Bitstamp

Our assessment

Bitstamp is one of the longest-running exchanges still operating, holds a MiCA CASP licence granted by Luxembourg's CSSF, and has been a Robinhood subsidiary since a $200m acquisition closed in June 2025. Its documentation is entirely open to verification. It does not offer customer-verifiable proof of reserves, and that costs it heavily on the pillar carrying the most weight.

Ownership without ambiguity

In a sector where corporate structure is often deliberately opaque, Bitstamp's is not: a named parent company, publicly listed, with a disclosed acquisition price and date. Combined with the CSSF licence, a reader can establish who is responsible for their balance and which regulator supervises them — a question that goes unanswered at several higher-scoring venues here.

Fully open documentation

Fee schedule, status page, API documentation, help centre and terms all resolved without an account and without blocks. On the documentation pillar it is the cleanest result in the comparison, and it reflects an older operating culture that predates the current fashion for gating everything behind an app.

No reserve proof, and the cost of that

Available reporting indicates Bitstamp does not publish customer-verifiable proof of reserves, relying instead on 1:1 custody statements and annual audits. Those are real controls. They are not the same as being able to check that your balance was counted, which is what our heaviest indicator asks for. Reported standard fees of 0.50% also place it at the expensive end of this group.

Who it suits

Bitstamp fits readers who value a long operating history, a clear regulated parent and straightforward documentation over reserve cryptography and low fees — particularly European users converting bank money. Readers who want to verify reserves themselves should look at Kraken or OKX.