Crypto apps in Mexico: what each one actually does

Picking a crypto app in Mexico is less about fees and more about fit. The same exchange can be effortless for a Mexican with a BBVA account and a CURP, and useless for a visitor with a US passport and a Chase card. Fees and regulation are covered on our home page and in the exchange reviews. This page is about the app in your hand: how money gets in, what ID it needs, what features it has and how to secure it.

Start with your paperwork

Three things decide which apps will work for you:

• A Mexican bank account in your name. Without it, you can't fund an exchange by SPEI, Mexico's instant bank transfer.
• A CURPClave Única de Registro de Población: Mexico's population ID. Temporary and permanent residents normally get one; tourists usually don't. or an RFC. Bitso and Binance want a CURP to unlock pesos; Kraken accepts a CURP or an RFC (tax ID).
• A card that will approve a crypto purchase. Card apps are the fallback for everyone else, with the caveats in the card buying guide.

If you're a resident with all three, the cheapest setup is an app with SPEI deposits and peso pairs, explained in the SPEI bank transfer guide. If you're visiting, a card app is the realistic choice.

The seven apps at a glance

App by app

Bitso

Mexico's home-grown exchange has a simple buy-and-sell view and a pro view, Bitso Alpha, with an order bookThe list of buy and sell orders from other users. A limit order there usually costs less than an instant buy. in pesos. SPEI deposits to your CLABE are free, and so are withdrawals to a CLABE, a debit card or a registered phone number. Bitso Transfer moves pesos or crypto instantly between Bitso users. Bitcoin withdrawals over Lightning carry no fee. We found no official recurring-buy or custom price-alert feature, and the Bitso Card was discontinued in May 2025. Bitso requires a CURP for peso operations, so it fits residents rather than tourists. See the Bitso review.

Binance

Binance puts peso deposits, a large P2P market, advanced trading and earn products in one app. To deposit pesos you go to Add Funds, verify your CURP, and the app opens an account for you at Medá, Binance's Mexican payments company. Start in the simple mode. The anti-phishing code and address whitelist live under security settings. Details in the Binance review.

Mercado Pago

If you already use Mercado Pago, its crypto section lets you buy bitcoin, ether, Litecoin, Chainlink, Uniswap and the Meli Dólar stablecoin with your balance from around a peso, paying 1.5% per trade including VAT; Meli Dólar trades carry no fee. Daily purchases are capped at MXN 100,000. It's a mostly closed ecosystem with a short coin list: Mercado Pago documents receiving crypto from outside wallets for free, but we found no official documentation for sending it to an external wallet from Mexico. We also couldn't confirm the onboarding rules for foreign residents. More in the Mercado Pago guide.

CEX.IO

The app solves one problem well: buying with a Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay without any Mexican banking. It doesn't take pesos, so a US card is billed in dollars and a European card can be billed in euros, avoiding conversion. Card fees run 0.49% to 4.99% plus a service charge, and new accounts are capped at USD 1,000 a day for three months. See the CEX.IO review.

OKX

OKX lets you buy with pesos through a local bank transfer to a virtual account: one-time setup, a 10-minute payment window per order, crypto in 10 to 20 minutes, and a limit of USD 10,000 every 30 days. It also has peso P2P and, inside the same app, a self-custodyA wallet where you hold the keys, usually backed by a 12- or 24-word recovery phrase. No one can freeze it, but no one can recover it for you either. wallet that is separate from your exchange account. Check which one you're in before sending.

Bybit

Bybit takes SPEI to a fixed CLABE or one-time details, always from an account in your name, and asks for an RFC or CURP. Limits depend on your verification level; an earlier guide mentioned MXN 10,000 a day. Its distinctive feature in Mexico is the Bybit Card, a Mastercard launched in July 2025 that you manage in the app to spend crypto. Compare it with other options in the crypto card guide.

Kraken

Kraken accepts SPEI from MXN 150 but converts everything to US dollars on arrival, which many expats actually prefer. The app supports recurring orders you can pause, edit or cancel, funded from your balance, Apple Pay, Google Pay or a card. It accepts an RFC as well as a CURP for deposits. Withdrawing back to pesos costs 0.5%.

Apps that don't offer crypto in Mexico

Expats often assume their familiar fintech will do crypto here. In Mexico, it won't. Banxico's Circular 4/2019 bars banks and regulated fintechs from offering crypto to the public.

• Revolut México has operated as a licensed bank since January 2026, with IPAB deposit insurance, and offers no crypto in Mexico. Crypto in a European Revolut account follows that account's country rules.
• Nu México is a bank with no crypto product. NuCripto is Brazilian.
• Plata holds a banking license and focuses on a credit card, with no crypto.
• Spin by OXXO doesn't hold crypto, but residents use it as a bridge: load cash at an OXXO store, then send pesos by SPEI to an exchange. See the cash and OXXO guide.

Features worth looking for

Recurring buys. Buying a fixed amount every week or payday is known as DCADollar-cost averaging: buying the same amount at regular intervals so you don't have to time the market.. Kraken documents it in its app; Binance and OKX offer versions in many countries.

Price alerts. If your app lacks them, a separate price-tracking app can alert you without access to your account.

In-app P2P. Binance, OKX and Bybit run peso markets where you buy USDT from other people paying by SPEI. Useful for residents, but it needs care: the P2P guide explains escrowThe platform locks the seller's crypto and releases it only when the seller confirms your payment. and common scams.

Easy withdrawals. If you plan to hold long term, check the app lets you withdraw to your own wallet on the right network at a fair fee. Options are in the wallets guide.

Permissions: what a crypto app should ask for

A legitimate app needs little: the camera for identity checks, notifications for deposits and logins, and optionally biometrics to open it. Some request location for compliance. Be wary of any app that wants to read your SMS or contacts or, on Android, asks for accessibility access; that is how malware reads codes and taps the screen for you.

Visitors have one extra wrinkle: app availability can depend on your App Store or Google Play country. If an app doesn't appear, don't search for a copy elsewhere. Go to the platform's official website and follow its store link.

Ten-minute security setup

Which one fits you

On a short visit, use a card app and keep amounts small. Newly arrived with residency in progress, start by card and switch to an SPEI app once your CURP and bank account are ready. Settled residents who save in dollars will like Kraken; those who think in pesos will find Bitso simpler. Plenty of people run two apps, one to get pesos in cheaply and one for what the first can't do.