Introduction
Bitstamp is one of the oldest crypto exchanges in Europe, with licences in Luxembourg and Slovenia. Backpack is younger and charges entry fees that are a quarter of Bitstamp's. Data as at August 2026.
Which one for whom?
| Topic | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | Backpack | 0.08% / 0.10% against 0.30% / 0.40%. |
| Spread | It depends | Only Backpack measured ($0.10). Bitstamp's perpetuals have only been running since 9 April 2026 and have not been checked yet. |
| Safety and supervision | Backpack | Zero filings against three decisions, including a French ruling from 2025. |
| Products | Backpack | Both spot and perpetuals; Backpack also has real equities. |
| Yield on collateral | Backpack | Auto-lend lets collateral earn; at Bitstamp staking is a separate choice. |
| Ease of use | Bitstamp | One app with Basic and Pro, TradingView, a FIX API and 24/7 support against English-only with only email and Discord. |
Bitstamp if euro pairs and a long record of service weigh heavily. Backpack if you steer on costs or want daily proof of reserves.
Head to head
| Bitstamp | Backpack | |
|---|---|---|
| Licences | MiCA (CSSF Luxembourg) + MiFID II (ATVP Slovenia) | MiCA (Latvijas Banka) + MiFID II (CySEC 273/15) |
| Entity | Bitstamp Europe S.A. (LU) · Bitstamp Financial Services Ltd (SI) — part of Robinhood since June 2025 | Trek Technologies SIA (LV) · Trek Labs Europe Ltd (CY) |
| Operating since | 2011 | 2023 |
| Spot fees (entry tier, maker/taker) | 0.30% / 0.40% | 0.08% / 0.10% |
| Perpetuals | Yes, flat introductory rate with a maker rebate | Yes — 0.02% / 0.05% entry tier |
| Currencies | EUR and USD | USD pairs only |
| Capital efficiency | Staking, separate from trading | Collateral earns interest while it serves as margin (auto-lend) |
| Proof of reserves | Quarterly | Daily |
| Hack and loss history | No loss of customer funds in the period reviewed | None |
| Enforcement history | 3 decisions, including a French court ruling from 2025 | No enforcement record |
| Exchange score | 6.3 / 10 | 8.8 / 10 |
How the scores are built
Bitstamp scores 6.3 / 10, Backpack scores 8.8 / 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
Bitstamp starts at 0.30%/0.40% and comes down per volume tier; Backpack starts at 0.08%/0.10%. At retail amounts you therefore pay about four times as much at Bitstamp. On derivatives they are closer together: Bitstamp runs a flat introductory rate there with a maker rebate, but without published volume tiers.
Spread
At Backpack we measured a spread of $0.10 on BTC perpetuals. Bitstamp has offered perpetuals of its own since 9 April 2026 through its Slovenian entity, but we have not yet measured that market. As long as that is the case we publish no figure on it. At a rate of 0.30%/0.40% the fee at Bitstamp weighs heavier than the spread in any case. What we have measured is in our spread measurement.
Safety and supervision
Both hold MiCA and MiFID II. Bitstamp does have a history: three enforcement decisions, including a ruling by the Grenoble court of appeal of 26 June 2025. That ruling is instructive — Bitstamp had to compensate a hacked French customer €27,950, not because of a technical failure but purely because it had kept serving customers without French registration. Backpack has no filings at all and publishes daily proof of reserves.
Products
Both offer spot and perpetuals — Bitstamp since 9 April 2026, through its Slovenian MiFID II entity and only on the web platform. Backpack also has real equities. Bitstamp is currently not in our comparison tool, but we do keep tracking the rates.
Yield on collateral
Bitstamp offers staking, separate from trading — the collateral under your perpetuals 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. Now that both offer perpetuals, this is the sharpest distinction between the two. 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
Bitstamp has the most mature set-up: one app with a Basic and a Pro mode, TradingView charts, a ticket system with 24/7 support according to its own support page, and REST, WebSocket and FIX. Discontinued since 14 May 2025, though: trailing stops, and we have not been able to establish whether Dutch is available in the interface. Backpack is English-only, has no demo environment and only email and Discord as contact channels, with manual reviews that can run to seven days.
Frequently asked questions
What is that French ruling against Bitstamp?
On 26 June 2025 the Grenoble court of appeal ruled that Bitstamp was liable for €27,950 towards a hacked customer. Not because security failed — two-factor authentication worked — but because Bitstamp kept serving customers without French registration. Without that breach the customer would never have been there, the court reasoned.
Why is Bitstamp not in the comparison tool?
Bitstamp is temporarily hidden in the comparison tool. We do keep tracking the rates and they are in the table above.
Which is cheaper for spot?
Backpack, by a wide margin: 0.08%/0.10% against 0.30%/0.40% on the entry tier.
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.