Introduction
Bitvavo is the best-known Dutch crypto exchange and works entirely in euros. Backpack charges lower fees, offers perpetuals and real equities, and holds a MiFID II licence on top. Data as at August 2026.
Which one for whom?
| Topic | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | Backpack | 0.08% / 0.10% against 0.15% / 0.25%. |
| Spread | It depends | Only Backpack measured ($0.10 on BTC perps). Bitvavo has no perpetuals. |
| Safety and supervision | Draw | Neither has a single filing. Backpack publishes proof of reserves daily, Bitvavo quarterly. |
| Products | Backpack | Spot, perpetuals and real equities against spot only. |
| Yield on collateral | Backpack | Auto-lend lets collateral earn; at Bitvavo staking is separate from trading. |
| Ease of use | Bitvavo | Six languages, Dutch-language customer service and phone against English-only and verification taking up to seven days. |
Bitvavo if you want to buy in euros at a Dutch company with Dutch support, and spot is enough. Backpack if you steer on fees or need more than spot. Do count the conversion step: Backpack quotes in dollars only.
Head to head
| Backpack | Bitvavo | |
|---|---|---|
| Licences | MiCA (Latvijas Banka) + MiFID II (CySEC 273/15) | MiCA (AFM Netherlands) |
| Entity | Trek Technologies SIA (LV) · Trek Labs Europe Ltd (CY) | Bitvavo B.V. (NL) |
| Operating since | 2023 | 2018 |
| Spot fees (entry tier, maker/taker) | 0.08% / 0.10% | 0.15% / 0.25% (EUR pairs) |
| Perpetuals | Yes — 0.02% / 0.05% entry tier | No |
| Currencies | USD pairs only | EUR and USD |
| Capital efficiency | Collateral earns interest while it serves as margin (auto-lend) | Staking, separate from trading |
| Proof of reserves | Daily | Quarterly |
| Hack and loss history | None | €280m Genesis exposure in 2022, customers fully compensated |
| Enforcement history | No enforcement record | No enforcement record |
| Exchange score | 8.8 / 10 | 6.0 / 10 |
How the scores are built
Backpack scores 8.8 / 10, Bitvavo scores 6.0 / 10. Supervision and safety of funds together account for half the score; the rest sits in products, costs and yield. The full weighting is set out in our methodology.
Costs
On EUR pairs Bitvavo charges 0.15%/0.25% on the entry tier, Backpack 0.08%/0.10%. Almost half. But mind the USDC pairs at Bitvavo: an unusually wide spread of about 0.11 percent comes on top there, and our comparison counts that as a cost. At Backpack you pay no spread mark-up, but you do pay a conversion from euro to dollar.
Spread
Spread is the hidden cost alongside the fee, and the two measure in different markets. At Backpack we measured $0.10 on BTC perpetuals; at Bitvavo around 0.11% on the conversion into USDC. Those are not apples and apples — Bitvavo has no perpetuals. What you take from it: on Bitvavo's euro rails you mainly pay the spread when converting, at Backpack on every market order. Method and caveats in our spread measurement.
Safety and supervision
Both are MiCA-licensed and neither has a single filing with a regulator — a compliment that only four exchanges in our overview earn. The difference lies elsewhere: Backpack holds a MiFID II licence on top and publishes daily proof of reserves. Bitvavo had exposure to Genesis in 2022 that locked up €280m of lent-out customer funds; that was fully compensated later but still counts in the safety pillar.
Products
Bitvavo does spot and nothing else. Backpack does spot, perpetuals and real equities. For anyone buying bitcoin every month that difference is irrelevant; for anyone who wants to hedge or hold equities it is decisive.
Yield on collateral
Bitvavo offers staking, but that is a separate choice alongside trading — collateral does not earn there. At Backpack it does: through auto-lend, deposited funds earn interest while serving as margin, across 18 assets, roughly 3.87% base and up to around 6.87% for the highest tier. For anyone who only buys bitcoin every month this is irrelevant; for anyone holding positions it counts for more than the difference in fees. Caveat: lent-out collateral can only be withdrawn while the lending pool allows it. Check the numbers with the yield-on-collateral comparison.
Ease of use
For a Dutch user Bitvavo is the more comfortable of the two. Six languages including Dutch, Dutch-language customer service, live chat and phone by appointment — with the caveat that the service desk is not 24/7 but open daily from 07:00 to 23:00. Pro is a toggle in the same app, with TradingView charts. Backpack is English-only, has no Dutch-language support and states itself that a manual verification can take up to seven days. Bitvavo has had a FIX API since April 2026; Backpack does not document one.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bitvavo cheaper than Backpack?
Not on EUR pairs: Bitvavo charges 0.15%/0.25%, Backpack 0.08%/0.10%. On Bitvavo's USDC pairs a spread mark-up of about 0.11% also comes on top of the fee.
Can I pay in euros at Backpack?
You can deposit euros, but trading is in USD pairs. That conversion costs money and belongs in your total costs. Bitvavo does trade directly in euros.
What happened in 2022 with Bitvavo and Genesis?
Bitvavo had funds outstanding with lender Genesis, which collapsed in the aftermath of the FTX failure. Customers were temporarily left dry but were fully compensated later. It weighs in our safety score.
What does 'collateral that works twice' mean?
In a unified cross-margin account with auto-lend, your deposited funds keep earning interest in the lending pool while counting as margin for your open positions at the same time. So you earn interest and trade with the same money. The caveat: withdrawal is only possible while utilisation of that lending pool allows it.