OKX review

OKX is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world and, unlike Binance, it secured a MiCA licence early. This OKX review looks at the platform as of October 2026: its licences in Europe, the US and the Middle East, its fees, its proof of reserves, the guilty plea it entered in the United States in 2025, and the products that make it popular with active traders. In short: cheap and well built, with a regulatory past worth knowing.

OKX at a glance

OKX was launched in 2017 under the name OKEx by Star Xu, who still leads the company, and took its current name in January 2022. The group is organised around regional entities: OKX Europe in Malta, OKX Middle East in Dubai, OKX US in San Francisco and a global entity registered in the Seychelles. Besides its centralised exchange, OKX develops a self-custody wallet and its own layer 2 network, X Layer.

Regulation and licences

• European Union: OKX Europe Limited received a MiCA licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) on 27 January 2025, one of the first granted to a major exchange. It covers custody, the trading platform, exchange services and transfers across the EEA, as shown on ESMA’s interim MiCA register. The same entity holds an MFSA licence as a financial institution for payments.
• United Arab Emirates: OKX Middle East Fintech FZE has held a VASP licence from Dubai’s VARA since September 2024, including derivatives, according to the VARA register.
• United States: OKX serves US customers through a separate US platform, operated from San Francisco under NMLS number 1767779, with its own fee schedule and a narrower product range. It is not licensed by New York’s NYDFS.
• United Kingdom: OKX runs a UK website whose financial promotions are approved by an FCA-authorised firm, as UK rules require.

Our guide to MiCA regulation explains what this European licence means for you.

Enforcement history

In February 2025, Aux Cayes FinTech, the Seychelles company behind OKX’s global platform, pleaded guilty in the United States to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to pay more than $504 million in penalties. US prosecutors said it had served US customers despite its own ban and with weak anti-money-laundering controls. OKX relaunched in the US later in 2025 through its licensed US platform. Earlier, in October 2020, OKEx froze withdrawals for about five weeks because one of its private key holders was cooperating with a police investigation, a reminder of what custodial risk looks like.

OKX fees

OKX is one of the cheapest regulated platforms in Europe. The rates below are the base level for regular users on the official fee page as of October 2026.

Platform and product	Maker	Taker
OKX global and OKX Europe, spot	0.08%	0.10%
OKX global and OKX Europe, spot, VIP 1	0.0675%	0.08%
OKX US, spot, regular user	0.20%	0.35%

A $1,000 spot market order costs $1 for a regular user in Europe or on the global platform, against $3.50 on OKX US. Fees fall with 30-day volume and assets held; from VIP 7, makers receive a small rebate. Derivatives use separate tiers, and perpetual futures are only offered where local rules allow them. Crypto withdrawals carry a network fee, and card purchases through partners cost more than bank transfers.

Security record and proof of reserves

OKX has not suffered a major theft of customer funds from its exchange wallets. It publishes a proof of reserves regularly, now in its 47th edition as of October 2026: each user can check that their balance is included through a Merkle tree, and a zk-STARK proof shows that total reserves cover total liabilities without revealing individual accounts. Like every proof of reserves, it is a snapshot and does not replace a full audit. Account protection includes passkeys, authenticator apps, withdrawal allowlists and anti-phishing codes. For European clients, MiCA adds a layer of protection: a licensed provider must keep client crypto-assets segregated from its own and may not use them for its own account. That does not remove every risk, so large or long-term holdings are still safer in a wallet you control.

Products

• Spot trading on about 400 assets on the global platform as of October 2026; the European and US offers are narrower.
• Margin, perpetual futures, dated futures and options, where available.
• Earn and staking products, trading bots and copy trading.
• OKX Wallet, a multi-chain self-custody wallet with a DEX aggregator, and X Layer.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

In Europe, OKX accepts SEPA transfers in euros and card payments, and crypto deposits on many networks. On the global platform, a P2P marketplace lets users buy from each other in local currencies. Always check the network before sending crypto, since a wrong chain can mean lost funds.

Opening an account

Sign-up needs an email or phone number, then identity verification (KYC) with an ID and a face scan. Your country decides which OKX entity opens your account and which products you see. Turn on a passkey and a withdrawal allowlist straight away.

Who OKX suits, and who it does not

OKX suits European and international traders who want low fees, a polished app and advanced tools under a MiCA licence. It also suits people who want a strong self-custody wallet from the same brand. It is less suited to complete beginners, who may find the interface dense, and to US users looking for the full global product range, which OKX US does not offer. Note also that in the EEA, MiCA does not cover derivatives, so the range of futures and options you see depends on separate authorisations and may differ from what you read on international forums. If you are comparing several platforms, our guide on how to choose a crypto exchange sets out the checks to make, from licences and fees to withdrawal limits and support.

How OKX compares

OKX is cheaper than Kraken or Coinbase in Europe and offers more derivatives, but has a shorter regulated history and a 2025 guilty plea. Against Binance, it has the advantage of a MiCA licence. Bybit is its closest match on products and fees, but it lost about $1.5 billion in a 2025 hack, while OKX’s record on customer funds is cleaner.