OKX pairs some of the lowest base fees among major exchanges with one of the deepest crypto derivatives markets. It also has a MiCA licence in the EU, which Binance does not. Its compliance history is the part that needs the closest reading before you open an account.
OKX makes the most sense for traders who want low fees, deep perpetual futures liquidity, and bots, copy trading and options in one app. Its monthly proof-of-reserves reporting is among the most consistent in the industry. Against that, its operator pleaded guilty in the US in February 2025 and paid more than $504mn, and the products you can use depend heavily on where you live.
At the base Regular (Lv1) tier, OKX charges 0.08% for maker orders and 0.10% for taker orders on spot, and 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on perpetual and dated futures. A maker order is a limit order that waits on the order book; a taker order fills immediately against an existing one. You move up a tier once your assets on OKX reach $100,000 or your 30-day volume passes the threshold, and only one condition needs to be met. Rates can differ by region and by trading pair, so the order preview is the final word.
Buy $1,000 of Bitcoin with a limit order that adds liquidity and you pay $0.80. Buy it with a market order and you pay $1.00. Those figures cover the trading fee only. Card and fiat purchases carry their own charges, the simple buy screen can include a spread, futures positions pay or receive funding every few hours, and every withdrawal pays a network fee that changes by coin and blockchain.
| Cost | What OKX charges (Regular tier) |
|---|---|
| Spot trading | 0.08% maker / 0.10% taker |
| Perpetual and dated futures | 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker |
| Futures funding | Paid or received between longs and shorts; varies by market |
| VIP tiers | From $100,000 in assets or high 30-day volume; rates fall as tiers rise |
| Crypto deposits | No OKX fee; the sending wallet pays its own network fee |
| Fiat deposits and card buys | Vary by currency, payment method and country |
| Crypto withdrawals | Network fee per coin and chain, shown before you confirm |
Base rates checked against OKX’s published fee schedule in October 2026. Withdrawal fees change with network conditions; check the live preview before you send.
OKX has published these reports every month since November 2022. Its 47th report, published in September 2026, showed about $27.4bn in primary assets, with reserve ratios of 109% for BTC, 101% for ETH and 105% for USDT. A ratio above 100% means OKX held more of that coin than customers were owed on the snapshot date.
It proves less than many readers assume. Each report is a single moment in time, it covers customer crypto balances rather than all of OKX’s debts, and the reports do not name an independent auditor. They are a useful transparency signal, not a guarantee that withdrawals will always be honoured. The centralised exchange has no widely reported custody breach in recent years; the notable incident was on the Web3 side, when OKX paused its DEX aggregator in March 2025 after North Korea’s Lazarus Group misused it to launder stolen funds.
The enforcement record is the main caution. On 24 February 2025, OKX operator Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., a Seychelles company, pleaded guilty in New York to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. It agreed to a criminal fine of about $84.4mn and forfeiture of $420.3mn, a total of more than $504mn. The Department of Justice said OKX served US customers from about 2018 to early 2024 despite its own ban, let retail users trade without identity checks until about November 2022, and must keep an outside compliance consultant until February 2027.
Separately, in April 2025 Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit fined OKCoin Europe Ltd €1,054,269 after a 2023 inspection found weak risk assessments, poorly reviewed transaction alerts and a missed suspicious-transaction report. Since then the licensing picture has improved, but a licence covers one entity and the activities it is authorised for, not every OKX product everywhere.
| Region | Entity or service | Regulator and status |
|---|---|---|
| Global | Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. | Seychelles; subject to the 2025 US plea agreement |
| European Union | OKCoin Europe Ltd. (Malta) | MiCA crypto-asset licence from the MFSA (January 2025), plus a payment institution licence (February 2026) |
| Dubai | OKX Middle East | VASP licence from VARA |
| United States | OKX US | Separate US service launched April 2025; okx.com does not serve US residents |
| Malta (past action) | OKCoin Europe Ltd. | €1.05mn FIAU AML fine, April 2025 |
Check any entity on the regulator’s own register before you rely on it. See our review methodology for how regulation affects our scores.
OKX is not one global account. Your country decides which OKX entity you sign up with and which products you see, and the list changes often. Eligibility has to be checked twice: once for the country and once for the product, because a country where you can buy spot crypto may still block futures, margin or Earn.
| Where you live | What to expect |
|---|---|
| EU and EEA | Served by the MiCA-licensed Malta entity; spot, OTC, bots and copy trading, with tighter limits on derivatives |
| United Kingdom | Spot trading available; crypto derivatives are not offered to retail customers under FCA rules |
| United States | OKX US only, with a smaller product range; New York is not supported |
| UAE (Dubai) | Served by the VARA-licensed OKX Middle East entity |
| Restricted | Includes Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and sanctioned regions; check OKX’s current list |
OKX lists several hundred coins for spot trading, but its centre of gravity is derivatives: perpetual futures volume regularly runs at many times its spot volume. Beyond spot, it offers margin trading, perpetual and dated futures with high leverage where permitted, options, grid and DCA trading bots, copy trading, Earn products and a self-custody Web3 wallet. In the EU, OKX Pay and the OKX Card launched in early 2026 for spending crypto and stablecoins such as USDC.
OKX runs on web, iOS and Android, and one account connects the exchange with the Web3 wallet. The layout is built for active traders, with advanced charting, order types and derivatives tools up front. That depth helps experienced users, but newcomers will usually find the simplified buy and sell mode an easier place to start. Menus and products also differ by region, so guides and screenshots may not match what you see.
Active futures and spot traders who want low base fees and deep liquidity, users of trading bots and copy trading, and EU users who want a MiCA-licensed venue.
Complete beginners, users who weight regulatory history heavily, UK retail traders wanting derivatives, and anyone in a country where OKX is restricted.
There is no single winner. The right exchange depends on where you live, how often you trade and how much weight you give to regulation.
| Exchange | Entry spot fees | EU status | US access | Reserve transparency | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKX | 0.08% / 0.10% | MiCA-licensed | OKX US only | Monthly proof of reserves | 2025 US guilty plea |
| Binance | 0.10% (0.075% with BNB) | No MiCA licence | Binance.US only | Monthly proof of reserves | Restricted in EU and US |
| Kraken | Higher than OKX at entry level | MiCA-licensed | Most states | Periodic proof of reserves | Fewer coins and derivatives |
| Coinbase | Higher than OKX at entry level | MiCA-licensed | Yes | Audited accounts as a listed company | Costlier for small, frequent trades |
For low costs and derivatives depth in a supported country, OKX and Binance lead. For EU users who want both low fees and a MiCA licence, OKX currently has the edge over Binance. For US users, or anyone who puts regulation first, Coinbase or Kraken is the safer starting point. Read our Binance review and the full crypto exchange comparison.
OKX is one of the strongest platforms for active traders, with low base fees, deep futures liquidity and consistent monthly reserve reporting, and in the EU it holds the MiCA licence that Binance lacks. Its 2025 US guilty plea and Malta fine mean it should be judged on its record as well as its features. If OKX serves your country and you trade actively, it is well worth comparing. If you are new to crypto or regulation is your first concern, start with a simpler exchange.
This review is based on OKX’s official fee schedule, its monthly proof-of-reserves reports, regulator registers in the EU and Dubai, and US court and Malta enforcement records, all checked in October 2026. We have no commercial relationship with OKX, so nothing on this page is paid placement. We have not yet completed a funded-account test of OKX; when we do, we will add the results here.
Read our editorial policy and review methodology.
OKX is a large, established exchange that publishes monthly proof-of-reserves reports and holds a MiCA licence in the EU. Its operator pleaded guilty to a US money-transmitting offence in 2025 and paid more than $504mn, so it carries more regulatory history than some rivals. Use strong 2FA and avoid leaving long-term holdings on any exchange.
At the Regular tier, OKX charges 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker on spot, and 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on futures. A $1,000 spot trade costs $0.80 as a maker or $1.00 as a taker, before spreads, funding or withdrawal fees.
Parts of OKX are. Its Malta entity holds a MiCA licence covering the EU, and OKX Middle East holds a VARA licence in Dubai. The global platform is run by a Seychelles company, so protections depend on which entity serves you.
Not on okx.com. US residents must use OKX US, which launched in April 2025 with a smaller product range and does not serve New York.
OKX has slightly lower base spot fees and a MiCA licence in the EU, which Binance lacks. Binance offers more coins and its own BNB fee discount. Both have serious US enforcement histories, so eligibility in your country is usually the deciding factor.