What is a crypto exchange?
A crypto exchange is a company where you can buy and sell cryptocurrency for ordinary money or swap one coin for another. Unlike an ordinary stock exchange, it is often marketplace, broker and custodian at once: in practice you hold a claim on the company, not the keys yourself. If the exchange goes bankrupt, your coins can be frozen or lost — that happened when FTX went bankrupt in November 2022.
Three roles in one company
On the stock market the roles are split: the exchange matches trades, your bank or broker places the order, and your shares sit in a securities account, separate from the bank's own money. At a crypto exchange it often all sits in the same place. That is convenient. But if the company mixes customers' money with its own, there is nobody outside who notices in time.
FTX — what happened
In 2022 FTX was one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. In November that year it emerged that customers' money had been used by a sister company. Customers tried to withdraw at once, the money was not there, and FTX went bankrupt. More than a million customers could not get to their money. The founder was later convicted of fraud in the US.
What MiCA changes in the EU
Since 30 December 2024 the EU's MiCA rules have been fully in force. A crypto exchange that wants to offer its services in the EU must be authorised by a supervisor, keep customers' coins separate from its own and disclose the risks. Some countries gave existing exchanges a transition period that ended by 1 July 2026 at the latest. The rules make exchanges more transparent. They do not protect you from price falls, and crypto is not covered by deposit insurance.
Costs
Crypto exchanges earn from fees per trade and from the spread — the gap between the buy and sell price. "Free" trading often means the cost is hidden in the spread.
Example: If you buy for 1,000 € and sell again with 1% in total costs each way, you have paid about 20 € before the price has moved at all.
The typical beginner's mistake
Believing a big, well-known crypto exchange cannot fail. FTX was big, well known and ran adverts with celebrities. Size is not the same as safety.
How you see it in Kiggo
Kiggo is not a crypto exchange, does not trade and stores no coins. Kiggo shows the prices: under Market → Crypto you see the 25 largest coins (without stablecoins) as a colour map, refreshed every 15 seconds. Tap a tile for three rings, "10 years at a glance" and the tax card for your country — because crypto is taxed differently from country to country. Crypto is part of Kiggo Plus.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Are my coins safe on a crypto exchange?
They are as safe as the exchange. Under MiCA, exchanges in the EU must be authorised and keep customers' coins separate, which helps. But there is no deposit insurance, and if the exchange fails, it can take a long time to get anything back — if anything.
How do I check whether a crypto exchange is authorised in the EU?
The European supervisor ESMA keeps a public register of providers authorised under MiCA. If the exchange is not listed there, it does not have an EU authorisation.
Do I pay tax on trades on a crypto exchange?
It depends on your country — the rules differ and are often different from those for stocks. Kiggo shows the tax rules for your country under each coin in the app.
Kiggo explains — Kiggo does not advise. We never tell you what to buy or sell, and key figures can only be compared between companies in the same industry. The decision is yours. Last updated 2026-09-23.
Written by Claus Frisch, founder of Kiggo. Not an adviser, not a bank — Kiggo explains, you decide.
