Costs, licensing, consumer protection Privacy, self-custody, censorship resistance
B D LATAM/MENA/Africa Crypto Exchanges

Bitso

Bitso

Bitso SAPI de CV

Status
Private company
Legal HQ
Mexico
Founded
2014
Corporate site
bitso.com
Valuation
$2.2B · May 5, 2021
Latest round
Series C ($250M)

Main investors / shareholders

  • Tiger Global Management · Other
  • Coatue Management · Other
  • Paradigm · Other
  • BOND · Other
  • Valor Capital Group · Other
  • QED Investors · Other
  • Pantera Capital · Other
  • Kaszek · Other

Bitso is Latin America's first crypto unicorn, a market leader in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. It reached a $2.2 billion valuation in May 2021 with its $250M Series C round. Privately held, not publicly listed. Crypto operations in Gibraltar run through The Badger Technology Company Limited, holder of a GFSC DLT licence.
3.6/5 0.8/5 · Data verified on

A custodial exchange, the first crypto unicorn in LATAM, with 12M users and provider of El Salvador's Chivo Wallet. The focus is now on the exchange after the card was discontinued, against a Trustpilot score of 2.4/5.

Visit official website ↗
46
Transparency: Low
46/100 · see methodology
46
Data exposure: Low
46/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

Maker / Taker fee 0.1% / 0.65%
Markets Spot
Supported assets 40+
Trading pairs 90+
24h volume $19.37M
Fiat on-ramp Yes
Deposit methods SPEI (Messico), Pix (Brasile), PSE (Colombia), CVU/CBU (Argentina), Bonifico bancario, Deposito crypto
Geo restrictions US, CA
Staking / Earn Bitso+ yield program su stablecoin e token
Fund custody Custodial (platform holds funds)
KYC Full
Supported countries LATAM · 4+ countries
Regulator GFSC Gibraltar, CNBV Mexico, NYDFS
OAM Italy registration No
Segment B2C
MiCA / License status CNBV Mexico + CVM Brazil IFPE (Mexico); DLT (Gibraltar)

Strengths

  • Primo unicorn crypto LATAM; 12M users; provides Chivo Wallet El Salvador.
  • No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

  • Trustpilot 2,4/5; card discontinued.
  • Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
  • Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
  • Subject to regulation (IFPE (Mexico); DLT (Gibraltar)): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
  • Geographic restrictions (US, CA).

Verdict

B D ★ 3.6/5 ★ 0.8/5

Bitso brings heavyweight credentials — LATAM's first crypto unicorn, 12 million users, cross-jurisdiction licensing across Mexico, Gibraltar and NYDFS, and its role supplying El Salvador's Chivo Wallet — and that sustains a B-range score. Holding it back are the high 0.65% taker fee and, above all, a 2.4/5 Trustpilot that signals real friction in the experience, plus the discontinued card that thinned out the offering.

For the crypto-native user Bitso remains a classic custodial exchange with full KYC: funds sit with the platform and identity is fully verified. The web of regulatory licenses that makes it trustworthy on the consumer side here amounts to more traceability and less autonomy. No self-custody or censorship-resistance feature justifies a favorable verdict through this lens.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.8
Fund control 20% 0.0
Censorship resistance 20% 2.3
Costs 10% 0.0

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

FAQ

What are Bitso's fees?

On Bitso, spot fees are maker 0.1% / taker 0.65%. They drop with monthly volume and VIP tier.

Is Bitso regulated in Europe?

Regulatory status of Bitso: IFPE (Mexico); DLT (Gibraltar). Licence: CNBV Mexico + CVM Brazil.

Does Bitso publish Proof of Reserves?

Proof of Reserves publication is not documented for Bitso. No third-party reserve audit is documented. Reserve transparency is a critical factor after the FTX collapse.

Can I send transfers to third-party IBANs from Bitso?

No, Bitso is an exchange and does not allow transfers to third-party IBANs: fiat withdrawals return to a bank account in your own name.

Does Bitso support derivatives and futures?

Bitso does not offer derivatives: it focuses on spot trading.

Sources

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Update history

✓ Terms unchanged since Jun 1, 2026

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