A withdrawal that does not complete for days. A fee you did not expect. An account frozen without explanation. When something goes wrong at a crypto platform, the first reflex is often angry messages, social media posts, or searching for someone who promises to “get your money back”.
There is a calmer route. Under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), authorised crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) are expected to have a formal way to handle complaints. This guide explains, in plain English, how to work out whether you have a service complaint at all, who you should be complaining to, how to put a clear complaint together, and what escalation can — and cannot — achieve.
This article is educational only. It is not legal advice, it does not assess any individual case, and it does not promise any outcome. Rules, procedures and eligibility depend on the provider, the service and your situation. For a significant or complex dispute, consider independent legal advice.
First, separate a service dispute from a market loss or a scam
Before you write anything, it helps to be honest about what kind of problem you have. Broadly, there are three different situations, and they lead to different routes.
A service dispute. The platform did (or failed to do) something related to the service it provides you: a withdrawal is delayed without explanation, an order was executed in a way that does not match the terms you agreed to, you were charged a fee that you believe was not disclosed, or your account was restricted and you received no reasons or updates. These are the issues a complaints procedure is designed for.
A market loss. The price of a coin dropped after you bought it. That is painful, but on its own it is usually not a service failure. If you believe the platform’s service contributed to a loss — for example, an outage that you think prevented you from acting — that is a narrower point you can describe, but it is not the same as “the price went down”.
Suspected fraud. If you sent funds to a website, “account manager” or app that now refuses to let you withdraw, or you are not sure the company is real, treat it as a possible scam first. Our guide on how to spot crypto scams covers warning signs and where to report. Be especially careful with anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover lost crypto for an upfront fee — that is a common second scam.
This article focuses on the first category: a service dispute with a platform that is actually authorised to provide crypto services in the EU.
Find the legal entity behind the exchange brand
The app or website you use shows a brand name. Your complaint, however, is with a legal entity — the company that actually provides the service to you under its terms of use. Large platforms often use several entities in different countries.
To find it, check:
- your terms of use or customer agreement (usually names the contracting entity);
- the legal or imprint section of the website or app;
- account statements or onboarding emails.
Then check whether that entity is authorised as a CASP, which authority supervises it, and for which services. We explain how in how to check whether a crypto exchange is licensed in the EU, so we will not repeat the register walkthrough here.
One point matters for Dutch readers in particular: living in the Netherlands does not automatically mean a Dutch authority supervises your exchange. Under MiCA, a provider authorised in one EU member state can often serve customers in other member states. The supervisor that matters for the provider is generally the authority in the country where it is authorised. Check the register entry rather than assuming.
If you cannot find an EU-authorised entity at all, that is useful information in itself — and a reason to read up on what MiCA does and does not cover before going further.
What MiCA’s complaints framework is meant to provide
You do not need to know MiCA in depth to complain. The short version: MiCA includes a dedicated provision on complaint handling by crypto-asset service providers, supported by more detailed technical standards from EU level. In broad terms, an authorised CASP must have effective and transparent procedures for handling complaints promptly, fairly and consistently, and publish a description of them. You must be able to complain free of charge, the provider must offer a complaint template, keep a record of complaints, and investigate them and tell you the outcome within a reasonable period.
What exactly that requires — which documents, what format, whether there are specific acknowledgement or response steps, and in what timeframe — is set out in the legal text and related standards, and providers implement it in their own published procedures. We deliberately do not quote specific deadlines here; check the current official text and your provider’s own procedure for the steps that apply to you.
Two important distinctions:
- Complaint handling is not the same as guaranteed redress. A proper procedure means your complaint should be registered, investigated and answered. It does not mean you will automatically get the result you ask for.
- MiCA’s CASP rules are not a catch-all. They concern services provided by authorised CASPs. Not every token, token issuer, offshore website or decentralised application falls under the same route.
Prepare a clear complaint and an evidence timeline
A short, factual complaint is usually easier to handle than a long, emotional one. Before you send anything, gather your facts into a simple timeline.
Useful to include:
- Who you are, minimally. Your name and the account email or customer reference the platform uses. You do not need to send copies of your ID unless the official procedure asks for them through its own secure channel.
- What service is involved. For example: a withdrawal of a specific asset, a particular trade, a fee on a specific date, an account restriction.
- A dated timeline. What happened, when, and in what order. Use dates and times as shown on statements or emails.
- Previous contact. Support ticket numbers, chat references and the dates you raised the issue before.
- Relevant transaction details. Order IDs, transaction hashes or withdrawal references — only those that relate to the complaint.
- What you are asking for. Be specific and realistic: an explanation, completion of a withdrawal, correction of a fee, restoration of access, or a written decision.
- Attachments. Screenshots or exports that support the timeline, labelled with dates.
If your provider offers its own complaint template, use that. Otherwise, here is an illustrative structure, not a template to copy word for word:
Subject: Formal complaint — [service, e.g. delayed withdrawal] — [customer reference]
1. Summary in two or three sentences.
2. Timeline: date — event — reference.
3. Previous contact: ticket numbers and dates.
4. What I am asking for.
5. List of attachments.
What not to include: never send your seed phrase, private keys, passwords or 2FA codes — no genuine complaints department needs them. Do not post personal account details, transaction IDs or identity documents publicly on social media or forums. And keep the tone factual; threats or exaggerations tend to slow things down rather than speed them up.
Use the provider’s official complaint channel and keep a copy
Ordinary support chat and a formal complaint are often handled differently. Look for the provider’s published complaints procedure — usually linked from the help centre, legal pages or terms of use — and use the channel it names.
A few practical habits:
- Use the official route only. Reach the provider through its own website or app, not through links sent to you in direct messages or by someone claiming to be “from the compliance team”.
- Keep a copy of everything you send and everything you receive, with dates. Save confirmation emails or reference numbers.
- Note the procedure as it stood on the day you complained. Policies can be updated, so a saved copy or screenshot of the published procedure helps your own record.
- Do not scatter the same complaint across multiple entities blindly. If you are unsure which entity is responsible, ask the provider through the official channel, or describe your uncertainty in a single complaint.
How quickly the provider has to acknowledge or answer depends on the applicable rules and its procedure. Read the procedure for any timeframes it commits to, rather than relying on a number from a forum or a third-party website.
If unresolved: supervision, dispute resolution and courts are different routes
If you receive a final answer you disagree with, or no meaningful answer, there may be further options. It helps to understand that these routes do different jobs.
Reporting to a supervisor. A financial supervisor monitors whether a provider follows the rules. You can often share information or report concerns — for Dutch residents, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) has consumer information and a reporting route, and authorities elsewhere have their own. But a supervisor generally does not decide individual disputes or order a refund for you personally. Which authority is relevant depends on where the provider is authorised and what it does — check the register entry you found earlier.
Out-of-court dispute resolution. Some countries have independent dispute bodies for financial services. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Institute for Financial Disputes (Kifid) is one such body for certain financial services and providers. Whether a particular crypto dispute can be heard there — or by a dispute body in another member state — depends on the provider, the service and the body’s own eligibility rules. Do not assume coverage; check the body’s official information and whether the provider participates.
Courts. Legal proceedings are a separate route with their own rules, costs and risks. For a material dispute, independent legal advice is the sensible step before going this way.
If your issue involves a transfer held for information checks (for example, questions about a self-hosted wallet), our guide to the EU travel rule and self-hosted wallets explains why such checks exist. A hold is not automatically a breach of the rules — nor automatically harmless — so describe the facts and ask the provider for an explanation.
What a complaint cannot guarantee
It is worth being clear about the limits, so expectations are realistic:
- No automatic compensation. Filing a complaint does not create a right to be paid.
- No chargeback on blockchain transfers. Once a crypto transfer is confirmed on-chain, it generally cannot be reversed by the platform, a supervisor or your bank.
- No deposit guarantee for crypto. Crypto-assets held at a platform are generally not covered by bank deposit guarantee schemes. Check the provider’s own disclosures on how it holds client assets. Our guide on what happens to your crypto if an exchange fails explains this in more detail.
- No promised outcome from escalation. Supervisors, dispute bodies and courts each have their own scope and procedures. Using them does not guarantee success.
What a good complaint does give you is a written record, a formal response, and a better basis for any next step.
A short EU and Dutch complaint-preparation checklist
- Classify the problem: service dispute, market loss, or suspected fraud? Suspected fraud: start with scam warning signs and reporting.
- Identify the legal entity in your terms and check its authorisation and supervisor via the licence check guide.
- Find the official complaints procedure and save a copy of it.
- Build a dated timeline with references, previous tickets and the outcome you are asking for.
- Protect your data: no seed phrases, keys, passwords or 2FA codes; nothing sensitive in public posts.
- If unresolved, pick the right next route: a supervisor report, an eligible dispute body, or legal advice — understanding that none of them guarantees a result.
- Ignore “recovery” offers that ask for upfront payment.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), related EU technical standards on complaint handling, and official consumer information from EU and national supervisors, dispute bodies and deposit-guarantee authorities. Information as of November 2026. Not legal, tax, or investment advice.
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