Bitstamp

Crypto exchanges come and go — the graveyard of platforms that launched with ambition and closed with losses is one of the defining features of the industry's history. Bitstamp is one of the few that has been running continuously since 2011, making it one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and the oldest in Europe. Founded in Ljubljana by Nejc Kodrič and Damijan Merlak as a European alternative to the then-dominant Mt. Gox, it built a reputation for reliability and regulatory compliance that survived multiple market cycles, the collapse of competitors, and significant changes in the regulatory environment. Bitstamp was acquired by NXMH, a Belgian investment company, in 2018 and relocated its headquarters to Luxembourg, giving it the regulatory standing of a licensed EU payment institution. It subsequently obtained licences across multiple European jurisdictions and received BitLicense in New York. For institutional investors and the serious end of the retail market, Bitstamp's combination of longevity, regulatory standing, and operational track record makes it one of the most credible crypto trading venues in Europe — a reputation built not through marketing but through fifteen years of not failing when others did.