Why look for a MoonPay alternative?
MoonPay launched in 2019 in Miami as an API so any wallet or marketplace could offer "buy crypto with a card" without building its own payment provider. That is still its business: payment infrastructure embedded in 500+ partners —MetaMask, Trust Wallet, OpenSea, Coinbase Wallet, exchanges and apps of every kind— with close to 35 million accounts created and 170 supported crypto-assets per its own corporate site. It has no own order book, no trading account with an operating history, and in most flows the crypto you buy lands straight in the wallet you already had open.
The problem is not that MoonPay is a scam or unregulated: its entity structure is real and, in the EU, it even holds a MiCA licence. The problem is category confusion: many people believe "buying on MoonPay" is the same as opening an account at a regulated exchange with custody, when it is actually a single-use payment gateway, with a different contract depending on your country and a fee that rarely stays at the headline "up to 4.5%". In this guide we compare, with public, dated sources, what each MoonPay licence actually authorises, what you really pay when buying by card, and what is missing when something goes wrong — against a single MiCA CASP, with custody and multilingual human support.
Why so many people doubt MoonPay
Up to 4.5% card fee, plus the fee the wallet sets
MoonPay's card fee runs up to 4.5% (minimum up to €4.50 if you arrive via a partner). If the wallet or app embedding it charges its own "ecosystem fee" (0-10%, typically 0-2% per MoonPay), it stacks on top without appearing as a single figure.
Four legal entities depending on your country
You contract with MoonPay Europe B.V. (EU), MoonPay (UK) Limited (UK), MoonPay USA LLC (US) or MoonPay Jersey Ltd. depending on where you are — each with its own registration, scope and regulator. There is no single entity backing you worldwide.
No account with a history, no general support phone line
MoonPay is a single-payment flow: no trading dashboard, statement or regulated Earn. Support is chat and tickets via support.moonpay.com; it does not publish a general multilingual support phone line.
Public record
Reputation and documented facts about MoonPay
Sanctions, incidents or controversies recorded in official sources or verifiable media. Bit2Me does not pass judgment: we cite public facts.
The Texas Banking Commissioner issued a consent order against MoonPay USA LLC and Moon Pay Limited (Malta) for engaging in unlicensed money transmission in the state between 2020 and 2023 (buying and selling sovereign-backed stablecoins); the monetary penalty was $30,516.30.
Source: dob.texas.gov
FINTRAC (Canada’s anti-money-laundering regulator) imposed an administrative penalty of CAD 536,853.35 on MP Technology Services Ltd., a MoonPay Inc. subsidiary, for anti-money-laundering compliance failures, including not reporting suspicious transactions flagged by its own monitoring systems.
Source: investmentexecutive.com
A class action (Wilhelm v. MoonPay USA, LLC, case 1:23-cv-16894, Illinois) was filed alleging MoonPay collected users’ facial geometry data during identity verification without the prior consent required by the state’s biometric privacy law (BIPA); the case is pending and the allegations remain judicially unresolved.
Source: classaction.org
These records do not rule out the competitor being suitable in other contexts; they are part of the due diligence worth doing before depositing funds.
Verdict
When you buy crypto "on MoonPay" you almost never open MoonPay: you tap buy inside MetaMask, Trust Wallet, OpenSea or your exchange and MoonPay processes the card payment in the background. That design explains why its regulatory and fee profile surprises so many people: MoonPay Europe B.V. does hold a MiCA licence (Dutch AFM, since 30 December 2024), but its authorisation covers fiat↔crypto exchange and transfer — not client custody, which is not listed among its authorised services. And the card fee runs up to 4.5%, with a minimum of up to €4.50 when you arrive via a partner, plus whatever ecosystem fee that partner decides to add. Bit2Me is a single MiCA CASP entity under the CNMV, with insured custody, free SEPA and multilingual human support when something goes wrong.
Regulated by the CNMV · Support in your language · +1 million users · Promotion subject to terms
MoonPay vs Bit2Me: comparison
The dimensions that matter most to a retail user in Europe.
Before products: trust
Who you really deal with: Bit2Me vs MoonPay
An exchange isn't chosen on price or catalogue alone. Look at who answers for your money, from where and with what backing.
Bit2Me- Real HQ
- Spain (EU) — parent company, not a subsidiary
- Supervised by
- CNMV (Spain), under MiCA
- Operating since
- 2014, with no security incidents
- Who's behind it
- Backed by Tether, Telefónica, Bankinter and other institutions
MoonPay- Real HQ
- Miami, US (MoonPay Inc. / MoonPay USA LLC, Delaware); EU entity: MoonPay Europe B.V. (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
- Supervised by
- AFM (Netherlands) — MiCA CASP for MoonPay Europe B.V. (exchange and transfer, no authorised custody); FCA (UK) as an AML register for MoonPay (UK) Limited; FinCEN + US state regulators for MoonPay USA LLC.
- Operating since
- 2019
- Who's behind it
- Private US company; last known public valuation ~$3.4bn (2022). Not publicly listed.
| Feature | Bit2Me | MoonPay |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation and licencesDecisive | Bit2Me:MiCA CASP under the CNMV with custody included in the same licence — single entity. | MoonPay:MoonPay Europe B.V. is a MiCA CASP (Dutch AFM, 30/12/2024) for fiat↔crypto exchange and transfer; custody is not among its authorised services. Outside the EU it operates via three other entities (UK, US, Jersey). |
| Real HQ & jurisdictionDecisive | Bit2Me:A Spanish company headquartered in Spain (EU): you contract, file claims and are supervised before the CNMV, with no intermediary subsidiaries. | MoonPay:MiCA CASP in the EU (MoonPay Europe B.V., AFM) limited to fiat↔crypto exchange and transfer — no authorised custody; outside the EU, three more entities (UK, US, Jersey) depending on your country. |
| SecurityDecisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantage$150M insured custody — MoonPay does not custody a medium-term balance by design. | MoonPay:Gateway model: delivers crypto straight to your wallet, with no medium-term balance custody or published external insurance policy. |
| Data protection (GDPR)Decisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageYour data is processed in the EU under the GDPR, with the safeguards of the European data-protection framework. | MoonPay:Group with a US parent (MoonPay Inc.); data transfers outside the EEA rely on standard contractual clauses. Bit2Me operates under a single Spanish entity subject to GDPR. |
| Fund insuranceDecisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageAssets in Bit2Me Custody are insured under a $150M policy. | MoonPay:No comparable custody product with its own policy applies — the model is pass-through, not fund safekeeping. |
| Customer supportDecisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageMultilingual human support — MoonPay resolves via chat and tickets. | MoonPay:Chat and tickets via support.moonpay.com; no general Spanish support phone line (only a US regulatory complaints line). |
| FeesDecisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageFree SEPA + Pro 0/0.10% — no third-party ecosystem fee on top. | MoonPay:Up to 4.5% by card/Apple Pay/PayPal (minimum up to €4.50 via a partner) + the partner’s ecosystem fee (0-10%, typically 0-2%); bank transfer up to 1%. |
| Buy in euros (SEPA/card)Decisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageEUR purchases via SEPA and card, built for European users. | MoonPay:Accepts card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and bank transfer — more methods than Bit2Me, but with no free SEPA or Bizum and the highest fee in the sector. |
| Products and servicesDecisive | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageIntegrated suite: Pro, Earn, Card, Loan, Tax and Wallet. | MoonPay:On-ramp/off-ramp payment gateway only (plus NFT checkout); no regulated Earn, own crypto Card or Tax. |
| Withdraw to your own walletDecisive | Bit2Me:Withdraw to your wallet whenever you want, with your own trading history. | MoonPay:By design, the purchase lands directly in your own wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet…) — self-custody from the first moment in most flows. |
| Number of cryptocurrencies | Bit2Me:Bit2Me advantageOver 400 cryptocurrencies available. | MoonPay:170 crypto-assets supported per its own corporate site. |
| Ease of use | Bit2Me:Own app and web with an account, history and full trading operations. | MoonPay:Checkout embedded in the wallet or app you already use, without leaving that app or creating another account — very convenient for a one-off purchase. |
Bit2MeHow we made this comparison
We analyse regulation, security, support, fees and catalogue using public, verifiable information from both platforms, updated as of July 1, 2026. Bit2Me is the platform publishing this page, so we have deliberately included points where the competitor stands out, and we recommend always checking the data on the official websites before deciding.
Sources consulted (July 1, 2026)
Regulated by the CNMV · Support in your language · +1 million users
Why Bit2Me lets you sleep at night
If MoonPay solves only one part of the journey, these are the Bit2Me safeguards for entering, operating, and exiting crypto with euro rails and human support.
Crypto that doesn't stain you
Bit2Me complies with KYC/AML and is registered with the Bank of Spain: your operations don't mix with illicit-origin funds on a supervised platform.
Headquartered in Spain, not a tax haven
Bitcoinforme S.L. operates under European law with the CNMV as its direct supervisor.
Free, automatic tax report
Download it from the app or web for every tax year you've traded, at no extra cost. It generates itself from your activity.
No security incidents since 2014
Five consecutive independent audits back our operational soundness.
Human support in your language
24/7 support in your language, with a phone line (+34 910 91 37 88) and people — not bots — answering from Spain.
A platform that doesn't go down
Multi-region high availability, 24/7, 365 days a year, with ~100 ms average response.
Your funds, when you decide
Withdraw to your own wallet at any time. No lock-in, no penalty.
$150M insurance on custody
Assets in Bit2Me Custody are insured for $150M (USD), with segregated cold storage and multisig + HSM FIPS 140-2.
MoonPay Europe B.V. does hold a MiCA licence — but not to custody your funds
MoonPay Europe B.V. (Herengracht 420, Amsterdam, Dutch company no. 93501153) has been authorised as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider under MiCA by the Dutch AFM since 30 December 2024, passported across the 27 EU/EEA countries. That is a real, verifiable fact on the ESMA register. What is worth checking closely is the scope: per the CASP register (CASP Tracker and eucryptoregister.com), MoonPay Europe's authorised services are "exchange of funds for crypto-assets", "exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets" and "transfer of crypto-assets" — custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients is not listed among its authorised services. Outside the EU, MoonPay (UK) Limited is registered with the UK FCA as a cryptoasset provider for anti-money-laundering purposes (not the full authorisation equivalent to MiCA), and MoonPay USA LLC operates as a Money Services Business with FinCEN plus state money-transmitter licences — with no federal banking licence.
Bit2Me is authorised as a MiCA CASP by the CNMV in Spain, with the full catalogue of regulated services —including custody of your crypto-assets— under a single entity. The honest comparison is not "MoonPay is unregulated" (it is, in the EU, since December 2024): it is that MoonPay solves the card payment and Bit2Me solves the whole operation —buying, custody, Earn, withdrawal— under the same supervisor. Regulation is a technical tie: the real difference is what each licence actually covers, and dealing with one European entity instead of four entities spread across continents.
Single-payment gateway vs insured custody: different models
MoonPay's model is not built to hold your crypto-assets: in most flows, the purchased asset is delivered straight to the wallet you already control (MetaMask, Trust Wallet…) within minutes. That means there is no medium-term balance custodied by MoonPay and therefore no client-funds insurance policy published on its site — that is not a hidden gap, it is that its function does not require one. Where it does briefly custody funds (MoonPay Balance, the optional internal account for buying without repeating KYC), MoonPay does not publish an external insurance figure comparable to an exchange whose core service is custody.
Bit2Me does build its business on custody: funds mostly in cold storage, a $150 million policy on Bit2Me Custody, and it has operated without security incidents since 2014, with ISO 27001, 27701 and 22301 certifications audited by third parties. If your plan is to buy and stay in crypto —not just pay and leave— that model difference matters: MoonPay solves the moment of payment; Bit2Me also answers for what happens afterwards.
The "up to 4.5%" is not the full bill: fee layers that stack
MoonPay's public pricing disclosure (moonpay.com/legal/pricing_disclosure and its EU version) sets the card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal fee at up to 4.5%, with a minimum of $/€3.99 if you access directly and up to $/€/£4.50 if you arrive via a partner —the most common case, since almost nobody opens moonpay.com: you land there from a "buy" button inside a wallet or marketplace. If you pay in a currency other than USD, GBP or EUR, a surcharge of 0.25% to 10% is added. Bank/SEPA transfers cost up to 1%. And there is a fourth layer almost no one reads: the pricing disclosure itself discloses an ecosystem fee, set by each partner (the wallet or app embedding MoonPay), of between 0% and 10%, typically 0-2% — it stacks on top of the MoonPay fee and shows as a separate receipt line, not in the "up to 4.5%" headline.
Bit2Me publishes free SEPA deposits and Pro fees of up to 0% maker / 0.10% taker on liquid pairs (0.1%-0.95% standard depending on the pair). Buying €1,000 in ETH at 0.10% taker costs €1, with no additional ecosystem layer or third-party entity. Against the 4.5% + ecosystem fee + possible currency surcharge of a card purchase embedded in a wallet, the difference on a €1,000 operation can be tens of euros — visible before you confirm, not spread across three receipt lines.
What do you really pay?
Move the amount and compare Bit2Me Pro with MoonPay's published retail fee.
On Bit2Me Pro (liquid pairs, 0.10% taker)
€1.00
Down to 0% when trading as maker.
On MoonPay by card/Apple Pay/PayPal (up to 4.5%)
€45.00
Minimum up to €4.50 if you arrive via the wallet/app embedding it (the most common case); a separate ecosystem fee (0-10%, typically 0-2%) set by that partner may apply, plus a surcharge of up to 10% if you pay in a currency other than USD/GBP/EUR.
Fee savings
€44.00
98% less on this trade
Indicative trading fees only — excludes spread, gas and deposit/withdrawal charges. Always cross-check MoonPay's official pricing.
Chat and tickets for a one-off payment vs multilingual human support
MoonPay's help centre (support.moonpay.com) points to a chat widget and, if unresolved, a ticket; it does not publish a general multilingual support phone line. The only number in its legal documentation is a US line required by the New York regulator for formal DFS complaints —not a routine customer-support channel. That fits its product: if you buy once and leave, an asynchronous ticket may be enough; the problem shows up when the card fails, you get double-charged, or the crypto is delayed and you want to talk to someone right away.
Bit2Me adds multilingual human phone support for KYC, SEPA issues, and questions about a purchase that has not arrived. If your activity is a one-off (a purchase via a wallet), the difference matters less; if you plan to buy crypto with euros regularly, having a European entity with a phone line answers the real friction MoonPay does not solve.
Embedded payment screen or your own account: what you actually buy
With MoonPay you buy once, inside someone else's app (your wallet, an NFT marketplace, an exchange that embeds it) and leave: no own trading history, no dashboard showing your average purchase cost, no regulated savings product. It is the right choice when you already have a wallet and just need to fund it quickly with a card.
With Bit2Me you open your own account under a MiCA CASP: trading history, regulated Earn, Card, Tax and the option to withdraw to the very wallet MoonPay would have funded directly — with the difference that you arrived via free SEPA or Pro at 0.10% instead of a 4.5% card plus an ecosystem fee.
What funding your wallet via embedded MoonPay really costs
A €500 card purchase inside a popular wallet can add MoonPay's 4.5% (€22.50) plus a 1-2% ecosystem fee set by that wallet (€5-10) — between €27.50 and €32.50 in visible fees alone, before any currency surcharge if your card does not bill in USD/GBP/EUR.
The same amount at Bit2Me via free SEPA and a Pro purchase at 0.10% taker costs €0.50 in exchange fees, with no ecosystem layer or third entity — then withdrawing to the same wallet, if that is your only reason for using MoonPay.
Which one to choose? It depends on your profile
Bit2Me — pros
- A single MiCA CASP entity (CNMV) with custody included, not four regional entities.
- Free SEPA and Pro 0/0.10% — no third-party ecosystem fee.
- Insured custody with a $150 million policy and a record with no incidents since 2014.
- Without chat-only: multilingual support — MoonPay only resolves via chat and tickets.
- An account with history, Earn, Card and Tax — not a one-off payment receipt.
MoonPay — things to consider
- Payment infrastructure embedded in 500+ wallets, marketplaces and exchanges: buy crypto without leaving the app you already use.
- Very fast card checkout, with no need to open a separate account or bank account.
- Card fee of up to 4.5% plus the ecosystem fee set by the embedding partner.
- No custody as an authorised service under its European MiCA licence; no own account with history or regulated Earn.
When to choose MoonPay?
- You already use MetaMask, Trust Wallet or another wallet and just need to fund it quickly with a card, without opening another account.
- You buy crypto very occasionally and the 4.5% cost is worth it versus the friction of opening an exchange account.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for a MoonPay alternative because you care about European regulation, predictable fees, the safety of your funds and support in your language, Bit2Me addresses exactly those needs.
What you gain switching from MoonPay
No ecosystem fee
Free SEPA and 0.10% Pro — no extra layer set by the embedding wallet.
From four entities to one
A single MiCA CASP under the CNMV, instead of EU/UK/US/Jersey depending on your country.
Without payment-only custody
$150M policy on what you hold, not just on the moment of buying.
Without chat-only support
Multilingual human support for SEPA and KYC — MoonPay only offers chat/tickets.
From receipt to account history
Statement, Earn and Tax — not just a one-off payment receipt.
Without gateway-only limits
Pro, Earn, Card, Loan and Wallet — MoonPay is only the payment gateway.
Switch from MoonPay to Bit2Me
Open your account in minutes: euros via SEPA, full CNMV oversight and support in your language when you need it.
15€ welcome bonus when you create your account and buy €100 or more in crypto. Promotion subject to terms.
Regulated by the CNMV · Support in your language · +1 million users
How to switch from MoonPay to Bit2Me
Create your free Bit2Me account and verify your identity (KYC) in minutes.
Deposit euros via free SEPA transfer from your bank (or bank transfer, depending on amount).
Buy the cryptocurrency you need at the published Pro rate, with no added ecosystem fee.
Withdraw to your wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet…) whenever you want — the same destination MoonPay would have sent you to, but paying less to get there.
15€ free when you create your account and buy €100 or more in crypto
Regulated by the CNMV · Support in your language · +1 million users
What they say about Bit2Me and who backs us
4.2/5
“One of the most reliable exchanges in the world, based on an analysis of 40+ indicators: fiscal headquarters, transparency, asset protection and user experience.”
“The Good Exchange: the most easy, secure and complete crypto exchange.”
Frequently asked questions
Conclusion
MoonPay does well what it promises: funding a wallet with a card in minutes from 500+ apps, with a real MiCA licence in the EU for the exchange-and-transfer segment. What it does not do is replace an exchange with custody, history and phone support — nor charge only the headline "up to 4.5%" once you add the partner's ecosystem fee. If you buy crypto with some regularity and in euros, Bit2Me is the MoonPay alternative with custody, lower fees and multilingual human support under a single MiCA CASP entity. Opening an account is free and takes minutes.
Data accuracy
This comparison draws on publicly available information on the internet — official fee schedules, regulator registers and verifiable announcements — and was cross-checked on July 1, 2026. If you spot an error or outdated figure, contact us and we will review it.
