Buying, exchanging, and withdrawing cryptocurrency through Revolut: pros and cons

In recent years, online banking platform Revolut has become a popular platform not only for banking but also for cryptocurrency transactions.

 It's important to understand, however, that Revolut is not a fully-fledged crypto exchange, but rather a limited-function intermediary.

In essence, Revolut has practically everything you need to fully work with cryptocurrencies – the ability to buy, exchange, transfer, receive, and sell digital assets.

This means you can buy cryptocurrency with fiat money in just a few seconds, directly from your banking app.  

Let's take a look at how exactly buying, exchanging, and withdrawing cryptocurrency through Revolut works, as well as what fees you can expect.

Buying cryptocurrency with Revolut

Revolut lets you buy popular cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, LTC, ADA, and others) directly in the app, with up to 300 tokens available.

The purchasing process is extremely simple:

Login to the app . To get started, download the app from the official Revolut website and complete the verification process.

• To access the cryptocurrency section, select the "Cryptocurrency" tab in the main menu.
• Select cryptocurrency and amount. Select the desired asset and enter the purchase amount.
• Purchase confirmation. Check the final price including the commission and confirm the transaction.

Once the purchased cryptocurrency appears in your account, you can transfer it to another user's wallet or your personal wallet for long-term storage, or sell it for a profit.

Revolut doesn't offer you a personal wallet; it merely displays the purchased cryptocurrency in the interface. This means you don't own the private keys, and your crypto assets are effectively stored with Revolut. However, you still retain full ownership of the purchased assets and have full control over them.

You can also receive transfers from other sources to your Revolut crypto wallet. To do this, select the cryptocurrency you want to receive and click the three dots, then select "Receive.".

Cryptocurrency exchange in the Revolut app

Cryptocurrency exchange on Revolut is instant, using the service's internal liquidity. You can exchange one cryptocurrency for another or convert cryptocurrency to fiat (e.g., EUR, PLN, USD).

Technical details:

There's no traditional order book. You don't see market depth, and trades are executed at the price set by Revolut (which is close to the spot price, taking into account the spread and commission).

At the same time, it is possible to place pending orders , which allow you to buy or sell cryptocurrency at a specified price.

Revolut cryptocurrency transaction fees

The fees for cryptocurrency transactions through Revolut are as follows:

Commission for buying/selling cryptocurrency:

• For users of the basic plan (Standard) - 2.5% of the transaction amount.
• For users of paid subscriptions (Plus, Premium, Metal) - 1.5%.
• The fee for exchanging cryptocurrency is the same (2.5% or 1.5%), since each exchange is considered a buy/sell.
• Hidden spread - buy/sell prices may differ from the market price because Revolut adds its own spread to the market price (approximately 0.5%–1%).

It's also important to keep in mind that, unlike cryptocurrency brokers, commissions are charged twice—when buying and selling tokens. Therefore, for medium- or short-term trades, it's recommended to trade through brokers.

Revolut is a convenient tool for beginners who want to try investing in cryptocurrencies without the hassle. However, this advantage is almost completely offset by the hefty transaction fees.  

Therefore, for long-term asset storage, it is recommended to use specialized cold wallets. For professional trading with leverage, use cryptocurrency brokers .