How Bitvavo keeps your crypto safe

BitvavoSep 22, 2025

From cold storage and real-time monitoring to regulatory compliance, multi-signature protocols, and publicly verified audits, Bitvavo is built from the ground up to protect your assets.

If you landed here because you're asking yourself “Is Bitvavo legit?” — you're in the right place. In crypto, trust isn’t earned with buzzwords. It’s earned with transparency, regulation, and a security stack built to do the hard work in the background, and deliver every time.

At Bitvavo, every login, every trade, every withdrawal, and every user session depends on a layered system of safeguards designed to protect against today’s most sophisticated threats, from external attacks to insider risks.

A twofold approach to account security

It starts with our infrastructure, and ends with the steps you take to secure your account. In this article, you’ll learn more about four (of the many) ways we ensure our platform adheres to the highest standards of safety and security.

1. Bitvavo is MiCA licensed and AMLD5 compliant.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2018, Bitvavo has grown to become the number one crypto trading platform in the Netherlands, and one of Europe’s fastest-growing platforms, with over two million users across the continent.

Bitvavo is licensed under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). This licence enables Bitvavo to offer its services across all EU member states, (as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) under a single harmonised regulatory framework.

We also operate under the EU’s AMLD5 directive, which includes strict controls around identity verification (KYC), anti-money laundering monitoring, and digital asset operations.

These controls aren’t just boxes we tick. They’re an important part of how we help protect our users and the wider crypto ecosystem from fraud, abuse, and bad actors.

2. Account safety is embedded in Bitvavo’s systems and infrastructure.

At Bitvavo, trust is more than a feeling. It’s engineering you can rely on.

Bitvavo’s backend infrastructure is ISO 27001 certified, the global gold standard for information security. This means every login and transaction is protected by layers of defense, including cold storage, fraud detection, and real-time threat monitoring.

We monitor account activity around the clock to flag and respond to suspicious behavior in real time. And if you spot something first? Our Amsterdam-based support team is ready to act when it matters most.

3. Offline storage and multi-signature controls protect customer assets.

The majority of customer funds on Bitvavo are held in cold wallets — secure systems that remain offline and disconnected from the internet. These wallets are protected by multi-signature protocols, which require multiple independent approvals before access is granted.

This architecture is designed to prevent both external breaches and internal misuse. By eliminating any single point of failure, Bitvavo ensures that platform-held assets remain protected under strict operational controls.

4. Independent Proof of Reserves audits confirm assets held are backed 1:1.

We don’t just say we’re holding your assets: we can prove it.

Bitvavo conducts quarterly Proof of Reserves audits, independently verified by The Network Firm (a third party accounting firm), and publicly available to all users. These reports confirm that select assets are fully backed, held 1:1 with no fractional reserves and no rehypothecation.

This approach reflects our belief that security starts with transparency. Users should never have to guess where their funds are, or whether they’re accounted for.

Shared responsibility, maximum protection

Account security doesn’t stop with us. It scales with you. When you enable two-factor authentication (2FA) and keep it enabled for 30 days, you unlock access to Bitvavo’s Account Guarantee, which covers your wallet up to €100,000 (in the rare event of unauthorized access).

We protect the systems. You control the access. Together, that’s security at scale.