The best one for each case
| If your case is | The pick | The number that decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Paying the least per order | Binance | 0.10% maker and 0.10% taker |
| Funding by Pix | Coinbase | Pix listed, BRL 1 minimum, instant credit |
| A Brazilian company on the contract | Mercado Bitcoin | CNPJ 18.213.434/0001-35 in its terms |
| A first purchase in reais | Bitso | 0.200% maker and 0.400% taker on the BRL table |
What each one costs on a BRL 1,000 buy
| Exchange | Published taker fee | Cost on BRL 1,000 | Scope of that schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 0.10% | BRL 1.00 | global spot, before discounts |
| Bybit | 0.10% | BRL 1.00 | spot outside the VIP programme |
| OKX, BRL pairs | 0.4000% | BRL 4.00 | pairs quoted in reais |
| Bitso, BRL market | 0.400% | BRL 4.00 | volume measured in reais |
| Crypto.com | 0.50% | BRL 5.00 | Exchange level 1 |
| Coinbase | 0.60% | BRL 6.00 | Coinbase Exchange, entry tier |
| Kraken | 0.80% | BRL 8.00 | Kraken Pro tier 1 |
| Mercado Bitcoin | we did not verify one | no number | no comparable public entry tier |
Binance Global vs. 2 alternatives
A quick view of canonical data. Open the comparison for every source and condition.
Binance Global- Funding
- Not verified
- Taker fee
- 0.1%
- Status
- Editorial only
Bitso- Funding
- Pix + BRL
- Taker fee
- 0.4%
- Status
- Editorial only
Coinbase- Funding
- Pix + Bank transfer
- Taker fee
- 0.6%
- Status
- Editorial only
Lowest cost per order: Binance
Binance's spot fee table starts at 0.100% maker and 0.100% taker for a Regular User, and its full fee schedule confirms level 0 with a maker and taker commission of 0.001, the same 0.10%. On a BRL 1,000 market buy that is BRL 1.00.
The edge is real but it is narrow. In the CryptoFacts canonical record, Bybit publishes the same 0.10% on both sides, and OKX carries 0.08% maker with 0.10% taker on its global framework. What puts Binance first for this case is simplicity: one number, both sides, regardless of which pair you trade. The cost-by-cost breakdown is in Binance fees in Brazil, and the trust review in Is Binance trustworthy in Brazil?
Before you confirm, read the fee shown for your own tier inside the account rather than the public table. Spread and currency conversion sit outside the schedule and still come out of your money.
A global schedule is not a price in reais
This is where most comparisons go wrong, and OKX itself shows why. On its fee page, BRL pairs sit on a separate tab with tiers measured as 30-day trading volume in BRL. The entry row of that tab charges 0.1000% maker and 0.4000% taker.
Same exchange: 0.10% taker on the global framework against 0.4000% on a pair quoted in reais, four times the cost, purely because the pair is BRL. Our canonical record makes the mirror-image point about Binance, noting that its schedule is the standard global spot rate before discounts and is not automatically inherited by local entities.
So read any percentage with one question behind it: does this schedule apply to the pair I am going to trade?
Funding in reais: Coinbase documents Pix
Coinbase's payment-method table has a section for Brazilian customers and lists Pix and bank transfer for buying, selling, adding cash and cashing out, with settlement described as instant. It also publishes the detail almost nobody does: the minimum deposit is one real.
In canonical data, Bitso, Kraken and Mercado Bitcoin also carry Pix as a Brazilian method, while Binance, Bybit, OKX and Crypto.com carry no payment method and no fiat currency for Brazil at all. Coinbase takes this case because it is the only one whose own page gave us the minimum in reais.
The price is the trade-off. Coinbase Exchange's fee documentation uses a maker-taker model and says an order placed at the market price and filled immediately pays between 0.04% and 0.60%. A new account sits at the expensive end: BRL 6.00 on a BRL 1,000 buy, six times what Binance charges. Cheap to fund and expensive to trade is a trade-off, not a win. The full review is in Is Coinbase safe in Brazil?
Which Brazilian company you actually contract with
Mercado Bitcoin's terms of use answer that in the first section: the contracting party is Mercado Bitcoin Serviços Digitais Ltda., registered under CNPJ 18.213.434/0001-35, based in São Paulo. In the canonical record it is also the only exchange on the list whose service is restricted to Brazil.
The same document goes further than a company number. It states that group entities, the securities brokerage and the payment institution, are subject to Banco Central do Brasil regulation applicable to virtual-asset service providers, including Resolutions BCB 520 and 521.
Six others also name Brazilian entities in the canonical record, namely Coinbase Brasil Ltda., Nvio Brasil Bitso Instituição de Pagamento Ltda., Bybit Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais Ltda., OKX Serviços Digitais Ltda., Foris DAX BR Ltda. and Foris GFS BR Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. The difference here is the CNPJ printed on the contract and a service that is entirely Brazilian.
Being subject to the rule is not holding the authorisation
These two get conflated constantly, and the gap between them is what separates a regulated exchange from an exchange that serves Brazilians. Law 14.478 states that virtual-asset service providers may only operate in the country with prior authorisation from a body or entity of the federal public administration. A 2023 decree named that body: the Banco Central do Brasil, with competence to regulate, authorise and supervise these companies.
In our data none of the eight has that named authorisation confirmed against an official source under the transition rules. Holding a CNPJ, citing Resolution 520 in a contract, or already serving Brazilian customers does not substitute for it. That is why all eight remain classified as editorial only here, and why this page carries no commercial call to action. What each one does let you verify — entity, CNPJ, reserves — is in what makes a crypto exchange trustworthy in Brazil.
First purchase: Bitso, because the price is already in reais
For a first buy, the blocker is not a tenth of a percentage point. It is not knowing what you will pay. Bitso's fee table fixes that with a tier measured in BRL volume: 0.200% maker and 0.400% taker on the first row, up to 541,000 of volume. On a BRL 1,000 buy, BRL 4.00.
That is more than Binance's BRL 1.00 and less than Coinbase's BRL 6.00. In exchange you read the price in your own currency, and the canonical record shows Pix as Bitso's Brazilian method with its real-denominated operations running through Nvio Brasil Bitso Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. — the full review is in Is Bitso trustworthy in Brazil?
If your volume will be high from day one, switch: the gap between 0.400% and 0.10% compounds quickly. For a first purchase of a few hundred reais, clarity is worth more than BRL 3.00. The full walk-through for newcomers is in the best exchange for beginners guide.
Checklist before you open an account
- Confirm the fee shown for your own tier inside the account, not the public table.
- Check that the schedule you are reading applies to the pair you will trade.
- Check that the reais funding method appears for your region, and what the limits are.
- Read the contracting entity name and CNPJ in your account terms.
- Quote the same order on two platforms at the same moment and compare the final price.
- Test a small withdrawal before you move a meaningful amount.
- Decide how much of your money you are willing to leave with one custodian.
FAQ
Which crypto exchange is cheapest? On the published schedule, Binance: 0.10% maker and taker, BRL 1.00 on a BRL 1,000 buy. But that is a global schedule. Among the tiers actually quoted in reais that we checked, the taker fee is 0.400% at Bitso and 0.4000% on OKX's BRL pairs.
Is any exchange licensed by the Banco Central? None of the eight has a named authorisation confirmed in our data. The law requires prior approval and the 2023 decree puts that approval with the Banco Central; until an official source confirms a name, we treat all of them as editorial only.
Which exchanges accept Pix? Coinbase documents Pix for Brazilian customers with a BRL 1 minimum. In the canonical record, Bitso, Kraken and Mercado Bitcoin also carry Pix as a Brazilian method.
Is a Brazilian exchange safer than a foreign one? Not automatically. A CNPJ makes it easier to know who answers a dispute and in which forum, which is concrete. It is not a public guarantee and it is not a Banco Central authorisation.
Do you earn a commission if I open an account? Not on this page. All eight are editorial only in our record, so there is no referral link here.
Verdict
"Best exchange" only has an answer once you say what for. Binance to pay the least per order, Coinbase to fund by Pix with a BRL 1 minimum, Mercado Bitcoin to have a Brazilian CNPJ on the contract, Bitso for a first purchase priced in reais.
What holds for all four: the schedule you read may not be the one for your pair, and none of the eight has a named Banco Central authorisation confirmed in our data. Compare the final cost in the exchange list before deciding where to leave your money.