How to Buy Bitcoin in Europe With Relai App in 2025

4 min readOct 23, 2022

Welcome to my review of the Relai app! 👋

I’ll walk you through the buying process, from downloading the app toreceivingg your first Bitcoin, so youunderstand the whole processe.

Established in July 2020 by Julian Liniger and Adem Bilican, Relai is a young Swiss bitcoin-only startup that enables easy bitcoin investing.

To date, they have 450,000+ downloads and 150k+ active users.

Relai wants to build an app for long-term investors, believing that Bitcoin is the best way to do that. According to the company, Bitcoin is the world’s best savings technology and store of value. Since they only trade Bitcoin, you won’t find other cryptocurrencies to trade there.

Ready? Let’s jump into it!

Getting started with the Relai app

Buying Bitcoin with Relai is easy. No email or password is needed as Relai is a non-custodial wallet.

The only thing you need to get access to your Bitcoin is the 12 words (seed) that the Relai app generates upon setting up (very important).

Who can use Relai?

Relai is available in all European countries except Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Ireland, and about 13 others. Here is the official list.

Is Relai Safe?

First, Relai doesn’t carry the risks of a traditional exchange, as it never holds your coins. This means you are always in complete control of your funds.

Overview of the security features of Relai:

No email or password is required
You control your private keys
Settings include Touch ID/Face ID and Pin Login

Relai is pretty safe: they cannot access your Bitcoin even if they want to. Your keys, your bitcoin.

Relai is a Swiss company that gives it that extra trust and quality in the consumer’s eye.

How Do You Buy Bitcoin on Relai?

Download the app
Set up your wallet (write down your 12 seed words)
Enter the amount you want to buy (minimum 10 CHF/EUR)
Choose your payment method
You will be provided with payment details. Send that amount. If you choose any other payment method than a bank transfer, your purchase will be instantly completed after you fill in the details.
After payment, BTC will be sent to your Relai wallet

How do you sell Bitcoin on Relai?

Open the app and tap “Sell Bitcoin.”
Select the amount of bitcoin you want to sell.
Press “Payment details.”
Enter your payment details
All done. Your EUR/CHF will arrive in your bank account in 1 business day

What are the Relai fees?

Relai has a tiered fee structure with a base fee of 1%, but it’s possible to go down to 0.9% if you use the code BAGGINS

Relai supports additional payment methods (Mastercard, Visa, Apple Pay, and Google Pay). All payment methods are instant, but they introduce an additional payment processing fee on top of the Relai fee. The fees for these payment methods is additional 1.5%.

To provide more context below is a chart highlighting the strengths between Relai and other service providers.

Customer Support

If you have questions about the app, the Relai team responds quickly via in-app support. You can access live support via the app. Simply tap on the chat icon on the home screen.

Focus on education

Relai has been ramping up its educational efforts around Bitcoin. They are active on social media, especially Twitter.

In addition, they are producing educational content such as podcasts, newsletters, and blogs to educate the audience on topics related to Bitcoin and Bitcoin saving.

And another thing that stands out strongly is the ‘bitcoin only’ aspect. Relai does not deal with shitcoins which is excellent for referring Bitcoin beginners as you know they won’t be exposed to crypto gambling.

Relai Key Features

Let’s break down everything you can do on the Relai App:

Self-custodial: Your control funds 100% of the time
One-time purchases: Fees as low as 0.9%
Mobile friendly: Easy and intuitive interface, no fluff, just simple Bitcoin savings.
Track your investment: See if you are in the profit or loss, track how much BTC you’ve bought/sold
Savings Plan: Set up a recurring purchase (weekly or monthly). This is ideal for hands-off dollar cost averaging.
Referral program: You can earn 0.1% off the orders of your friends whom you invite to Relai using your code (lifetime rewards!). They will also receive 0.1% lower fees if they use your code.
Relai Private and OTC desk is for high-net-worth individuals or companies wanting to buy over 100,000 EUR/CHF per trade. The fees range from 0.5% to 1.0%, and you will get personalized support.

Closing thoughts

All in all, relai is a good choice for beginners; the onboarding is fast and simple, the fees are competitive too.

By using Relai, you also support a young but thriving Bitcoin-only startup instead of giving money to shitcoin casinos like Coinbase or Kraken.

Thanks for taking the time to read to the end, and I hope you enjoyed this Relai review.