Best Bitcoin Brokers For USA

If you are from the USA you might have experienced certain restrictions on many internet platforms concerning US citizens. On some sites people from the USA cant even signup, on others there are restrictions in terms of money transfers and payment options.

On this page you find the Bitcoin brokers where you are officially allowed to trade as a US citizen and/or resident.

Brokers / Exchanges Where US Traders Are Allowed:

If you are interested, please also read our page dedicated to all questions about Bitcoin margin trading in the USA.

In the USA there is no uniform legislation for trading and brokerage services. However, there are general national supervisory authorities through which companies offering money services must be registered and licensed. The extent to which these services may then be offered in the individual states is again subject to the legislation of the respective state.

In some states companies need a Money Transmitter License to be allowed to bring certain services to the market, in others not. Also, the requirements for such licenses differ from state to state.

Especially with regard to derivatives trading and cryptocurrencies, however, there are the national supervisory authorities CFTC, SEC and FINCEN. The former is the authority that generally approves and classifies cryptocurrencies. Currently, cryptocurrencies are classified as commodities by the CFTC.

The SEC, in turn, is responsible for regulations within the futures and derivatives trading market and allows US Americans to trade cryptocurrencies only with low leverage. This generally applies to the whole USA.

The FINCEN is the anti-money laundering supervisory authority, which is primarily responsible for ensuring that all financial transactions are registered and transparently traceable. Therefore, US Americans, no matter from which state, are only allowed to use trading platforms and exchanges with full ID verification, also with regard to cryptocurrencies.

A separate problem in the area of brokerage services are corresponding fees, which can be charged by the individual US states. In some cases, the fees are simply so high that it is not financially worthwhile for cryptocurrency trading companies to offer their services there. Especially because the brokers are also not allowed to offer trading with higher leverage, which would bring them higher turnover that could potentially cover the high fees more easily.

Let's take a closer look at the trading opportunities and background of Bitcoin brokers available for people from the USA.

Best Cryptocurrency Broker USA

eToro

eToro is one of the largest and best-known trading platforms for financial products, which can be used by retail traders in particular.

eToro's offer is particularly comprehensive as the broker is known for its social trading concept among many other interesting features. Traders can share trading strategies and imitate successful traders.

eToro may be used in the USA. However, there is one major restriction: The leverage of up to 1:2 which eToro offers for crypto trading is unfortunately not valid in the USA as the broker doesn't offer CFD margin trading in the United States.

However, investors can easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies (spot market trades). Bitcoin and other cryptos can be stored on eToro's secure in-house crypto wallet or they can get sent away from eToro's custody service to any external wallet of the user's choice. So in contrast to couple of years ago traders can now actually buy the underlying assets on eToro.

The cryptocurrencies available on eToro are BTC, ETH, EOS, LTC, XRP, BCH, DASH, NEO, ETC, ZEC, ADA, XLM, BNB, TRX, MIOTA

The international broker generally has relatively low fees compared to other large international brokers.

• Payment Methods: ACH / wire transfer
• Leverage: none
• Trading Fees: Spread only*
• Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: No fees!
• Demo Accounts!

*eToro maintains a transparent pricing policy — you will never be charged hidden fees. The spreads below are the minimal spreads and are not guaranteed, and will vary according to market conditions and liquidity. Spread updates will always apply to open positions. The cost generated from the spread will be charged at the closing of a position.

• BTC: 1%
• ETH: 1%
• Other Cryptos: 1%

Kraken.com

Kraken is one of the oldest Bitcoin trading platforms at all (already founded in 2011). Today, in addition to Bitcoin, a variety of Altcoins can be bought there and traded for profit. Kraken is one of the few platforms that are available to US Americans, although this is not yet true for all states, but for most.

The big cryptocurrency exchange which is available in countries all over the world has spared no effort to offer its services in the USA. Due to the adversities mentioned above, Kraken is not yet available in 100% of all US states, but in many. Residents and citizens of the USA are allowed to use the trading services of Kraken.com, with the exception of New York (NY) and Washington (WA) as stated here.

Kraken is commonly considered the safest Bitcoin exchange in the world.

• Payment Methods: Bank transfer
• Leverage: Up to 1:5
• Trading Fees: 0.0% to 0.26%
• Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: may occur depending on payment method

Cex.io

Cex is a large Bitcoin Exchange founded in 2013 which has been operational in a few US states since 2015. In the meantime, however, CEX has already acquired a license in about 30 countries. The goal is to reach all states in the next years.

On CEX.io Bitcoin (BTC) can be bought with money. As far as we know they used to have a slight leverage of up to 1:3, but we can't find this feature anymore at the moment.

Arkansas, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, California, District of Columbia, Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Wyoming, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

• Payment Methods: Credit Card, Bank Transfer, Cryptocurrencies
• Leverage: None
• Trading Fees: 0.1% to 0.2%
• Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: 1% to 5 %

Coinbase

Coinbase is certainly one of the most famous names among the Bitcoin exchanges. The US-based company can apparently be used by USA Americans with only a few restrictions, we can't find any exact information about excluded states, except Hawaii. There Coinbase seems not to be licensed.

In general the stock exchange can be used in the USA, Canada and Europe. The platform does not offer margin trading, but this is available on its separate broker platform Coinbase Pro. Coinbase Pro is available in 23 states and offers a leverage of up to 3x. The states supported by Coinbase Pro are currently:

Florida, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Maine, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, West Virginia.

• Payment Methods: Bank transfer, credit card, debit card
• Leverage: none
• Trading Fees: 1%
• Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: may occur depending on payment method

Coinmama

Coinmama is also an exchange with many years of experience, it has been operating since 2013, and in the USA the exchange is only available in a few states, which according to Coinmama include Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Wyoming. Apparently there are more states, but they are not mentioned by name on the website of the exchange, only in a suggestive way.

On Coinmama, Bitcoin and the 9 largest Altcoins can be bought and sold (spot market trading). Coinmama does not offer leverage or margin buying.

The Altcoins available for purchase are EHT, BCH, ETC, ADA, LTC, QTUM, XRP, XTZ und EOS.

Coinmama enjoys a high level of user confidence due to its experience and seriousness. However, the fees are extremely high.

• Payment Methods: Bank transfer, credit card, debit card
• Leverage: none
• Trading Fees: 5.9% (already included in prices)
• Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: 5% credit card fee

Is Cryptocurrency Regulated In The USA?

In the USA Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are so far not strictly regulated. Fiscal and by the financial supervisory authorities Bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency is classified as commodity. Fiscal revenues and conversions by cryptocurrencies are thus treated like Commodities. The acquisition, possession and sale of crypto currencies is accordingly likewise completely legal. What is not legal, however, is the trade of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as CFD, which excludes the trade with high leverage in the USA.

As the simple buying and selling as well as the possession of crypto currencies are allowed in the USA, Crypto Exchanges can also offer their services to US Americans. Only CFD brokers are not allowed to accept US citizens for the reasons mentioned above.

The U.S. Senate is currently discussing the regulation of Bitcoin and crypto currencies, but no further legislation has yet been agreed upon. For the upcoming next term of office of the new government, however, further regulatory legislation is planned with regard to Bitcoin and other crypto currencies.

It is currently being discussed that the crypto industry is to be generally supported in order to be able to take on a leading role here on the world market. On the other hand, however, stricter regulations are planned with regard to the prevention of money laundering and the secrecy of assets.

Websites In The Field Of Financial Services Often Have Restrictions For US Citizens

Many websites which offer certain financial services often don't accept citizens from the USA or at least they offer accounts with limitations. Especially the whole field of trading and gambling is affected by this matter. And this sector is giantic, almost everywhere in the world, but especially also within the US. The reason for the restrictions is that the US government made laws which should "protect" US citizens from getting fooled or scammed and from losing their good money.

But many people think that the real reason is rather that the authorities want to make sure that those massive amounts of gambling and trading money stays within the country. This of course has to do with getting the taxes concerning such transactions, but also to keep the money within American companies on US territory and not to lose it to the Chinese or Russian market or whatever.

Bitcoin Trading Sites for USA

This reason sounds fairly possible – but whatever the reason may truely be – you want to be able to trade Bitcoin without any limitations. Fortunately there are quite a few bitcoin brokers which allow US citizens to signup, deposit and trade, exactly like people with any other nationality. So just check out the broker list above and compare their different features according to your needs.

Read more about trading restrictions for US citizens.