Coinmerce

Coinmerce is a Dutch cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017 in Amstelveen by two brothers. The platform operates as a broker, routing user orders through partner exchange order books rather than managing its own trading infrastructure. It lists over 375 cryptocurrencies, making it one of the broader platforms in Europe by asset count. Services include spot trading, crypto-to-crypto swaps, staking, and a lending product. The platform primarily serves retail buyers and sellers in the Netherlands and across the EU.

Security

• Custodial model: Coinmerce holds and manages user assets on their behalf
• Majority of assets stored in cold storage using MPC (Multi-Party Computation) wallets, distributing private key management across multiple parties
• Multi-signature withdrawal processes applied to reduce single-point-of-failure risk
• 2FA enforced on all accounts; a 24-hour withdrawal cool-down period applies when adding new withdrawal addresses
• Data encryption in transit and at rest; automated transaction monitoring for suspicious activity
• Periodic external security reviews conducted by third-party firms; cooperation with law enforcement on fraud cases

Regulation

• Registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) since November 2020 under the Dutch Wwft (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act) and Sanctions Act 1977; DNB supervises AML and sanctions compliance
• Holds a MiCAR license from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), permitting Coinmerce to offer crypto-asset services across the EU under the harmonised MiCA framework; MiCA registration supersedes earlier national DASP registrations in France and Spain
• KYC identity verification required for all account holders
• Not available to US-based users due to regulatory restrictions

Incident History

In 2023, a threat actor claimed to have the Coinmerce.io user database for sale on a hacker forum. The claim was flagged by third-party threat intelligence sources. Coinmerce has not publicly confirmed or quantified the scope of the alleged breach, and no customer asset losses were reported in connection with it. No other security breaches involving customer asset losses have been publicly documented since the platform's founding. Since then, Coinmerce has maintained a fraud prevention team and published guidance on protecting users from phishing and social engineering.

Availability

Coinmerce is primarily available to Netherlands and EU residents. Supported payment methods for deposits and withdrawals include iDEAL (Netherlands-specific), SEPA bank transfers, and credit/debit cards in euro. US-based users cannot access the platform.