the same bank account before transferring larger sums. The account must be in your own name, as exchanges reject third-party transfers. Name mismatches caused the only holds we encountered during testing.

Crypto and Bitcoin Regulation in Italy

Italian residents can legally buy, hold, and trade crypto. Since 1 July 2026, platforms serving them must have MiCA authorization in at least one EU country or be supervised banks or investment firms that have notified Banca d'Italia. CONSOB authorizes crypto-asset service providers after receiving Banca d'Italia's opinion. The main dates are:

• September 2024: Legislative Decree 129/2024 applied MiCA in Italy, naming CONSOB as the authorizing body. Banca d'Italia took responsibility for prudential matters and bank notifications.
• 30 December 2025: To continue operating, companies on the OAM register of VASPs had to submit a MiCA application in Italy or another EU state by this date. Each application carried a €20,000 supervisory contribution set by CONSOB.
• 7 May 2026: CheckSig received the first Italian CASP authorization from CONSOB and moved from the OAM register to the ESMA register.
• 27 May 2026: After completing its notification with Banca d'Italia, Banca Sella became the first Italian bank permitted to provide crypto custody and transfer services. It plans to launch them for selected customers before the end of 2026.
• 24 June 2026: Binance withdrew its MiCA application from the Greek regulator. Italian customers were limited to selling or withdrawing from 1 July. Our Binance restricted countries page tracks any return.
• 30 June 2026: CONSOB authorized Young Platform on the final day of the transition and, together with Banca d'Italia, published the list of eight Italian CASPs. Operators lacking authorization anywhere in the EU were instructed to close positions and return client assets.
• 1 July 2026: The EU-wide transition ended. CONSOB continued to order internet providers to block unauthorized investment and crypto sites, using a power it has exercised more than 1,500 times since 2019.

Kraken, Bybit, Gate, Bitpanda, and OKX are supervised from Dublin, Vienna, and Valletta. EU passporting makes those permissions fully valid for Italian customers, even though supervision is outside Rome. Before depositing, confirm the exact company name and home authority in the ESMA register, which also lists the countries covered.

How Does the Agenzia delle Entrate Tax Crypto?

Crypto gains in Italy fall under "redditi diversi" and carry a substitute tax separate from ordinary income. The rate increased in 2026. The former allowance has gone, and exchanges now report to the tax authority. The main rules are:

• A 33% rate with no exemption: Budget Law 2025 removed the €2,000 annual allowance from 2025 and raised the substitute tax on gains from 26% to 33% for disposals from 1 January 2026. Budget Law 2026 confirmed the rate. Purchase dates do not affect it, so coins bought years earlier and sold in 2026 are taxed at 33%.
• A 26% rate for euro stablecoins: Under the 2026 Budget Law, the 26% rate remains for euro-denominated e-money tokens issued under MiCA, including income from holding them. Converting these tokens to euros and back creates no gain. USDC and other dollar stablecoins remain subject to 33%.
• What counts as a disposal: Sales for euros and payments for goods are taxable. So are exchanges between crypto-assets with different characteristics, such as Bitcoin for Ether. Under Agenzia delle Entrate circular 30/2023, swaps between assets with the same function are not taxable. Acquisition cost uses LIFO, and declared losses can offset gains over the following four years.
• Reporting became automatic: Legislative Decree 194/2025 transposed DAC8 into Italian law and has been in force since 6 January 2026. Authorized providers must collect each Italian customer's tax code and report annual purchases, sales, swaps, payments, and transfers.

The flat 18% revaluation available for holdings in 2025 was not repeated for 2026. This is general information, not tax advice. A commercialista should review anything beyond simple buying and selling.

Cryptocurrency Adoption in Italy

Research published by the Politecnico di Milano in January 2026 put Italian crypto ownership at about 2.8 million people, or 7% of consumers. That leaves Italy behind the other large European markets: France at 9%, Germany at 11%, and Spain at 14%. Of Italian crypto holders, 52% hold no other financial instrument, the highest share among the countries surveyed, meaning crypto would be their first investment.

During 2026, Binance's exit pushed a large group of Italian users to licensed platforms or self-custody within weeks. Traditional banks also entered the market. Banca Sella notified under MiCA, while UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, BPER, and Sella were among the 37 European banks backing Qivalis. The euro stablecoin issuer awaits Dutch central bank approval for a launch in the second half of 2026.

Higher taxes and mandatory reporting will slow casual participation, while clear authorization and bank involvement should attract the cautious savers described in the Politecnico research. For comparisons with other markets, see our crypto adoption statistics.

How to Buy Bitcoin in Italy

A SEPA Instant transfer to an authorized exchange, followed by a limit order on BTC/EUR, is the cheapest dependable way to buy. The first purchase takes under an hour with an identity document and codice fiscale ready:

1. Choose an authorized platform: We recommend Kraken overall. Frequent traders may prefer Bybit's flat 0.10% fee. Young Platform suits those who want an Italian company with Italian support and Satispay deposits.
2. Verify your identity: Upload a carta d'identità or passport, enter your codice fiscale, and complete the selfie check. Our documents cleared within minutes on Kraken, Bybit, and Bitpanda. No platform accepts deposits until verification is complete.
3. Send euros by SEPA Instant: Add the exchange as a payee in your banking app, then transfer from an account in your own name. In our tests, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit transfers reached Kraken and Bybit within a minute. Card payments cost more, and Italian issuers often decline these transactions.
4. Place a limit order on BTC/EUR: In the professional interface, enter the price you are willing to pay and confirm the order. Avoid one-click buy buttons. Their displayed prices include a markup that usually exceeds the order-book commission.
5. Move long-term holdings to your own wallet: For a multi-year holding period, use a wallet whose private keys you control. Our best crypto wallets guide compares hardware devices. Before confirming a transfer, check the address and network. Record the euro purchase price for your tax return.

To sell, reverse the process and withdraw euros to the bank account used for the purchase. Export transaction history every quarter. From 2027, the Agenzia delle Entrate will hold the exchange's version of those records.

Final Thoughts

Kraken is the best crypto exchange in Italy for most residents. For active traders, Bybit offers low costs, while Gate covers the long tail of tokens. Bitpanda suits investors who want shares and ETFs in the same app. Young Platform is our choice for those who value an Italian company under CONSOB supervision, and OKX combines the lowest order book fees with an on-chain wallet.

Italian investors faced new rules in 2026. The national register closed, eight Italian companies received CONSOB authorization, and the largest global exchange left. The tax rate also rose to 33%, accompanied by automatic reporting. Each change favors readers who use authorized platforms and keep records.

Account use matters as much as exchange choice. Fund purchases by bank transfer rather than card and trade on the order book. Export transaction history each quarter and keep long-term holdings in self-custody. See also our guides to the best crypto exchanges in France, the best crypto exchanges in Germany, and the Europe-wide ranking.

Our Methodology

We assessed the platforms as an Italian resident would use them in September 2026, after the MiCA transition. Six criteria determined the ranking:

• Trust score: Scores out of 5 reflect the home regulator and the number of MiCA services authorized, along with security incidents, reserve disclosures, and operating history.
• Authorization check: We traced each brand to the company named in its terms, then checked it against the ESMA register and CONSOB's list of 30 June 2026.
• Italian funding: Euros were sent by SEPA and SEPA Instant from Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit accounts. We timed each credit and withdrew to the same accounts.
• Total purchase cost: We placed a live BTC/EUR order on every platform and calculated the full round-trip cost, including commissions, spreads, and deposit and withdrawal charges.
• Product range for EEA accounts: Asset counts, staking, bots, derivatives, and cards were assessed for the European company rather than the global brand.
• Italian relevance: We considered Italian-language support, Satispay and cash deposits, tax report formats, and any Italian legal presence or CONSOB authorization.

Testing ended in mid-September 2026. We rechecked every authorization on the publication date, and our editorial methodology explains how we verified each claim.