Finst review 2026: a flat-fee Dutch exchange under AFM supervision

Specifications

Custody

Custodial

Fee (taker)

0.15% flat

Fee (maker)

0.15% flat

Spread

No added spread

EUR withdrawals

Free (SEPA to verified bank account)

Crypto withdrawals

Dynamic network fee + €2.50 fixed baseline

Staking

Flexible staking, no lock-up, weekly payout; no lending

Regulation

MiCA-authorised, supervised by AFM (Netherlands), since July 2025

What Finst is

Finst is an Amsterdam-based crypto exchange (formerly BUX Crypto) that offers spot trading, staking and an app-first experience across the EU/EEA and Switzerland. It is a custodial service: your coins are held by Finst, not by you. It is not a wallet, and this review treats it as the exchange it is.

The app is built around simplicity: buy, sell, stake and withdraw from one screen, with no trading-terminal complexity. That makes it a genuine competitor for first-time buyers — and a deliberate contrast to exchanges that assume you already understand order books.

Fees — the honest picture

Finst charges a flat 0.15% on every trade, regardless of size — no maker/taker tiers, no added spread. For small and medium traders this is often cheaper than tiered fee schedules where the best rates only unlock at high volume.

What many users miss: crypto withdrawals cost the network fee plus a fixed €2.50 baseline. If you move coins to your own wallet regularly, that baseline adds up — compare with Bitvavo’s withdrawal pricing on our comparison page.

Worked example — a €1,000 BTC purchase:

• Trading fee: €1,000 × 0.15% = €1.50.
• Deposit: free (SEPA or iDEAL).
• Withdraw once to a wallet: network fee + €2.50 baseline.

The math is simple by design — that is the point of a flat fee. The €2.50 baseline is the one cost to budget for that the fee page doesn’t put front and center.

Deposits and withdrawals

• EUR deposits: free via SEPA, SEPA instant, iDEAL and Bancontact.
• EUR withdrawals: free to your verified bank account (SEPA).
• Crypto withdrawals: dynamic network fee plus a flat €2.50 baseline per withdrawal.
• Cards: no direct card top-up on Finst — you deposit by bank transfer.

The withdrawal baseline is the biggest practical difference between Finst and Bitvavo: if you move coins to a wallet once a month, that is €30/year in baseline fees alone.

Regulation and security

Finst is MiCA-authorised and supervised by the Dutch AFM — the strongest regulatory footing an EU exchange can have today. Customer assets are held separately from company funds, and the platform’s staking model explicitly avoids lending out customer crypto (see below).

No exchange is risk-free: custodial balances are exposed to the platform’s own operational risk, and regulation reduces — but does not eliminate — that exposure. For meaningful holdings, self-custody changes the risk profile.

Coins and availability

Finst lists 400+ assets, including KAS, SUI, ADA, XRP, SOL, HBAR and VET. It is MiCA-authorised under AFM supervision, supports SEPA/iDEAL/Bancontact deposits and is available across the EU/EEA and Switzerland. The UK is not supported, and Norway is not officially confirmed.

Availability varies by country, so check the app for your specific market before relying on Finst.

Staking and earn

Finst’s staking is flexible: no lock-up, weekly payouts, and an explicit no-lending model — it stakes on-chain and insures against slashing. That is a real differentiator versus exchanges that lend out staked assets. The trade-off: no higher-yield fixed-term products.

The honest caveats:

• It is custodial staking: Finst holds the keys. For non-custodial staking (e.g. Cardano or Solana from your own wallet), withdraw and delegate yourself.
• Reward rates change with market conditions — treat the current rate as indicative, not guaranteed.

How staking works in the app: you select a coin with a staking badge, confirm, and rewards appear weekly in your balance. There is no lock-up, so you can unstake and sell at any time — the flexibility is real, and it is the main reason Finst’s staking suits beginners who don’t want to manage validators.

The day-to-day experience

The Finst app is genuinely one of the cleanest exchange UIs in Europe: a single balance screen, clear buy/sell buttons, and a withdrawal flow that shows the total cost (network fee + baseline) before you confirm. Two practical notes from using it:

• iDEAL deposits land instantly in most cases; SEPA takes a business day.
• The withdrawal screen shows the full cost upfront — the €2.50 baseline is not hidden, which is more than many competitors do.

It is an app-first product: the web version works, but the mobile app is clearly the primary surface.

Taxes and reporting

Crypto is taxed differently across Europe — Germany taxes holdings held over one year (private sale), the Netherlands taxes wealth, France and Belgium have their own regimes — and no exchange files for you. What Finst does provide:

• Transaction history export (CSV) with dates, amounts and fees — the minimum you need for any tax report.
• Clear fee records — the flat fee makes cost-basis math simpler than tiered platforms.

The practical advice: export your history at least yearly, and keep the withdrawal fee records — the €2.50 baselines are deductible costs in most regimes that allow expense offsets.

Account setup and support

1. Download the Finst app (iOS/Android) or use the web app.
2. Complete identity verification — required under MiCA; allow a few minutes to a day.
3. Deposit EUR via SEPA or iDEAL (free).
4. Buy, stake or withdraw.

Support is human (chat, phone, email) on business days — a real advantage over ticket-only platforms, but limited outside working hours.

In practice, the chat handles most questions within minutes during business hours, and phone support exists for account issues. For a platform this simple, the support load is low — most users never need it.

Where Finst falls short

• The €2.50 fixed crypto-withdrawal baseline.
• Fewer assets and no fixed-term staking compared to larger exchanges.
• Support limited to business hours.
• Custodial by design — you do not control the private keys.

Who Finst is for

• First-time European buyers who want a simple, predictable fee.
• Dutch, Belgian, German and French users covered by its MiCA/AFM footing.
• Stakers who want flexible yield without lock-ups — and understand it is custodial.

Who it is not for: UK residents, heavy traders who want volume-tier discounts, or anyone who needs a wallet — Finst is an exchange, not a wallet.

Finst vs Bitvavo: when each wins

The two Dutch exchanges are the practical choice for most European buyers, and the fee math decides between them:

Scenario	Cheaper	Why
One €1,000 buy, no withdrawal	Finst	€1.50 vs Bitvavo’s €2.50 base taker fee
Monthly €1,000 buys, one wallet withdrawal each	Bitvavo	Finst’s €2.50 baseline × 12 = €30/year
Heavy volume (>€10k/month)	Bitvavo	Volume tiers drop below Finst’s flat rate
Simple, predictable fees	Finst	Flat 0.15%, no tiers to track

The withdrawal baseline is the deciding factor more often than the headline trading fee. If you buy and hold without withdrawing, Finst wins; if you move coins to a wallet regularly, Bitvavo wins on the baseline alone.

How we test and score

We score exchanges against a fixed methodology, not user-review aggregates:

1. Fee transparency — published schedule vs actual costs (including withdrawal baselines).
2. Regulation — MiCA authorisation, supervisor, asset segregation.
3. Staking honesty — custodial vs non-custodial, lock-ups, lending model.
4. Withdrawal reality — network fees, fixed baselines, speed.
5. Support — human channels, hours, responsiveness.
6. Coin coverage — breadth vs depth for the European market.

We verify claims against official pages (fee schedules, terms, regulatory register) and date-stamp every review. This page was last verified 6 August 2026.

Our verdict

Finst is a strong choice for European buyers who want a simple, flat-fee exchange with flexible staking and a clear regulatory footing — especially in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It is not a wallet, and we never recommend it as one.

Where to buy Finst

How we evaluate

Every recommendation is based on our published methodology: we separate self-custody wallets, hardware wallets, custodial exchanges and buying platforms, and score each with its own criteria. We label everything as hands-on tested, documentation reviewed, or not yet tested. Commissions never determine rankings.

Read our full methodology

Sources & evidence

• OfficialFinst — fees ↗
• OfficialFinst — supported countries ↗
• OfficialFinst — affiliate programme ↗
• OfficialFinst — Kaspa listing ↗

Changelog

• 8 Aug 2026Expanded to full review anatomy: regulation, deposits/withdrawals with worked fees, countries, support, setup and verdict.

Frequently asked questions

Is Finst a wallet?

No. Finst is a custodial exchange: it holds your coins on your behalf. It is a practical place to buy and sell, but for self-custody you withdraw to your own wallet.

Is Finst safe?

Finst is MiCA-authorised and supervised by the Dutch AFM, which is a meaningful regulatory standard. No exchange is risk-free: custodial balances are exposed to the platform itself.

What does Finst cost?

A flat 0.15% trading fee, no added spread, free EUR deposits and withdrawals. Crypto withdrawals add a €2.50 fixed baseline to the dynamic network fee.

Does Finst support staking?

Yes — flexible staking with weekly payouts, no lock-up and no lending. You can unstake and sell at any time.

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