Europe

Portugal crypto restrictions and exchange access

Portugal applies the EU's MiCA rules through the Banco de Portugal and the CMVM, so an exchange needs a MiCA authorisation to serve residents, and gains on coins held under a year are taxed at a flat rate.

Available

of 22 platforms

Limited

of 22 platforms

Restricted

of 22 platforms

Regulators

Top exchanges by access score

Last updated 20 Oct 2026

Map of Portugal and its neighbours with Portugal highlighted, beside the 22 tracked platforms grouped by status in Portugal: 3 restricted (Gemini, HTX, Kalshi); 9 limited (Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, Crypto.com, Gate, KuCoin, MEXC, Polymarket); 10 available (Aster, Bitstamp, Coinbase, Hyperliquid, Jupiter, Kraken, Lighter, OKX, PancakeSwap, Uniswap). Right: 3 of 22 tracked platforms refuse Portugal; 9 are limited; the MiCA transition ended in Portugal on 1 July 2026; crypto gains held under 365 days are taxed at 28%, and gains on coins held 365 days or more are excluded.

Is crypto legal in Portugal?

Yes, through authorised providers. Portugal’s MiCA law gives the Banco de Portugal the job of licensing crypto firms, and since 1 July 2026 the transition for firms on its old register is over.

We found no Portuguese rule against holding or trading crypto. The rules decide who may serve you. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) sets the licensing regime, and Portugal implemented it with Lei 69/2025, which Parliament approved on 5 December 2025 and the Diário da República published on 22 December 2025, according to a note from the law firm Abreu Advogados. We could not read the law’s text on the official gazette, so the dates and duties in this guide come from that note.

The transition for existing firms was longer than the government first proposed. Firms registered with the Banco de Portugal under the earlier anti-money-laundering law (Lei 83/2017) on 30 December 2024, with activity started and notified, could keep operating until 1 July 2026 or until their MiCA application was granted or refused, whichever came first. The government’s draft had ended it on 30 December 2025. Registrations that had no activity by that date lapsed, as did applications still pending on it, and those firms may not deal in crypto until authorised, per the same note. ESMA’s statement of 17 April 2026 said unauthorised firms must stop serving EU clients once their transition ends.

Which crypto exchanges work in Portugal?

Seven of the exchanges we track serve Portuguese users under a MiCA licence: Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Bitstamp, Bybit, Crypto.com and Gate. Four are fully available; Bybit, Crypto.com and Gate are limited because they offer no derivatives here.

None of the seven is licensed in Portugal itself. Each holds a licence from another EU regulator and serves Portuguese users on a passport, which is why the table names the regulator that granted it. ESMA’s interim register carries the licence dates. We could not read the Banco de Portugal’s own list of authorised providers, so this guide names no Portuguese-licensed firm.

Binance, MEXC, Bitget and Bitfinex hold no MiCA licence, and Gemini, HTX and KuCoin have left or been barred; their position is under the blocked platforms below.

Best crypto platforms for Portuguese residents

By our access score, Bitstamp and Kraken (each 8.0 out of 10) are the most open exchanges for Portuguese residents, Coinbase and OKX (7.5) come next, and Uniswap, Jupiter, PancakeSwap, Lighter, Aster and Hyperliquid (8.0) are the most open DeFi platforms. No prediction market is fully open to them.

The score rates how fully a Portuguese resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the licences we hold on file for Portugal (2) and what our geo-access test saw from a Portuguese address (1). Nobody scores above 8.0, because every exchange here serves Portugal on an EU passport or has no licence at all, and none holds a licence booked to Portugal. Platforms that refuse Portuguese users are not scored. The full method is on our methodology page.

Exchanges

Bitstamp
Best for Spot trading from a long-running EU licence
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Bitstamp Europe S.A. holds a CSSF MiCA licence from 15 May 2025
- The home page opened from a Portuguese address
Cons
- No Portuguese entity: served from Luxembourg
Read our Bitstamp report
Kraken
Best for Spot trading under an Irish MiCA licence
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Payward Europe Solutions holds a Central Bank of Ireland MiCA licence, passported across the EEA
- Sign-up opened from a Portuguese address
Cons
- No Portuguese entity: served from Ireland
Read our Kraken report
Coinbase
Best for A MiCA-licensed exchange with the widest reach
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. holds a CSSF MiCA licence passported across the EEA
- Sign-up opened from a Portuguese address
Cons
- No Portuguese entity: served from Luxembourg
- Its home page said stocks and prediction markets are unavailable here
Read our Coinbase report
OKX
Best for A global brand with a local EU site
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- OKX Europe Limited holds an MFSA MiCA licence from 27 January 2025
- Portuguese sign-ups are sent to OKX Europe
Cons
- Served from Malta, not by a Portuguese entity
Read our OKX report
Bybit
Best for Spot trading only
6.9/10
Access
3.5/4
Products
2.4/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Spot is served by Bybit EU GmbH under an Austrian MiCA licence
Cons
- Bybit EU offers no derivatives
- Global Bybit, which has them, is being wound down for the EEA
Read our Bybit report
Crypto.com
Best for Spot trading in an app
6.3/10
Access
3.5/4
Products
1.8/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Foris DAX MT Limited holds a Malta MiCA licence from 27 January 2025
- Spot trading and the app are offered
Cons
- Derivatives are on its geo-restrictions list for Portugal
Read our Crypto.com report
Gate
Best for Spot trading on a licensed EU arm
5.5/10
Access
3.5/4
Products
1.5/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Gate Technology Ltd holds a Maltese MiCA licence
- Spot trading is open to Portuguese users
Cons
- No derivatives: global Gate stopped taking EEA users in March 2025
- Sign-up showed a prompt to switch to the EU site
Read our Gate report

DeFi

Aster
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Portugal is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our Aster report
Hyperliquid
Best for Perpetuals and spot on its own chain
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Not excluded by its terms
- The app loaded in our test
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our Hyperliquid report
Jupiter
Best for Solana swaps
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Portugal is not named in its terms
- Its app loaded in our test
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our Jupiter report
Lighter
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Portugal is not named in its terms
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our Lighter report
PancakeSwap
Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Not excluded by its terms
- The swap page loaded in our test
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our PancakeSwap report
Uniswap
Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions
- The swap app loaded from a Portuguese address
Cons
- No licence on file for Portugal
Read our Uniswap report

Which platforms block Portuguese users?

Three of the 22 platforms we track refuse Portuguese users: Gemini, HTX and Kalshi. Nine more are limited: Binance, Bitget, Bitfinex, Bybit, Crypto.com, Gate, KuCoin, MEXC and Polymarket.

Most of these trace to MiCA. Gemini closed every account in the UK and EEA on 6 April 2026. KuCoin EU has had trading and deposits suspended since 4 February 2026. Binance told EU users it would stop services after failing to secure a licence; sign-ups, deposits and trading are closed and existing users can withdraw. Bitget EU applied to the Austrian regulator on 2 July 2026 and says it will serve the EU only once authorised. HTX’s terms bar every EU state, and since 23 August 2026 EU sanctions on Russia-linked providers ban dealings with it, under Regulation (EU) 2026/1848. MEXC has no MiCA licence and ESMA lists it as non-compliant.

Kalshi is the exception: it names Portugal itself, in section VI of its Member Agreement. Polymarket does not name Portugal, but the gambling regulator ordered it blocked, as covered under prediction markets below.

Platforms that refuse or restrict Portuguese usersPick one to see what we found

Platform	Status	Type	What we found
Gemini	Restricted	Exchange	Closed every account on 6 April 2026; its sign-up page refused us from Portugal
HTX	Restricted	Exchange	Its user agreement bars all EU states, and EU sanctions ban dealings with HTX from 23 August 2026
Kalshi	Restricted	Prediction market	Portugal is on its restricted-jurisdictions list; sign-up offers perpetual futures only
Binance	Limited	Exchange	No MiCA authorisation since 1 July 2026: sign-ups, deposits and trading closed, existing users can withdraw
KuCoin	Limited	Exchange	KuCoin EU has had trading and deposits suspended since 4 February 2026; global KuCoin takes no new EEA users
MEXC	Limited	Exchange	No MiCA licence; ESMA lists it as non-compliant
Bitget	Limited	Exchange	No MiCA licence; Bitget EU applied on 2 July 2026 and will serve the EU only once authorised
Bitfinex	Limited	Exchange	No Bitfinex company is on ESMA’s register, and it hides some pages from EEA customers while still signing them up
Bybit	Limited	Exchange	Bybit EU serves spot only; derivatives are not offered here
Crypto.com	Limited	Exchange	Spot is open; derivatives are on its geo-restrictions list
Gate	Limited	Exchange	Gate EU serves spot only; global Gate stopped taking EEA users in March 2025
Polymarket	Limited	Prediction market	Not on its own list, but the gambling regulator ordered operators to block it on 19 January 2026

Source: platform terms and notices, ESMA, EU Official Journal, SRIJ order as reported by ECO, verified 17 October 2026. What each site showed us is in the next section.

What our geo-access test saw from Portugal

From a Portuguese address on 14 and 16 October 2026 we tested all 22 platforms we track: 1 refused us, 6 showed a notice or a redirect, and 15 loaded with no barrier.

An open page is not permission. HTX loaded although its terms bar the EU, and Polymarket loaded through our VPN exit although the gambling regulator had ordered Portuguese operators to block it. The one refusal was Gemini (“Gemini does not currently operate in Portugal”). The notices were Binance’s “European Regulatory Information” pop-up, a line on Coinbase’s home page that stocks and prediction markets are unavailable, an EU-region prompt at Gate, a suggestion to switch to KuCoin EU, OKX’s redirect to its European site, and a prediction-markets notice at Kalshi. Swipe through the screenshots below; each card quotes the message the page showed.

Who regulates crypto in Portugal?

The Banco de Portugal authorises crypto firms and supervises stablecoin issuers, the CMVM supervises their conduct and market abuse, the gambling regulator SRIJ polices betting and prediction markets, and the tax authority collects crypto reports.

Banco de Portugal. Under Lei 69/2025 it authorises crypto-asset service providers and approves acquisitions of them. It also covers asset-referenced and e-money tokens and the prudential and governance rules for providers, per the law firm’s summary. An application goes to the bank first, which passes it to the CMVM for an opinion.
CMVM. The Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários supervises public offers and admissions to trading of crypto-assets other than stablecoins, prevents market abuse, and checks that every provider meets its conduct and custody duties, per the same summary.
SRIJ. The Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos regulates online gambling; see the prediction markets section.
Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira. The tax authority sets how gains are declared and collects reports from custodians and exchanges, as covered in the tax section.

Which crypto products are limited in Portugal?

Spot trading is the open product. Bybit, Crypto.com and Gate offer no derivatives to Portuguese users, and Kalshi’s prediction markets are closed to them.

Derivatives. Bybit EU offers none, and Crypto.com lists derivatives among its geo-restricted products for Portugal. Gate EU offers no derivatives either, and global Gate, which has them, stopped taking EEA users in March 2025.
Stablecoins. Issuers of asset-referenced and e-money tokens answer to the Banco de Portugal, so a stablecoin issuer is licensed separately from the exchange that lists it.
Prediction markets. Kalshi lists Portugal as restricted; Polymarket is blocked by the gambling regulator. The legal position is below.

Are prediction markets legal in Portugal?

Not without a licence. Portugal’s gambling regulator ordered Polymarket blocked on 19 January 2026, and the online gambling regime covers only sports, casino and horse-race betting.

According to ECO, the SRIJ gave Polymarket 48 hours to stop and, when it did not, told operators to block the site. Vodafone, MEO and NOS then did so. The regulator’s stated reasons were that Polymarket had no authorisation to offer bets in Portugal and that national law does not allow betting on political events. We could not read the SRIJ’s own notice, so this account rests on that report.

In our data Polymarket is limited, not restricted: it does not name Portugal on its own list, and it loaded in our test, so the block is a regulator’s order against the site rather than a platform exit. Kalshi is restricted because it lists Portugal itself. ECO reported in January that Kalshi, also unlicensed, remained reachable, and we found no SRIJ action against it. We also found no court challenge to the Polymarket order and no Portuguese bill that would licence prediction markets as of 17 October 2026.

How is crypto taxed in Portugal?

Gains on coins held under 365 days are taxed at a flat 28%. Gains on coins held 365 days or more are excluded from tax, and swapping one crypto for another is not taxed when you make it.

Portugal taxes an individual’s crypto gain at a flat 28% when the coins were held under 365 days, with an option to add the gain to other income. A gain on coins held 365 days or more is excluded from tax but still reported. Swaps of one crypto for another are not taxed when made, lending and staking income paid in money is taxed at 28%, and fees charged by crypto providers carry 4% stamp duty.

The regime has applied since 1 January 2023 under the 2023 State Budget, Lei 24-D/2022, says the tax authority’s leaflet on crypto-assets of December 2025. A sale of crypto that is not a security is a capital gain under article 10 of the income tax code, taxed at 28% under article 72, and you may instead add the gain to your other income. The leaflet excludes gains and losses on coins held 365 days or more, counting time held before 2023, but only for crypto that is not a security and only where the other party is in the EU or EEA or a state with a tax treaty or information-exchange agreement. Article 10 was renumbered by Decreto-Lei 97/2026 of 20 May 2026, so the exclusion now sits in number 22, not the number 19 the leaflet quotes.

Other rules from the same leaflet:

Swaps. Exchanging one crypto for another is not taxed when made, and the coin you receive takes the cost of the coin you gave up. Tax arises on a later sale for money.
Order and losses. Coins are matched first in, first out, provider by provider. Losses carry forward five years only if you choose to add your gains to your other income.
Income. Mining and validating, or trading as a business, count as business income. Lending and staking income paid in money is taxed at 28%.
Stamp duty. Fees and commissions charged by crypto providers carry 4% stamp duty when the provider or client is in Portugal.

A proposal in the 2026 budget debate from the PCP party to tax all crypto gains and repeal the 365-day exclusion was tabled in November 2025. We found no sign it passed: the tax authority’s December 2025 leaflet and its article 10 page, amended in May 2026, still carry the exclusion. Providers that hold crypto for clients must file a yearly return on each taxpayer by the end of February, per the leaflet.

On reporting from 2026, the EU’s DAC8 directive applies from 1 January 2026, with providers reporting users to tax authorities. Bloomberg Tax reported that Portugal published its transposing law, Lei 26/2026, on 3 June 2026, with crypto-asset returns due by 31 May. We could not read the law itself, so treat the deadline as reported.

Working out the tax on a Portuguese crypto saleFor an individual, from the tax authority’s leaflet

Step	Detail
Check how long you held the coins	365 days or more is excluded from tax for crypto that is not a security, counting time held before 2023
Find the sale	Selling for money is the taxable event; swapping crypto for crypto is not, and the new coin takes the old cost
Match coins first in, first out	Coins are matched provider by provider
Apply 28% or add to other income	The flat rate applies by default; adding the gain to your income lets losses carry forward five years
Declare it on your return	The annual income tax return reports the sale, including exempt gains held 365 days or more

Source: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, checked 17 October 2026.

Sources: Abreu Advogados: MiCA in Portugal: highlights of the new implementing law, Lei 69/2025 (December 2025), ESMA (1: Interim MiCA register: authorised crypto-asset service providers (CASPS.csv), 2: Statement on the end of transitional periods under MiCA (17 April 2026)), ECO: Telecom operators block gambling site Polymarket after regulator order (21 January 2026), Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (1: Leaflet: crypto-assets, tax concept and taxation (December 2025), 2: CIRS article 10: capital gains (amended by Decreto-Lei 97/2026 of 20 May 2026), 3: CIRS article 72: special tax rates), European Union (1: Directive (EU) 2023/2226 (DAC8), 2: Regulation (EU) 2026/1848: Russia-sanctions package listing crypto-asset service providers (July 2026)), Bloomberg Tax: Portugal gazettes law transposing DAC8 and DAC9 (8 June 2026), Gemini: Closing accounts in the UK, EU and Australia, KuCoin: KuCoin EU update (30 June 2026), CoinDesk: Binance tells EU users it will no longer provide services after failing to secure a MiCA licence (26 June 2026), Kalshi: Member Agreement, section VI: Restricted Jurisdictions, Bitget: Bitget EU applies for MiCA authorisation with the Austrian FMA (2 July 2026), Bitfinex: Change log version 1.139: new sign-up flow for EEA customers (15 October 2026), checked 18 Oct 2026.

Platform availability

Explore which exchanges and prediction markets are available in Portugal.

Platform	Type	Spot	Derivatives	Staking	Status	Last verified
Aster	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Binance	Exchange	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited	28 Sep 2026
Bitfinex	Exchange	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Bitget	Exchange	Limited	Limited	–	Limited	16 Oct 2026
Bitstamp	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Bybit	Exchange	Available	Limited	Limited	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Coinbase	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Crypto.com	Exchange	Available	Restricted	–	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Gate	Exchange	Available	Restricted	–	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Gemini	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
HTX	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	20 Oct 2026
Hyperliquid	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Jupiter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Kalshi	Prediction market	–	–	–	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
Kraken	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
KuCoin	Exchange	Limited	Limited	–	Limited	16 Oct 2026
Lighter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
MEXC	Exchange	Limited	Limited	–	Limited	17 Oct 2026
OKX	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	16 Oct 2026
PancakeSwap	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Polymarket	Prediction market	–	–	–	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Uniswap	DeFi	Available	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026