Buy crypto in Mexico with a SPEI bank transfer

SPEI is Mexico's real-time bank transfer network, run by Banco de México. It works around the clock, settles each payment individually within seconds, and it is how most people in Mexico move pesos onto a crypto exchange. For anyone with a local account, it is usually the cheapest way in: SPEI deposits are free on Bitso, Binance and Kraken.

Whether it works for you depends less on the technology and more on your paperwork. Exchanges want the money to come from an account in your name, and they want a Mexican ID number on file. So this guide splits the question in two: what to do if you already bank in Mexico, and what to do if you don't.

Two situations: Mexican bank account or not

You live here and bank here. Temporary and permanent residents can open accounts at banks such as BBVA, Banorte or Santander, and digital banks like Nu. Your residency card normally comes with a CURPClave Única de Registro de Población: Mexico's 18-character population ID. Residents receive one; tourists normally don't., and many residents also hold an RFC (tax ID) from the SAT. With those, SPEI on an exchange works the same as for any Mexican.

You're a tourist, a digital nomad on a visitor permit, or you bank only abroad. Without a Mexican account you can't send SPEI in your own name, and without a CURP most exchanges won't unlock peso deposits anyway. Your practical options are a card purchase or an exchange you already use at home. We cover cards in detail in the guide to buying crypto with a card in Mexico.

Who actually receives your pesos

Mexican banks can't offer crypto to customers under Banxico's Circular 4/2019, and no exchange holds a Mexican license to sell crypto to the public. The big platforms therefore split the job. Your pesos go to a Mexican IFPEInstitución de Fondos de Pago Electrónico: an e-money company authorized by Mexico's banking regulator, the CNBV. Balances are not covered by IPAB deposit insurance. or a payments partner, and the crypto is bought and held by a foreign entity.

Bitso uses Nvio Pagos México, the first IFPE authorized under Mexico's Fintech Law. Binance uses Medá, authorized by the CNBV in 2022 and launched publicly in September 2025: when you deposit, the pesos land in a personal Medá account before reaching your Binance balance. Bybit, Kraken and Bitget work through payment partners, and Bitget names its provider as Swapple. One consequence: peso balances on an exchange are not protected by IPAB, Mexico's deposit insurer. The guide on whether crypto is legal in Mexico explains the framework.

Exchanges that accept SPEI

For expats, Kraken is worth a look because it accepts either a CURP or an RFC, and because it holds your money in US dollars, which suits anyone who thinks in USD. The flip side is that you pay a peso-to-dollar conversion that Kraken does not publish, and withdrawals back to pesos cost 0.5%. Bitso is the most direct if you want peso pairs and an order bookThe list of buy and sell orders from other users. Buying there with a limit order usually costs less than an instant buy. in MXN. Read the Kraken review and the Bitso review for fees and verification details.

Step by step for residents

Expect about 20 minutes once your account is verified. Identity checks, known as KYCKnow Your Customer: the identity check where the platform confirms who you are with a passport or residency card, a selfie and, for pesos, your CURP., take the longest the first time. Use your passport or residency card and make sure the name matches your bank account exactly, including second surnames if your bank uses them.

The MXN 12,800 default limit (MTU)

Since 1 October 2025, Mexican banks ask customers to set a Monto Transaccional del Usuario (MTU), a personal cap on transfers made from the banking app or online banking. If you never set one, the bank applies a default of 1,500 UDIS, about MXN 12,800 (the peso figure drifts with the value of the UDI, an inflation-indexed unit). The rule sits in the CNBV's banking regulations, although much of the press attributes it to Banxico.

Sources disagree on one important detail: some describe the MTU as a per-transfer cap, others as a daily cap. It depends on how your bank implemented it and what you set. If you want to move, say, MXN 40,000 to buy USDT in one go, raise the limit in your app first; reports say the change applies immediately. A sensible habit is to raise it for the purchase and lower it again afterwards, so a stolen phone can't empty your account. Express transfers, CoDi and DiMo keep their own 1,500 UDIS ceiling regardless of your MTU.

Why SPEI deposits fail

Many people search for "Binance SPEI suspended". We found no official notice of a general suspension of peso deposits on Binance. When the option disappears or a deposit bounces, it usually comes down to one of these:

• CURP not verified, so Binance can't open your Medá account.
• Name mismatch. A transfer from a partner's or employer's account is held or returned. On Bybit, refunds take 7 to 14 working days.
• Maintenance at the payment provider or in SPEI itself, including Banxico’s daily change of operating day. Bitso's status page, for example, logged a 1 hour 29 minute SPEI degradation in April 2026.
• Your bank paused the transfer because of the MTU cap or a fraud check on a large payment to a new CLABE. Confirm it in the app or call the bank.
• Expired instructions on Kraken, which are valid for 10 minutes.

CoDi and DiMo

Banxico runs two add-ons on top of SPEI. DiMo sends transfers to a phone number instead of a CLABE, and CoDi creates QR payment requests. Neither helps much with funding an exchange: exchanges give you a CLABE, not a linked phone number, and we found no exchange that accepts CoDi requests. DiMo is more useful when someone pays you, for example in a P2P trade, but always confirm the money in your banking app before releasing anything.

What SPEI costs compared with other methods

At MXN 10,000 the gap is obvious: SPEI plus an order-book trade costs a fraction of a card purchase. The chart leaves out instant-buy spreads and Kraken's dollar conversion, so the real SPEI cost is slightly higher than shown, but it remains the cheapest route for amounts above a few thousand pesos.

Safety and taxes

SPEI transfers can't be reversed, which is exactly why scammers like them. Only send to the CLABE shown inside the official exchange app, never to one sent over WhatsApp or by an "account manager". Fake "SPEI received" text messages that link to cloned bank pages are common; your bank never sends links to check a deposit. The Mexico crypto scams guide lists the patterns to watch for.

Keep your deposit receipts and trade history. If you are a Mexican tax resident, gains on selling crypto are taxable, and residency rules matter more than your passport; see the crypto tax guide for Mexico. When you want to cash out, SPEI is also the way back: Bitso charges nothing for SPEI withdrawals and Kraken charges 0.5%. The sell crypto in Mexico guide compares the options.