OKX vs Scalable Capital Comparison

In short: OKX is one of the large international crypto exchanges and serves investors in the EU through OKX Europe, licensed under MiCA in Malta. You can trade more than 280 crypto-assets, from 0.10% maker and 0.20% taker on a spot-only account, or from 0.08% and 0.10% with a spot and derivatives account. Add futures up to 10x, trading bots, tokenised stocks, a recurring-buy savings plan and the OKX Card. If you want a regulated exchange with a wide range of features and low fees, OKX is a strong choice.

Is OKX safe and licensed in the EU?

Yes, OKX may serve customers across the EU. OKX Europe Limited, based in Sliema, Malta, has been authorised as a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA since 27 January 2025, granted by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Through the EU passport the licence covers 29 EEA countries, including Germany, France and Spain (ESMA register, file of 30 October 2026). It covers, among other things, custody, operating a trading platform, exchanging crypto-assets for funds and for other crypto-assets, executing orders, portfolio management and transfers. According to OKX, it also holds MiFID II and payment institution authorisations.

Reserves: OKX regularly publishes a proof of reserves, most recently its 46th report as of 3 October 2026: coverage of 110% for Bitcoin, 100% for Ether, 105% for USDT and 101% for USDC (OKX proof of reserves).

What you can do yourself: the anti-phishing code you set in your account protects you against scams with fake emails, because it appears in every genuine email from OKX. Add two-factor authentication or a passkey, a withdrawal address whitelist and, for larger amounts, your own hardware wallet.

Who is OKX for?

OKX suits investors in the EU who want to trade actively on a licensed exchange: spot, futures, bots and tokenised stocks on one platform, with low order book fees. If you mainly want a savings plan in a lean app, take a look at Bitvavo or Bitpanda; Kraken is another large exchange with a MiCA licence. All licensed providers are listed in our comparison of regulated crypto exchanges.

Scalable Capital has made a name for itself in the DACH region primarily as a robo-advisor and ETF broker and has also offered crypto since December 2021. Since September 2025 the company has been a full bank: Scalable Capital Bank GmbH in Munich received the ECB licence for deposit and lending business and is supervised by BaFin and the Deutsche Bundesbank. Since March 2026 it has also been listed in ESMA's MiCA register with a notification for advice on crypto-assets. According to its September 2026 fact sheet, Scalable serves more than one million customers with over €60 billion in assets.

The crypto offering covers 32 cryptocurrencies, which are not traded as coins but through crypto ETPs on regulated exchanges. No wallet or private keys are needed; in return, holdings cannot be moved to your own wallet, and trading is limited to exchange hours. Savings plans from €1 make for a particularly low-threshold entry, and some ETPs add staking rewards. Besides the €0.99 order fee there is a 0.99% spread markup, or 0.69% with the PRIME+ subscription at €4.99 a month. Since September 2026, orders via Xetra and gettex have cost a flat €1.99.

For investors who mainly put money into stocks and ETFs and want to hold crypto as an addition in the same securities account, Scalable Capital is a practical solution. Anyone who wants to hold actual coins, move them to their own wallet or trade around the clock is better served by a crypto exchange.