Compare the best crypto exchanges in Uruguay for 2026: regulation, UYU deposits and withdrawals, fees, coins, futures and each exchange's main catch.
Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from UruguayAvailable in the EU as OKX EU Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from Uruguay Accepts clients from UruguayAvailable in the EU as Gate EU | Exchange | Spot assetscrypto | Futures assets | Spot feesmaker/taker | Futures feesmaker/taker | Max leverage | Uruguay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. MEXCVisit | 1,320 | 614 | 0% / 0.05% | 0% / 0.02% | 200× | Yes |
| 2. OKXVisit | 298 | 485 | 0.2% / 0.35% | 0.02% / 0.05% | 125× | Yes |
| 3. KrakenVisit | 679 | 177 | 0.4% / 0.8% | 0.02% / 0.05% | 50× | Yes |
| 4. BitgetVisit | 507 | 478 | 0.1% / 0.1% | 0.02% / 0.06% | 125× | Yes |
| 5. CoinbaseVisit | 402 | 131 | 0.4% / 0.6% | 0.05% / 0.05% | 10× | Yes |
| 6. Bit2MeVisit | 192 | — | — | — | — | Yes |
| 7. BitstampVisit | 118 | — | 0.3% / 0.4% | — | — | Yes |
| 8. GateVisit | 2,052 | 1,022 | 0.1% / 0.1% | 0.02% / 0.05% | 200× | Yes |
| Exchange | Score | Founded | Headquarters | Founder | CEO | KYC | Uruguay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. MEXCVisit | 4.2 | 2018 | Singapore | John Chen | John Chen | Required | Yes |
| 2. OKXVisit | 7.8 | 2017 | Seychelles | Star Xu | Star Xu | Required | Yes |
| 3. KrakenVisit | 9.3 | 2011 | San Francisco, USA | Jesse Powell | David Ripley | Required | Yes |
| 4. BitgetVisit | 7.8 | 2018 | Singapore | Sandra Lou | Gracy Chen | Required | Yes |
| 5. CoinbaseVisit | 7.7 | 2012 | Remote | Brian Armstrong | Brian Armstrong | Required | Yes |
| 6. Bit2MeVisit | 6.1 | 2014 | Elche, Spain | Leif Ferreira, Andrei Manuel (co-founders) | Leif Ferreira, Koh Onozawa Martinez (co-CEOs since 2024) | Required | Yes |
| 7. BitstampVisit | 7.2 | 2011 | Luxembourg | Nejc Kodrič | Jean-Baptiste Graftieau | Required | Yes |
| 8. GateVisit | 7.2 | 2013 | Hong Kong | Lin Han | Lin Han | Required | Yes |
The Uruguay column is checked live against each exchange's restricted-country list.
MEXC is our top pick for Uruguay, best for active traders who want a very wide coin choice and very low trading fees. Buying, holding and trading crypto is legal in Uruguay, and the Central Bank of Uruguay now authorizes and supervises the companies that provide these services.
Day to day, what matters most is how you move money in and out. In Uruguay most retail payments go by bank transfer, including instant transfers in pesos or dollars at any hour, and the debit card is the most-used payment card. Check each exchange’s card, bank transfer and P2P options before you sign up, then compare fees, the coins you can trade and the security record.
MEXC suits active traders who want a very wide coin choice at a low cost. You can trade 1,320 coins on spot and 614 on futures, and new tokens tend to list here early. Spot costs 0% for limit orders and 0.05% at market price, while futures cost 0% and 0.02%, so frequent trading stays cheap.
MEXC offers card, bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal deposits, but these go through third-party payment providers or the P2P market rather than MEXC itself. That means the fee and the limit depend on the provider that serves Uruguay. You can cash out by bank transfer or P2P. The platform also has copy trading, trading bots, a futures demo, 400 tokenized stocks and leverage up to 200x.
ID verification is mandatory. A document lets you withdraw 80 BTC a day, and adding a face scan raises that to 200 BTC. MEXC launched in 2018, is based in Singapore and was co-founded by John Chen, who is also its CEO. The main risk is its poor reputation over reported cases of withheld customer funds, so keep only the money you are actively trading there.
Key points
OKX's P2P market is its biggest draw if you want to fund an account without a card. You trade directly with other users through local payment options, and OKX holds the crypto in escrow until both sides meet the agreed terms. It also offers card and bank transfer deposits, and it pays out by bank transfer, card or P2P. That fits a country where most money moves by bank transfer.
Spot costs 0.2% for makers and 0.35% for takers, which is more than MEXC. Futures stay cheap at 0.02% and 0.05%, with leverage up to 125x. You get 298 spot coins, 485 futures coins and options on 4 coins at 0.03% for makers and takers, plus copy trading, staking and demo trading.
KYC is mandatory and starts with an ID and a live selfie. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Seychelles, OKX is run by CEO Star Xu, one of its co-founders. The main catch is that the products on offer differ by country, so confirm what your Uruguayan account can use before moving money in. Newcomers may also find the platform complex.
Key points
Kraken is the choice if safety comes first. It has a long track record, holds licences in several major markets, publishes proof of reserves and keeps coins in cold storage. For a saver in Uruguay, that means less worry about the exchange itself while your crypto sits there.
Kraken takes money in through a card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or a bank transfer, and pays out to your bank account or card, which matches the way most money moves in Uruguay. The drawback is cost: spot trades are 0.4% when you place a limit order and 0.8% when you buy at market price, so small regular buys lose more to fees. Futures are cheap at 0.02% on the maker side and 0.05% on the taker side, and you can trade them at as much as 50x leverage, alongside 679 spot coins, staking and 13 tokenized stocks.
You need a government ID and a facial check before you can trade and withdraw without limits. Kraken has been operating since 2011 from its base in San Francisco, USA; Jesse Powell co-founded it and David Ripley is CEO. Its security record is strong, so the bigger risk for you is paying high spot fees on frequent small purchases.
Key points
Bitget runs the world's largest copy trading platform, which lets you mirror experienced traders' positions automatically. It adds trading bots, a futures demo, crypto loans, 2,991 tokenized stocks and 150 ETFs. Spot costs 0.1% for makers and takers, 20% less when you pay eligible fees in BGB, while futures charge 0.02% on limit orders and 0.06% on market orders, with a leverage cap of 125x.
You can fund your account with a card, a bank transfer, or Apple Pay and Google Pay on your phone, which covers the debit cards most Uruguayans carry. To turn crypto back into local money, the P2P marketplace is the practical route: it takes local payment methods and adds no P2P fees. There are 507 coins on spot and 478 on futures.
KYC is mandatory, with an ID document and a face check. Bitget dates from 2018, has its base in Singapore and counts Sandra Lou among its co-founders, while Gracy Chen serves as CEO. In September 2026 it reported unauthorized transfers of about $351.6 million from some hot and warm wallets and suspended withdrawals during the investigation, so for now you may not be able to move money out, though Bitget says user balances are secure and its User Protection Fund covers the loss.
Key points
Coinbase has the easiest app here for a first purchase. It is a publicly listed company regulated in the United States, keeps most assets in cold storage and publishes proof of reserves. For a beginner in Uruguay, that means a simple buy screen backed by a company whose finances are public.
You can fund by card or PayPal, handy in a country where the debit card is the most-used payment card, and you can withdraw by bank transfer or SWIFT. Spot fees of 0.4% on limit orders and 0.6% on market orders make small buys expensive. Futures cost 0.05% for makers and takers with leverage up to 10x, and you also get 402 spot coins, 131 futures coins, staking and prediction markets.
Verification needs a photo ID and a live selfie, and some countries also ask for proof of address. Coinbase opened in 2012, runs as a remote company with no single headquarters, and its CEO, Brian Armstrong, is one of its co-founders. In 2021 more than 6,000 customers had their accounts compromised, so turn on two-factor authentication and address whitelisting before you deposit.
Key points
Bit2Me is a plain buying tool: spot trading only, across 192 coins and 210 trading pairs, with no futures or leverage. For someone in Uruguay who just wants to buy and hold, that keeps the riskiest products out of reach.
Coins are held in cold storage, and Bit2Me offers a debit card, which fits a country where debit cards are the most-used payment card. There is no staking, copy trading or bots. Before your first deposit, check its current fees and the funding methods open to Uruguay, since those decide what a purchase really costs you.
ID verification is required. Bit2Me started in 2014, operates from Elche, Spain and was set up by co-founders Leif Ferreira and Andrei Manuel, and since 2024 Leif Ferreira and Koh Onozawa Martinez have shared the job of co-CEO. A real drawback is that it doesn't publish proof of reserves, so you can't check that customer deposits are fully backed.
Key points
Bitstamp is built around compliance. A Big Four firm has audited it every year since 2016, it holds licences in several major markets, and customer assets are kept separate from company money. That separation means your balance isn't mixed with the funds Bitstamp uses to run its business.
It is spot only, with 118 coins; makers pay 0.3% and takers pay 0.4%, and those rates fall as your 30-day volume grows. It also offers staking and lending. There are no futures or margin, so leverage traders need another exchange, and you can deposit or withdraw by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal.
KYC is mandatory. Proof of identity allows withdrawals of $50,000 a day, and proof of residence raises that to $250,000. Dating back to 2011, Bitstamp has its home in Luxembourg, counts Nejc Kodrič as a co-founder and has belonged to Robinhood since 2024, with Jean-Baptiste Graftieau as CEO. It does not publish proof of reserves, so you can't independently check that customer deposits are fully backed.
Key points
Gate has the widest menu of any exchange here: 2,052 coins on spot, 1,022 on futures and options on 12 coins. That gives you the most choice in small altcoins. Spot costs 0.1% for makers and takers; futures charge 0.02% to makers and 0.05% to takers, and positions can be leveraged as far as 200x.
You can deposit by card, SWIFT or through Banxa, Simplex and AdvCash, and withdraw by bank transfer or crypto. Its P2P market takes local payment methods but is less active than larger rivals', so you may find fewer offers. Copy trading, demo futures, staking and prediction markets round out the platform.
You must pass KYC with an ID, a selfie and your phone number before any withdrawal. Gate launched in 2013 as Bter, became Gate.io in 2017 and Gate.com in May 2025, and is based in Hong Kong under co-founder and CEO Lin Han. The main catch is that unverified accounts can't withdraw anything, so finish verification before you send money in.
Key points
Our editorial team selected, tested and ranked the best crypto exchanges for traders in Uruguay. We picked exchanges that accept users in Uruguay and ordered them on the whole package rather than any single figure. The order reflects our editorial judgment of that package, while the CWR Score on each card rates the exchange on its own, which is why some exchanges placed lower have a higher score.
Yes. Individuals can buy, hold and trade crypto in Uruguay, and the businesses that provide these services are now part of the regulated financial system. Law 20.345 (2024), widened by Law 20.446 (2025), placed crypto service providers under the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU), whose Financial Services Superintendency must authorize them before they operate.
The BCU’s rules, issued as Circular 2507 in July 2026, cover companies that exchange crypto for money or for other crypto, transfer it, or hold it for customers. Applications opened on 1 September 2026; providers already operating have until 31 March 2027 to apply and may keep working while their request is processed. The rules add customer-protection, cybersecurity and anti-money-laundering requirements and bar providers from using customers’ crypto without their express permission.
Getting your first Bitcoin or Ethereum in Uruguay takes a few steps once you know which exchange you want.
MEXC is the strongest choice for active traders in Uruguay thanks to its coin range and very low fees, but its record of reported withheld funds means you should keep balances modest there. Kraken and Coinbase suit savers who value track record over cost, OKX’s P2P market helps with local funding, and Gate offers the widest altcoin menu. Crypto is legal in Uruguay, and the companies that provide it now answer to the central bank, so pick the exchange whose deposit and withdrawal options match how you already bank.
Yes. Individuals can buy, hold and trade crypto in Uruguay. The companies that provide these services are part of the regulated financial system, and the Central Bank of Uruguay authorizes and supervises them.
Most exchanges here take deposits by card or bank transfer, sometimes through third-party payment providers. OKX, Bitget and Gate also run P2P markets where you trade with other users through local payment methods. Check the deposit screen for the options open to your account before you send money.
MEXC charges nothing on spot limit orders and 0.05% on spot market orders. Its futures cost 0.01% for makers and 0.04% for takers, the lowest rates in this ranking.
Coinbase has the simplest app for a first purchase, though its spot fees are high. Bit2Me and Bitstamp are also straightforward because they offer spot trading only.
MEXC, OKX, Kraken, Bitget, Coinbase and Gate offer futures. MEXC and Gate allow the highest leverage, up to 200x. Bitstamp and Bit2Me offer spot trading only.
Yes. Every exchange here requires identity verification, usually a photo ID and a selfie or face scan. Without it you can't trade or withdraw, or you face tight limits.
In the EU, OKX serves customers through OKX EU, which is run by a separate company licensed under MiCA and offers different products.
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