Useful Articles / Spain
Crypto exchanges in Spain: licensed venues and the declaration most people miss
Spanish traders face the same MiCA landscape as everyone else in the EU. What is different here is an information obligation that sits alongside the tax return, catches a lot of people, and applies to exactly the situation most readers of this page are in — holding crypto on a foreign platform.
Who can legally take you
The CNMV supervises domestically, with the Banco de España having handled the earlier registration regime. Since 1 July 2026 the requirement is MiCA authorisation, passportable from any EEA regulator.
| Venue | Licensed via | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Bybit EU | Bybit EU GmbH, Austria | Spot and margin, no perpetuals |
| OKX | OKX Europe Limited, Malta | Spot, margin and derivatives |
| Kraken | MiCA authorised for the EEA | Spot, margin and derivatives |
Modelo 721 — the one people forget
Spain requires residents to declare cryptoassets held on platforms located outside Spain, on a separate informational return distinct from the ordinary tax return. It is a reporting obligation, not a tax: you file it because of what you hold and where it sits, whether or not you sold anything or made a profit.
A threshold applies, and the deadline sits early in the year. Penalties for non-filing have historically been significant. Since almost every venue on this page is located outside Spain, this is likely to apply to you — confirm the current threshold and deadline with the Agencia Tributaria or a gestor, because both have been adjusted since the obligation was introduced.
Ordinary taxation, in outline
Gains on disposal fall under savings income and are taxed on a progressive scale of bands rather than a single flat rate. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are treated as disposals — a point that surprises people arriving from jurisdictions where only fiat conversion triggers an event, and one that makes active trading considerably more paperwork than buying and holding.
Funding
SEPA in euros with no conversion step. Spanish banks vary in how they handle transfers to crypto venues, with the larger institutions applying more friction than the digital-first ones. Card funding works everywhere and costs more.
What changed in July 2026
Binance withdrew its MiCA application and stopped serving EU retail clients on 1 July. USDT came off compliant venues because Tether did not seek authorisation. And derivatives now require MiFID II permissions alongside MiCA, which few venues hold.
Opening an account
Bybit EU for spot and margin, or OKX Europe for derivatives as well. Both are referral links and cost you nothing extra.
Whichever you choose, keep exportable annual statements. Between Modelo 721 and swap-level disposal tracking, Spanish record-keeping is heavier than most of the EU, and reconstructing a year afterwards is miserable.