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Before you buy: what you're buying and how much
Bitcoin is a very volatile asset. Between November 2021 and November 2022 it lost more than 75% of its value, based on Bitstamp closing prices, and nobody can promise you it won't happen again. So the first decision isn't where to buy, but how much you could lose without it changing your life. That's your number, not the one your gut asks for on a day when prices are climbing.
You don't have to buy a whole bitcoin either. Each bitcoin is divided into 100 million satoshis, so you can start with 20, 50 or 100 euros. If you're still not clear on what you're buying and why it has value, start with what Bitcoin is and how it works or with the first episode of Entiende Cripto, where I explain it from scratch (in Spanish, like all my videos).
Chapters (10)
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Step 1: choose a MiCA-licensed exchange
Since July 1, 2026, only platforms authorized by the CNMV, Spain's securities regulator, or by another European supervisor with a passport for Spain can provide crypto services to you in Spain, and the same rule now applies across the EU. Any other platform, however famous, leaves you without MiCA's protection. As of October 2026, ten of the big names pass that filter, and I compare their fees and drawbacks in the ranking of MiCA-licensed exchanges.
To buy bitcoin, look for four things: the company appears in the CNMV's list of providers (in Spanish) and in ESMA's register, SEPA deposits are free, it has a BTC/EUR market with limit orders, and it lets you withdraw the bitcoin to your wallet. If you live elsewhere in the EU, ESMA's register also tells you whether the passport covers your country. The exchange I use is OKX, which ticks all four boxes; here's my full OKX review, 2025 sanctions included.
If it doesn't convince you, there are authorized alternatives for every case: Revolut X or Bitvavo if you want the cheapest order book, Bit2Me if you want a Spanish company supervised by the CNMV, and Bitpanda or eToro if you'd rather have a simple app, even if you pay more per trade.
What if you'd rather buy through your bank in Spain?
That's an option too. The CNMV's list includes these credit institutions with crypto-asset services: BBVA (since March 2025), Openbank (July 2025), Renta 4 (November 2025), CaixaBank and Kutxabank (March 2026). Being on the list doesn't mean all of them let you buy bitcoin from their app or that it's cheap: check which services they're authorized for, whether you can withdraw the bitcoin to your wallet and how much they charge, just as you would with an exchange.
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Step 2: verify your identity (KYC)
Any authorized platform has to know who you are: it's an anti-money-laundering requirement, the famous KYC (know your customer). Have your ID handy (in Spain, your DNI or NIE) or your passport, get ready to take a selfie, and don't be surprised if they ask for recent proof of address or ask about your profession and where your money comes from. At OKX, for example, proof of address has to be from the last six months, and they say they review applications in under 24 hours.
While you wait, lock the account down: a long, unique password, two-step verification with an app (SMS is the weakest option), an anti-phishing code if there is one and an allowlist of withdrawal addresses. Do it before you have a balance, not after.
In my guide to getting started from scratch I cover all of it: the exchange, your first purchase step by step, wallets and the security mistakes that cost the most.
Chapters (7)
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Step 3: deposit euros by SEPA, not by card
The cheapest way to get euros into an exchange is a SEPA transfer from a bank account in your name. On most licensed exchanges it's free on their side: OKX, Kraken, Bitpanda, Bit2Me, Bitvavo, Crypto.com and eToro (into its euro account) don't charge for the deposit, although your bank might. If your bank offers SEPA Instant, the money arrives in seconds; if not, in one or two business days.
Cards are convenient and expensive. Kraken, for example, charges 0.25 euros plus 3.75% for debit card deposits, and Bit2Me adds up to 1.99% on direct card purchases. On 500 euros, at Kraken's rate, you pay 19 euros just to get in, before buying a single satoshi.
- Copy the IBAN, and the reference if they ask for one, exactly as the exchange gives them to you. If anything is missing, the deposit gets delayed or ends up in manual review.
- Don't send from someone else's account or from PayPal or Wise: many exchanges send the money back, and OKX says so explicitly in its help pages.
- If it's taking a while, check with your bank: some apply extra checks to transfers to financial platforms, and that can add a day.
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Step 4: market order or limit order
With euros in your account, it's time to buy. On the BTC/EUR market you have two types of order, and you'll feel the difference in your pocket:
A market order fills against the orders already in the book, which is why it pays the taker fee. On a pair as liquid as BTC/EUR you'll barely notice a price difference, but in a moment of panic or on a small coin you can end up paying more than you saw on screen: that's slippage.
A limit order says “I'll buy up to this price”. If you place it a little below the current price, it waits in the book and, if it fills, you pay the maker fee, which is cheaper. The risk is that the price moves up and your order doesn't fill, which matters little for a purchase meant to last years: you move the order and that's that.
In my OKX tutorial you can see the purchase with euros on screen from minute 05:41, and order-based trading in the chapters at 14:50 and 16:32.
Chapters (9)
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The spread trap: the buy button that overcharges you
Almost every app has a big “Buy” or “Convert” button that gives you a fixed price. It's convenient, and it often advertises “no fees”. The cost is inside the price: it's the spread, the difference between what you pay and the real market price.
Don't take my word for it; the exchanges themselves say so. OKX explains on the help page for its Convert that it doesn't show a fee line, but that the quoted price includes a spread that depends on the trade size, volatility and liquidity, and it recommends comparing it with the market price before you confirm. Bit2Me calculates in its official example that a simple buy of 100 euros costs around 2.15% between fee and spread.
What buying bitcoin costs, stage by stage
With 1,000 euros, the difference between Bit2Me's simple buy (about 21.50 euros, applying the 2.15% from its example) and a maker order on OKX (2 euros) is almost 20 euros. Once, it's no big deal. Twelve purchases of 1,000 euros a year for five years add up to about 1,170 euros lost along the way.
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Step 5: move your bitcoin to your own wallet
While your bitcoin sits on the exchange, the exchange holds the keys. MiCA requires it to keep your crypto separate from its own assets, but there's no guarantee fund, and you still depend on it not getting hacked or freezing your account. For whatever you plan to hold long term, the sensible choice is your own wallet:
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Set up the wallet
For small amounts, a mobile wallet that supports Bitcoin will do; for serious amounts, a hardware wallet bought only from the manufacturer's official store. Write the seed phrase down on paper and never photograph it or store it on your phone or in the cloud.
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Copy the receiving address
From the wallet itself, not from your history. Compare all of it with the one you paste into the exchange, not just the beginning and the end: some attacks slip in addresses that look almost identical.
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Choose the Bitcoin network
When you withdraw, the exchange lets you pick a network. For a Bitcoin wallet, choose the Bitcoin network. If you send over a network your wallet doesn't support, you can lose access to the funds.
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Send a test transfer
Send a small amount first and wait until you see it in your wallet. Then send the rest. The network fee shows up before you confirm, and it varies depending on how congested the network is.
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Prove the wallet is yours
If you withdraw more than 1,000 euros to a wallet of your own, the exchange has to check that you control it: the EU regulation on transfers of crypto-assets has required this since December 30, 2024. It isn't distrust, it's the rule; answer with real information.
In “Wallet vs Exchange” I calmly explain where your bitcoin is when you buy it and when it makes sense to take it out. If you're looking for a hardware wallet, here's my comparison of the best cold wallets, along with a warning I repeat in my videos: buy it only from the manufacturer's official website, never second-hand.
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Buying little by little: DCA
If picking the day stresses you out, there's a boring alternative that works for a lot of people: buying the same amount every month, no matter what. It's called DCA (dollar cost averaging), and it takes away the temptation to guess the price.
It isn't magic. A 2023 Vanguard study using stock market data concluded that investing a lump sum you already have beats spreading it out about two times out of three, because markets tend to rise over time. The advantage of DCA is mostly psychological: it reduces regret if you buy right before a drop and helps you stick to the plan.
With bitcoin, what weighs most is the cost of each purchase. Using Bitstamp data, buying every week or every month between 2018 and 2025 would have produced almost identical average prices, with a 0.2% difference, but 52 purchases a year multiply the fixed costs by more than four compared with 12. So if you do DCA, a monthly transfer and a limit order beat a weekly recurring buy with a spread. I go into it in the guide to bitcoin DCA.
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The mistakes and scams that cost the most
- Buying on an unlicensed platform because someone on social media recommended it. If it isn't in ESMA's register and the CNMV's list, don't.
- Paying the spread without knowing it, purchase after purchase, through the quick button.
- Depositing by card because you're in a hurry, and giving away between 2% and 4% on the way in.
- Picking the wrong network when you withdraw, or pasting a poisoned address without checking all of it.
- Listening to an “account manager” who messages you on WhatsApp, Telegram or Instagram. No serious exchange works that way.
- Falling for ads with celebrities: doctored videos, sometimes made with artificial intelligence, that lead to fake platforms where the profits only exist on screen until you try to withdraw.
- Paying someone who promises to recover what you lost: that's the second scam, the recovery scam, and it often comes right after the first.
- Buying on FOMO after a strong rally and selling in a panic during the next drop.
The signs for spotting each scam, and what to do if it happens to you, are in the guide to crypto scams. And the seven mistakes that ruin beginners, the ones I made and the ones I see everyone make, I cover in this video:
Chapters (8)
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Taxes in Spain: buying isn't taxed, selling is
If you're a tax resident in Spain, buying bitcoin with euros doesn't trigger any tax. What's taxed is selling it or swapping it for another crypto, even if you never go through euros: that counts as a swap (a permuta). The gain or loss goes into the savings base of personal income tax (IRPF), at rates of 19% to 30% since 2025, and it's calculated with the FIFO rule set out in the Spanish Tax Agency's manual: the first coins you bought are the first ones considered sold.
That's why it pays to record, from your very first purchase, the date, the amount in euros, the amount of bitcoin and the fee for each transaction, and to download your exchange history every year. The fees you pay when buying and selling count when the gain is calculated, so don't lose track of them.
One more detail: if your exchange holds custody from outside Spain and on December 31 you're above 50,000 euros across all your foreign custodians, you'll also have to file Form 721 between January and March. The bitcoin you keep in your own wallet doesn't count toward that form. The full explanation, with examples, is in crypto taxes in Spain. If you live elsewhere in the EU, your own country's tax rules apply.
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