OKX Review: Who Runs It, Where It Works, Fees and Safety Record

Verdict: OKX is a large, low-fee exchange with a long public proof-of-reserves record, but it is not one global service. What you can use depends on where you live: EEA residents are served by a MiCA-licensed Maltese company, US residents by a separate US money transmitter that offers spot trading only, Australians by two local companies, and Canadians not at all. Its 2025 US guilty plea and EU fine are part of the record you should weigh.

This review is built from OKX’s own fee schedules, risk and compliance disclosures and proof-of-reserves page (all read in November 2026), plus regulator and court records. We do not show live prices, and nothing here is investment advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money.

Who runs OKX, and which company would you be dealing with?

OKX is a brand used by several companies. The global exchange has been operated since at least 2017 by Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd, a Seychelles company, according to the US Justice Department. EEA users contract with OKX Europe Limited in Malta, US users with OKX INC., and Australians with OKX Australia Pty Ltd. Your terms, protections and product list follow that local entity.

Where is OKX available, and where is it not?

OKX’s global risk and compliance disclosure, last updated 8 July 2026, lists Restricted Locations including Afghanistan, Canada, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, North Korea, Syria, Uzbekistan, occupied regions of Ukraine and US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam. It also limits derivatives, Earn-type and P2P services in the United Kingdom, and derivatives in Australia, Brazil and South Korea.

• United States: the global OKX exchange is closed to US users. OKX US, run by OKX INC., has offered spot trading and buy/sell/convert since 2 June 2025, and its disclosure says US users are expressly prohibited from using the foreign OKX products. Availability also depends on your state.
• EU and EEA: served by OKX Europe Limited under its Maltese MiCA authorisation, which can be passported across the EEA. Our guide to MiCA regulation explains what that licence does and does not protect.
• United Kingdom: the UK version of the fee page shows spot and options tables but no futures table, consistent with the derivatives restriction in OKX’s disclosure. We could not confirm an FCA cryptoasset registration for an OKX entity, so check the FCA register before you sign up.
• Canada: not served.
• Australia: spot for everyone through OKX Australia Pty Ltd since its 14 May 2024 launch; derivatives only for wholesale clients as defined in the Corporations Act 2001.

Is OKX safe to use?

OKX publishes one of the longest-running monthly proof-of-reserves series, with its 49th report showing reserve ratios of 108% for BTC, 101% for ETH and 106% for USDT at 1 November 2026. Against that, OKX suspended all crypto withdrawals for about six weeks in 2020, pleaded guilty in the US in 2025 and was fined in Malta the same year. Long-term savings belong in your own wallet.

Holding coins on any exchange means trusting the company with custody. Our explainer on whether it is safe to keep crypto on an exchange covers the general risks, from insolvency to account freezes, and the 2022 FTX collapse shows what happens when an exchange’s books do not match its promises.

What does OKX’s proof of reserves actually show?

OKX began publishing proof of reserves in October 2022 and moved to a zk-STARK system in February 2023. Each report compares the total of user account balances with the coins in wallets OKX says it controls, and users can check that their own balance was included. The 49th report, with a verification date of 1 November 2026, covers $33.87 billion across 21 assets; the four largest are below.

Two limits matter. First, the OKX page does not name an independent audit firm for these reports: the proof is generated by OKX with open-source zk-STARK tooling that anyone can review on GitHub. Second, a reserves report proves assets at a moment in time; it does not show the company’s other debts. Part of the holdings also sits with third-party custodians (for example 7,163 BTC in this report), which OKX says you must verify with those custodians.

Has OKX been hacked or frozen withdrawals?

The most serious incident for customers came on 16 October 2020, when OKEx (OKX’s former name) suspended all crypto withdrawals because a private key holder, later identified as founder Star Xu, was assisting a Chinese police investigation. On 19 November 2020 the exchange said withdrawals would resume by 27 November. On 17 March 2025 OKX paused its separate DEX aggregator after what it called a coordinated effort by the Lazarus group to misuse its DeFi services, following the Bybit hack; its wallet services stayed available.

What is OKX’s enforcement history?

On 24 February 2025 Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd, the operator of OKX, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Prosecutors said OKX served US customers from about 2018 to early 2024 despite its own policy, and that the platform was used for over $5 billion of suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds. OKX agreed to forfeit $420.3 million and pay a criminal fine of about $84.4 million, and must keep an external compliance consultant through February 2027.

In April 2025 Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit fined OKX’s Maltese entity about €1.1 million for anti-money-laundering failures found in a 2023 compliance review. Neither case alleged that customer funds were lost.

What are OKX’s trading fees?

As of November 2026, a regular OKX user outside the US pays 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker on standard spot pairs, falling with VIP tiers based on assets or 30-day volume. OKX US charges far more at entry level: 0.20% maker and 0.35% taker. On an illustrative $1,000 market buy, that is $1.00 on the global or EEA site versus $3.50 on OKX US, before any spread.

The Singapore site (OKX SG) uses its own table, with 0.10% maker and 0.20% taker for regular users. For comparison with other big platforms, see our Binance vs Kraken vs Coinbase fee breakdown.

How much does it cost to buy instantly or with a card?

OKX describes its Convert tool as zero trading fees with no slippage, which means the cost is built into the quoted rate rather than shown as a separate fee. Compare the Convert quote with the order-book price before you accept it. Card and bank purchases depend on the payment method and provider shown at checkout, so read the final quote rather than relying on any headline rate.

What does it cost to withdraw BTC or USDT from OKX?

OKX charges a network fee per withdrawal that changes with blockchain congestion. Its withdrawal table, updated 7 November 2026, listed 0.000015 BTC on the Bitcoin network (minimum withdrawal 0.0001 BTC). USDT can leave on more than a dozen networks, including Tron (TRC20), Ethereum (ERC20), Solana, TON and X Layer, each with its own fee. Always confirm the fee shown on the withdrawal screen.

The cheapest USDT network is only useful if the receiving wallet or exchange supports it. Sending USDT on the wrong network is one of the most common ways people lose stablecoins. Our USDT vs USDC vs DAI guide explains how stablecoins move between chains.

What identity checks does OKX require?

OKX runs a customer identification programme for every account: you provide an identity document and, at higher levels, more detail, and OKX screens customers against sanctions lists including those of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and the UN Security Council. The exact limits for each verification level are shown inside your account and vary by region, so check them there before depositing.

The fee pages state that the 24-hour crypto withdrawal limit for a regular verified user is $10,000,000, rising with VIP level. In practice your limits will be set by the local entity: an EEA account follows Maltese anti-money-laundering rules and the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, which asks for information on transfers to and from self-hosted wallets.

Which products can you use on OKX in your country?

The OKX menu lists spot trading, Convert, futures and options, trading bots, Earn and On-chain Earn, a Web3 wallet, and a payments card. Not every product exists everywhere: US users get spot and convert only, UK users lose derivatives, Earn-type and P2P services, Australians need wholesale status for derivatives, and EEA derivatives sit under separate terms with eligibility checks.

• Spot and Convert: available in every region OKX serves.
• Futures, perpetual swaps and options: global site; EEA for eligible users; Australia for wholesale clients; not in the US or UK.
• Earn and staking: offered on the global site; restricted in the UK and Australia under OKX’s disclosure. Exchange staking means OKX holds the coins and the validator keys for you.
• OKX Wallet (Web3): a self-custody wallet that is separate from your exchange account. It was the DEX aggregator inside this wallet that OKX paused in March 2025.

How do you withdraw from OKX safely?

Turn on two-factor authentication and an anti-phishing code first, then add your wallet address to the withdrawal allowlist and send a small test amount before the full sum. Pick the same network on both sides (for example BTC on the Bitcoin network) and check the first and last characters of the address after pasting, since clipboard malware can swap addresses.

1. Create or open your own wallet and write the recovery phrase on paper, never in a screenshot. Never type it into a website.
2. In OKX, choose Withdraw, select the coin and the network your wallet supports, and paste the receiving address.
3. Read the network fee and minimum withdrawal on screen, then send a small test.
4. Confirm the test arrived on a block explorer, then send the rest.

Our step-by-step guide to moving crypto from an exchange to your own wallet covers each step in more detail. Only use okx.com or the official app store listing; fake OKX sites and support accounts are common.

What are the main alternatives to OKX?

If you want a similarly broad derivatives exchange outside the US, Bybit and Bitget are the closest matches, each with its own licence map and incident history. If regulatory standing matters more than product range, Kraken holds licences in more of the major markets. Binance is the largest rival but faces its own country restrictions.

For a wider shortlist by region see our hub on how to choose a crypto exchange,.