Portugal is quite a liberal country for crypto traders. It may not be a crypto haven but it definitely is crypto-friendly. As a result, Portugal has become a popular place among crypto enthusiasts. It has also led to the emergence of several blockchain and cryptocurrency-related businesses in the country.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in Portugal have to be licensed by the country’s central bank and comply with anti-money laundering regulations. There are several prominent Bitcoin exchanges operating in Portugal.
However, among all the options, making a choice can be difficult. Are you also confused about the best Bitcoin exchange in Portugal? Well then. Perhaps you would like our compilation of the best crypto exchanges in Portugal which will help you learn more about the various crypto exchanges in Portugal.
7 Top Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Portugal
Binance
Simply put, there is a lot to check out on Binance. On a basic level, It is the biggest crypto exchange in the world and lets you trade over 350 cryptocurrencies at nominal prices. With Binance Pay, business owners are assisted in accepting crypto payments from around the world.
Shoppers can make good use of the Visa-powered Binance card to make crypto payments. To sweeten the deal, they also get 8% BNB cashback on eligible transactions. Not only that, holding the BNB token can get you several additional perks such as discounts on trading fees and rewards for taking the token via the Binance Vault.
On the Binance P2P platform, you can negotiate directly with potential crypto buyers and sellers and choose between 700+ payment methods to settle trades. Binance Earn helps you grow your holdings by investing in several high-APY products.
Features
✔️Largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world
✔️More than 350 cryptocurrencies available for trading
✔️Supports P2P trading
✔️Has an NFT marketplace
✔️Native utility token is called BNB
Pros and Cons
✅Excellent crypto selection ❌Not a good choice for beginners
✅Supports many trade types ❌Legal problems in many places
✅Binance card with cashback
✅Secure Asset Fund for user assets
Trading Fees
Binance cryptocurrency exchange trading fees
Customer Reviews
The Binance Visa card is popular among Binance users
Binance’s customer support is often unhelpful
Why We Picked It
Binance is unmatched in the variety of crypto-related products offered to users. Along with spot and margin trading, it supports options and P2P trading as well. The trading fees on Binance are quite low, especially for high-volume orders. The exchange features Binance Pay for merchants and Binance card for shoppers.
Coinbase
Coinbase founded more than a decade ago, is a very old exchange by the crypto industry standards. It is a simple and straightforward crypto trading platform with a no-nonsense design that helps beginner traders feel at ease with crypto trading. It is a public company in America as well and, therefore, has to oblige with accountability standards higher than other exchanges.
Coinbase’s mobile app is reliable and perfect for trading from anywhere via your mobile phone. While Coinbase is an excellent beginner’s platform, it also has functionalities suitable for more advanced traders. With Coinbase Pro, professional traders are able to access several sophisticated market tracking and analysis tools.
Coinbase is a safe and secure platform and has never faced a platform-wide cyber attack ever. Here, users are auto-enrolled for 2FA when they register and the exchange also encourages them to pick unique and strong passwords for their accounts.
Features
✔️Second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world
✔️Over 250 tradeable assets available
✔️Publicly traded company on NASDAQ
✔️Basic and Pro platforms for users
✔️2FA, unique passwords and cold wallets for security
Pros and Cons
✅Decent crypto selection ❌Fees are high
✅Beginner-friendly platform ❌Customer service is bad
✅Fantastic mobile app
✅Native wallet for storing crypto
Trading Fees
Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange trading fees
Customer Reviews
The trading process on Coinbase is smooth and flawless
Coinbase’s verification process can be frustrating for users
Why We Picked It
Coinbase is a terrific platform for traders still getting used to cryptocurrencies due to its simple and straightforward interface. For the more advanced trader demographic, the Coinbase Pro platform is available. As Coinbase is listed on NASDAQ, its auditing and accountability standards are much higher than other cryptocurrency exchanges.
Kraken
Kraken is another crypto exchange based out of the US that’s been in the game for a long time. From just Bitcoin and Litecoin, the platform now features over 200 cryptocurrencies available for trading.
Like Coinbase, Kraken too has separate basic and pro versions. While the basic version follows a dynamic pricing system, Kraken Pro uses the usual taker-maker model for determining fees. On average though, the average cost per trade is rather low on Kraken as its spreads are not very high.
The exchange is not only ISO 27001 certified but also employs 2FA for security. It uses SSL encryption to provide users with a safe browsing experience and even encrypts emails for secure communication.
Features
✔️One of the oldest exchanges
✔️Has over 200 cryptocurrencies available
✔️2FA, SSL encryption and PGP signature for security
Pros and Cons
✅Satisfactory coin collection ❌Higher fees on Kraken basic version
✅High level of liquidity ❌Loss of funds due to hacking incidents
✅Low spreads
✅Great staking rewards
Trading Fees
Kraken Instant Buy fees elaborated
Kraken Pro trading fee schedule
Customer Reviews
Kraken provides decent service to customers
Kraken’s lengthy verification process can be tedious
Why We Picked It
Kraken is a reliable exchange with products suitable for both beginners and experienced traders. You can take advantage of the low fees on Kraken Pro and dip your toes into crypto staking and earn some interest on your holdings.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com is a very famous crypto trading exchange known primarily for its mobile app. The exchange seeks to use the app to popularize trading on the go anytime from your mobile phone.
With over 250 cryptocurrencies, Crypto.com has a decent selection of assets for buying, selling, trading and holding. Its 500+ pairs with up to 5x leverage provide great choices for margin trading. As a bonus, Crypto.com provides users with discounts on trading fees if they stake its native token CRO.
Crypto.com has ISO 27001 certification and it also ensures that all user accounts are multi-factor authenticated and have enabled address whitelisting.
Features
✔️250+ cryptocurrencies available for trading
✔️Native utility coin is known as Cronos(CRO)
✔️Crypto-based loans are available
✔️Native Crypto.com wallet for storing assets
Pros and Cons
✅Great crypto collection ❌Educational material is limited
✅Fantastic asset staking options ❌Not very beginner-friendly
✅Assets kept in cold storage
✅Referral program with good rewards
Trading Fees
Crypto.com exchange trading fees
Customer Reviews
The Crypto.com app is a good choice for crypto trading
Users have had issues with withdrawal on Crypto.com
Why We Picked It
The Crypto.com app has lots of interesting features that every crypto trader should check out once. Here, you can lock up the CRO token to get rewards and also use the locked-up tokens to get discounts on trading fees. The platform supports crypto lending and it offers a prepaid Visa card with several perks and benefits.
eToro
eToro is primarily a platform for social trading. However, there are some cryptocurrencies available here for trading and staking. eToro is a brokerage platform established in Israel in 2007 that offers 3,000+ assets for investment at 0% commission. It was one of the first places to introduce the concept of copy trading and it remains unparalleled in that domain.
eToro lets you mimic the strategies of top traders in real time and apply them to your own trades. One advantage of eToro is that you can get diversified exposure to different market segments with its portfolio manager. Although limited, the assets available for staking offer some good rewards.
Features
✔️Place for social trading and investment
✔️75+ cryptocurrencies available for trading
✔️Stocks, ETFs and Options are supported
✔️VIP program with five tiers for users
Pros and Cons
✅Several types of assets available ❌Fewer cryptocurrencies
✅Strictly regulated brokerage ❌Expensive platform
✅Copy trading is supported
✅eToro Academy for investment
education
Trading Fees
eToro platform fees for buying and selling cryptocurrency
eToro charges for crypto-to-crypto conversions
Customer Reviews
eToro clients get dedicated account managers
eToro’s fees can be exorbitant
Why We Picked It
eToro is a fantastic choice for traders investing in multiple assets. You get different types of assets such as ETFs, stocks and cryptocurrencies in one place. There is a robust copy trading system in place and the platform offers dedicated account managers to users. There are several e-learning resources available on eToro Academy.
OKX
The OKX exchange is quite easy to use even if you have never used a crypto exchange or ventured into cryptocurrencies. The platform has a great collection of 400+ cryptocurrencies for you to choose from. Apart from that, OKX also has its own blockchain, a native token OKB and a crypto wallet as well.
Beyond the usual crypto buying and selling, OKX offers crypto staking in its asset mining pools with some lucrative returns. Along with that, the exchange supports margin and derivatives trading as well. The OKX wallet further lets you explore Web3 and DApps.
On OKX, cold storage is used for keeping user assets. The platform makes sure that not more than 1,000 BTC are kept in one cold wallet address. There is also an asset risk reserve fund for protecting user assets.
Features
✔️More than 400 cryptocurrencies available
✔️Native OKX Chain and native OKB token
✔️OKX wallet supports 40+ networks
✔️Layout can be customized on advanced platform
Pros and Cons
✅Multiple order types ❌Several controversies related to
✅Several payment options supported the exchange
✅High APY on staked assets ❌Complicated fee system
✅Demo trading feature available ❌Poor customer service
Trading Fees
OKX trading fees explained
Customer Reviews
OKX gives users a sleek trading experience
OKX’s customer service can often be unresponsive
Why We Picked It
OKX’s strength is its UI which makes it easy to use the platform across devices. The exchange has quite a simple design and beginners would not have much problem navigating the exchange. OKX also has a comprehensive FAQ section that answers nearly every possible user query.
Bybit
These days, an exchange on every crypto trader’s radar is Bybit. This is because even though it’s a platform for derivatives trading, it still has 280+ spot trade pairs available at extremely competitive fees.
This is supported by the fact that the spot fees even at the non-VIP level are just 0.1% on Bybit. The derivatives fees, too, are reasonable at 0.06% taker fees and 0.01% maker fees. This too comes down to zero maker fees for higher VIP levels.
Bybit’s 100k TPS matching engine and 99.99% system functionality ensure that there is minimum to no delay in processing transactions. The exchange makes all efforts to ensure that users don’t face any inconvenience due to server downtime.
Bybit is a good enough platform for both beginner and advanced traders. While new traders can simply use fiat to buy crypto, experienced traders would like Bybit’s advanced charting and analysis tools.
Features
✔️Largest USDC Options marketplace
✔️Over 280 spot pairs available
✔️Supports spot, derivatives and options trading
✔️Multilingual exchange
Pros and Cons
✅Low trading fees ❌Derivates can be risky
✅Fast transaction settlements ❌Trading stats are not
✅Beginner-friendly exchange independently verified
✅Spot grid bots to automated trades
Trading Fees
Bybit trading fees explained
Customer Reviews
Bybit has a great interface and several choices for trading
Accounts sometimes get locked on Bybit
Why We Picked It
Bybit is a fantastic platform for beginner and professional traders alike. The trades here are not very costly and several order types including options and perpetual trading are supported on Bybit. Its 100k TPS matching engine ensures transactions are quickly settled and there is minimal to zero server downtime.
3 Top Decentralized Exchanges in Portugal
UniSwap
UniSwap is among the top choices for decentralized exchanges for swapping ERC-20 tokens. An Ethereum-based platform, it employs the Automated Market Maker(AMM) system for its core functions such as the creation of liquidity pools. AMM here is a collection of smart contracts that tell everything about the way UniSwap is to be run and managed.
A big plus of decentralized exchanges like UniSwap is that you don’t need to hand over any sort of identifying information to trade on them. You just need a crypto wallet that works with UniSwap and you are good to go.
The charges for trading are applied on the platform as per the nature of the pair being swapped. The pair you’re swapping can fall into any of the four tiers of 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.30% and 1% depending on whether it’s a “stable” pair or a “wild” one.
Features
✔️Created on the Ethereum blockchain
✔️Native token is called UNI
✔️Platform governed by UNI holders
✔️Four tiers for pool fees
Pros and Cons
✅Enables instant trading ❌Ethereum gas fees can be costly
✅Privacy and anonymity maintained ❌Coins are not vetted
✅Democratic governance
✅Compatible with major crypto wallets
Trading Fees
UniSwap v3 trading fees explained
Customer Reviews
UniSwap is a decentralized exchange liked by crypto traders
Uniswap has no mechanism for redressing user complaints
Why We Picked It
UniSwap is much simpler than many other decentralized exchanges which makes it ideal for new traders. There are no registration or ID verification requirements here. All you need is a crypto wallet that is compatible with UniSwap to start trading.
PancakeSwap
PancakeSwap is quite similar to UniSwap and is a decentralized exchange where you can swap cryptocurrencies without having to register or verify your identity. Connect any wallet like Metamask or Trust Wallet that is compatible with PancakeSwap and you are good to go.
The differentiator between PancakeSwap and other similar-sounding platforms is its underlying blockchain. Most AMM-based DeFi projects run on Ethereum but PancakeSwap has been developed on the BNB Chain in order to avoid problems like network congestion and prohibitively high gas fees.
As PancakeSwap is a non-custodial platform, you don’t have to hand over assets to anyone and always retain control over your private keys. Further, the platform has some very unique products like lottery programs where you can win CAKE tokens and syrup pools to stake CAKE.
Features
✔️Created on the BNB Chain
✔️Employs the AMM protocol
✔️Native token is known as CAKE
✔️Uses multisig smart contracts for security
Pros and Cons
✅BEP-20 token swapping ❌Limited ERC-20 tokens
✅Users retain custody of private keys ❌BTC not available
✅Ingenuine product suite
✅Community governance
Trading Fees
PancakeSwap trading fees explained
Customer Reviews
PancakeSwap is a decent decentralized exchange
Users complain about low-quality tokens on PancakeSwap
Why We Picked It
PancakeSwap wins over UniSwap because it does not face problems like slow transaction speeds and high gas fees common among Ethereum-based exchanges. It has also improved its liquidity and capital efficiency with its v3 upgrade. The exchange is transparent about the way it collects and allocates fees.
DODO
DODO, although a DeFi project developed on Ethereum, does not rely on AMM but instead uses the Proactive Market Maker(PMM) model. In broad terms, this means that the platform generally has more liquidity and price stability than other AMM-based exchanges
The DODO platform does not charge any deposit and withdrawal fees. However, it does take a 0.3% fee per trade which after considering everything finally comes around to be 0.6% per trade. DODO also has some unique features such as the DODO Vending Machine, NFT Vault and private pools that you should check out once.
Features
✔️Uses the Proactive Market Maker(PMM) model
✔️Cross-chain trading is possible
✔️Native ERC-20 token is DODO coin
Pros and Cons
✅Freedom to create liquidity ❌Does not support fiat currencies
market
✅Free deposits and withdrawals
✅Low slippage
Trading Fees
DODO trading fees explanation
Why We Picked It
The DODO exchange has lower slippage, no impermanent loss and better price stability due to its use of PMM. There are also products like DODO Vending Machine and private pools available. You will find DODO easy to use if you have some prior experience with DeFi platforms.
Is Crypto Trading Legal in Portugal?
Portugal is a crypto-friendly country popular among investors and businesses alike. It is not explicitly banned in the country nor are there any particular restrictions imposed on digital currencies. Therefore, people can freely buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies in Portugal.
It should be noted here that cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender in Portugal and do not have the status of “money.” They are not backed by either the Portuguese government or the country’s central bank.
Banco de Portugal, the European nation’s central bank, has also issued public statements warning consumers about the risks of cryptocurrencies. Similarly, the Portuguese Securities Authority or CMVM has also published warnings regarding the potential risks of Initial Coin Offerings(ICOs).
There are no specific regulations for cryptocurrency in Portugal. Instead, it is regulated by a patchwork of existing laws and regulations. For example, crypto operations have to comply with the Portuguese Anti-Money Laundering(AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism(CFT) standards.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers are largely supervised by Banco de Portugal and any company engaging in crypto-related business has to be licensed as a virtual asset service provider(VASP) by the central bank before starting operations.
As stated in the 2023 Portuguese State Budget, gains from disposing of crypto assets are to be considered capital gains for the purpose of personal income tax. Such gains on digital assets held for less than one year would be taxed at 28%. Digital assets held longer than that are exempt from taxes.
VAT is not charged on cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets are also exempt from taxation if received as gifts and inheritances by spouses and direct descendants.
Conclusion
There are several cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Portugal. It has emerged as a hot destination for crypto enthusiasts in the past few years due to its relatively liberal attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Portuguese traders, therefore, can freely trade or hold cryptocurrencies.
Even though VASPs in Portugal have to be properly licensed and comply with AML/CFT standards, you should not forget that at the end of the day, crypto trading is a risky and speculative business. You should never invest more money than you can afford to lose in cryptocurrencies.