Binance vs OKX 2026: Security, Proof of Reserves, US Guilty Pleas, Fees and Earn Compared

Disclosure: this page contains exchange invitation links and codes. If you sign up through them, the exchange may pay Jason Finance a referral commission. It does not raise the fees you pay; the invitation fee discount is set by the exchange. Our ratings follow the published methodology, where the invitation discount counts only toward the fees item.

Binance is one of the two exchanges I have used the longest; the other is Bybit. I started using OKX later because its fee discount percentage was higher, and I am now VIP 1 there. Another reason was that when I used Binance, the trading account and the earn account were separate, so I had to move money over before it could earn interest. I have accounts at both, and this article compares them side by side: security, past incidents, licences, fees and earn products.

The short version: both have pleaded guilty in the US and both publish a proof of reserves every month, but OKX’s reserve ratios leave a thicker buffer (BTC 109% on 8 September 2026, against Binance’s BTC 100.35% on 1 October). Binance is larger, its BTC order book is deeper, and it lets you withdraw USDT on BEP20. OKX holds MiCA authorisation in the European Economic Area, and at VIP 1 and above idle USDT in the trading account can earn interest automatically. On fees, it depends on whether you use BNB: without it, OKX’s spot maker fee is slightly lower; paying in BNB, Binance’s spot fees are lower.

This article shares my own experience and research. It is not investment, tax or legal advice. Fees, rates, licences and service regions can change; every figure here is from the date shown, so check both exchanges’ official pages before you act. This site does not give advice on futures or leveraged trading; futures fees are listed only so readers can compare costs.

Binance and OKX at a glance

Item	Binance	OKX
Founded	2017	Grew out of OKCoin (2013) and OKEx (2017); renamed OKX in 2022
Proof of reserves	Monthly, Merkle tree plus zk-SNARK; 1 October 2026: BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%	Monthly, Merkle tree plus zk-STARK; 8 September 2026: BTC 109%, ETH 101%, USDT 105%
User protection fund	SAFU, holding 15,000 BTC	No published insurance fund size found; launched a voluntary compensation scheme, OKX Shield, in October 2026
Major incidents	7,000 BTC stolen in 2019, covered by SAFU; US guilty plea in 2023, settling for more than US$4.3 billion	Withdrawals suspended for about six weeks in 2020; US guilty plea in 2025, paying more than US$504 million
Main licences	Dubai VARA, Abu Dhabi ADGM, Bahrain CBB; leaving the European Economic Area from July 2026	EU MiCA (Malta’s MFSA), Dubai VARA
Spot fees (regular users)	Maker 0.1%, taker 0.1%; 0.075% when paid in BNB	Maker 0.08%, taker 0.10%
Futures fees (regular users)	Maker 0.02%, taker 0.05%; 10% off when paid in BNB	Maker 0.02%, taker 0.05%
VIP 1 threshold	US$1 million in 30-day spot volume and 5 BNB held	US$100,000 in assets or US$1 million in 30-day spot volume
BTC order book depth (±2%)	About US$23.83 million	About US$15.33 million
USDT on BEP20	Supported, 0.01 USDT withdrawal fee	Supported for neither deposits nor withdrawals
Automatic interest on idle trading account funds	No; the earn account and spot account are separate	Yes, from VIP 1 (Auto Earn)

Fee and order book depth figures are from 8 October 2026 (order book depth from CoinGecko); BNB discounts and VIP thresholds follow Binance’s official fee page on 9 October and OKX’s on 7 October. The two boxes below show each exchange’s rating and key data, taken from the same data as my rating table:

Binance key factsData checked: 2026-10-08

As of 2026-10-08, Binance's general-user spot taker fee is 0.1% and its futures taker fee is 0.05%; signing up with the invitation code gives a 20% trading fee discount. Its 2026-10-01 proof of reserves showed BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%.

Item	Details	Source
Jason Finance rating	69.8 / 100	rating method
Highlights	Among the deepest BTC and ETH order books zk-SNARK proof of reserves 2023 US guilty plea
General-user fees (taker)	Spot 0.1%, futures 0.05%	2026-10-08
Invitation code fee discount	20% trading fee discount	2026-10-07
Proof of reserves	2026-10-01 (monthly): BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%	2026-10-08
Main licences and registrations	Abu Dhabi FSRA licence, Dubai VARA licence, Bahrain CBB licence, Japan FSA registration (Binance Japan)	source 1 source 2 source 3 source 4
USDT withdrawals	Cheapest BEP20 0.01 USDT; 7 common networks supported	2026-10-08
Order book depth (±2%)	BTC/USDT about 23.8M USD, ETH/USDT about 17.9M USD	2026-10-08

OKX key factsData checked: 2026-10-08

As of 2026-10-08, OKX's general-user spot taker fee is 0.1% and its futures taker fee is 0.05%; signing up with the invitation code gives a 20% trading fee discount. Its 2026-09-08 proof of reserves showed BTC 109%, ETH 101%, USDT 105%.

Item	Details	Source
Jason Finance rating	63.6 / 100	rating method
Highlights	Monthly zk-STARK proof of reserves Auto Earn on idle VIP trading balances EU MiCA and Dubai VARA licences
General-user fees (taker)	Spot 0.1%, futures 0.05%	2026-10-08
Invitation code fee discount	20% trading fee discount	2026-10-07
Proof of reserves	2026-09-08 (monthly): BTC 109%, ETH 101%, USDT 105%	2026-10-08
Main licences and registrations	EU MiCA (Malta MFSA), Dubai VARA licence, Singapore MAS licence, Australia AUSTRAC registration	source 1 source 2 source 3 source 4
USDT withdrawals	Cheapest Arbitrum 0.0033 USDT; 6 common networks supported	2026-10-08
Order book depth (±2%)	BTC/USDT about 15.3M USD, ETH/USDT about 8.9M USD	2026-10-08

Security: proof of reserves and past incidents

Proof of reserves: both use zero-knowledge proofs, OKX has a thicker buffer

Both publish a proof of reserves once a month, and both let you use a Merkle tree to check that your own account was included:

Binance uses zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proofs. Its snapshot of 1 October 2026 showed BTC 100.35%, ETH 100% and USDT 103.88%. The report is not signed by an accountant or any third-party verifier (the Binance review has the detailed figures).
OKX uses zk-STARK zero-knowledge proofs, and its verification code is open source. Its snapshot of 8 September 2026 showed BTC 109%, ETH 101% and USDT 105%. Its latest report does not state any third-party verification (see the OKX review).

Both show ratios above 100% for their main assets, but Binance’s ETH is exactly 100% and its BTC only 0.35% above, a thinner buffer than OKX’s. A proof of reserves is a snapshot at one point in time, not a financial audit. For what it can and cannot prove, see “How to check proof of reserves”.

Binance also has SAFU, a user protection fund. It started at US$1 billion and was later converted into bitcoin, and it now holds 15,000 BTC in total. SAFU is Binance’s own fund, not insurance: Binance decides how it is used, and its market value rises and falls with the coin price. OKX has not published the size of any insurance fund. OKX Shield, launched in October 2026, is a voluntary compensation scheme that covers only losses from third parties misusing an account, and OKX decides whether to pay.

Past incidents: both have pleaded guilty in the US

Binance:

On 7 May 2019, hackers obtained some users’ API keys and 2FA codes and moved 7,000 BTC out of the hot wallet. Binance said SAFU covered the entire loss; deposits and withdrawals were suspended for about a week.
On 21 November 2023, Binance admitted violating US anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws and reached settlements totalling more than US$4.3 billion with the US Department of Justice, the Treasury and the CFTC. Founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as CEO. On 23 October 2025, President Trump pardoned Zhao personally; I found no report that the company’s guilty plea and settlement were overturned.
During the market crash of 10 October 2025, USDe and some other assets briefly depegged sharply on Binance, and Binance compensated liquidated users about US$283 million within 24 hours.

OKX: I found no record of its exchange custody wallets being hacked, but there are two events. On 16 October 2020, because one of its private key holders was cooperating with a Chinese public security investigation, it suspended crypto withdrawals until 26 November, about six weeks in total. On 24 February 2025, its operating entity admitted in the US to running an unlicensed money transmitting business and paid more than US$504 million.

Both have also faced action in other regions. Binance has been fined in the Netherlands, Canada, India, Australia and elsewhere, and in 2026 there were reports about Iranian fund flows and a US Department of Justice investigation; as of October I had found no outcome. OKX has been fined in the Netherlands and Malta, and on 11 September 2026 the US state of Texas issued a consent order against OKX Inc. Most of these are compliance and licensing issues, not thefts of user assets. The full lists are in the two reviews.

Licences and restricted regions

	Binance	OKX
EU	Previously registered with France’s AMF, Italy’s OAM and Poland’s GIIF; withdrew its MiCA application in Greece in June 2026, and since 1 July residents of the European Economic Area can only withdraw	OKX Europe, MiCA authorisation approved by Malta’s MFSA (January 2025)
Dubai/UAE	Binance FZE holds a Dubai VARA licence; three entities in Abu Dhabi’s ADGM have FSRA approval	OKX Middle East holds a Dubai VARA licence
Other	Bahrain CBB licence; Japan is served by Binance Japan and Thailand by the joint venture Gulf Binance	Singapore MAS major payment institution licence (media reports), Australia AUSTRAC registration
US	A separate company, Binance.US	Served by OKX INC.
Not available (partial list)	Canada, the Netherlands; no new users in the UK; withdrawals only in the European Economic Area; Japanese residents must use Binance Japan	Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, India, Malaysia and others; only some services are restricted in the UK, South Korea and Brazil

Binance’s list of prohibited countries only displays when the browser runs scripts, so I could not verify the full list on the official page. The full lists are in each exchange’s terms of service; sources are in the licence sections of the “Binance review” and the “OKX review”.

Fees: it depends on whether you use BNB

From both exchanges’ official fee schedules on 8 October 2026, for regular users:

	Binance	OKX
Spot maker	0.1% (0.075% paid in BNB)	0.08%
Spot taker	0.1% (0.075% paid in BNB)	0.10%
Futures maker	0.02%	0.02%
Futures taker	0.05%	0.05%

In money terms: buying 1,000 USDT of spot at market costs 1 USDT in fees at either exchange, or 0.75 USDT at Binance with BNB fee payment turned on. If a limit order fills as a maker, it costs 0.8 USDT at OKX and 1 USDT at Binance (0.75 USDT paid in BNB). Binance takes 10% off futures fees paid in BNB.

The BNB discount requires holding BNB in your account, and BNB’s own price rises and falls. Before holding BNB just to save on fees, think about whether you can accept that volatility. OKX’s official fee page currently shows no discount for holding OKB.

The VIP upgrade rules also differ. At OKX you are upgraded when either assets or volume reach the threshold: VIP 1 is US$100,000 in assets or US$1 million in 30-day spot volume. Binance requires both volume and BNB holdings to qualify: VIP 1 is US$1 million in 30-day spot volume plus 5 BNB, and large assets alone do not get you upgraded.

Signing up with an invitation code gets you an additional official fee discount; both exchanges’ percentages are in the invitation code boxes at the end of this article, and how the discount is calculated is in “What is a crypto exchange fee discount”.

Deposit networks and withdrawals

BEP20: Binance supports USDT withdrawals on BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), with a 0.01 USDT fee; OKX supports it for neither USDT deposits nor withdrawals. To send USDT from Binance to OKX, choose a network both sides have instead.
Supported by both: TRC20, ERC20, Solana, TON and Arbitrum.
Withdrawal fees: both publish their USDT withdrawal fees. The figures from 8 October 2026 are below.

Network	Binance USDT withdrawal fee	OKX minimum USDT withdrawal fee
BNB Smart Chain (BEP20)	0.01 USDT	Not supported
Tron (TRC20)	1.5 USDT	1.5 USDT
Ethereum (ERC20)	0.5 USDT	0.52 USDT
Solana	0.3 USDT	0.32 USDT
The Open Network (TON)	0.3 USDT	0.024 USDT
Arbitrum One	0.4 USDT	0.0033 USDT

Withdrawal fees change with network conditions; go by what the withdrawal page shows. Both sides must use the same network, or you may not get the funds back. For a comparison of withdrawal fees by exchange and network, and the steps for choosing a network, see “How to choose a USDT withdrawal network”.

Earn: OKX is more convenient for idle trading account funds

Binance Simple Earn: flexible products can be subscribed and redeemed at any time, and earnings accrue every minute at the real-time APR. Some coins have extra tiered APR bonuses, and rates change. The earn account is separate from the spot account used for trading, so assets only start earning interest after you move them over.
OKX Simple Earn: on 7 October 2026 the USDT market lending rate was about 3.0 to 3.5%, and OKX keeps 15% of the yield. The 10% shown on the page is a new-user reward, limited to 500 USDT for 180 days.
OKX Auto Earn: available only to VIP 1 through VIP 9. Idle USDT in the trading account is lent out and earns interest without being transferred. I switched it on on 21 August 2026, and by 7 October it had earned about 317 USDT in total.

When I used Binance, I had to move money from the spot account to the earn account to earn interest. With Auto Earn turned on as an OKX VIP, the USDT I keep ready for trading earns interest while it sits there. Rates change daily and are not guaranteed. For what extra risks exchange earn products carry compared with short-term US Treasuries, Aave and Bitfinex lending, see “Where to park idle USD and USDT”.

Who Binance and OKX each suit

	Better suited if you
Binance	Need a wide range of coins and trading pairs; care about BTC and ETH order book depth; often move USDT on BEP20; are willing to hold BNB for fee discounts; can accept Binance’s regulatory record
OKX	Live in the European Economic Area; want a lower spot maker fee without holding a platform token; have US$100,000 in assets and want to go straight to VIP 1; often have idle USDT in your trading account; care about the buffer in reserve ratios

Neither can be used in Canada, and each has other restricted regions, so check that your region is not on the restricted list before you sign up. Whichever you choose, only keep on it what you can afford to lose, and keep long-term holdings in a cold wallet where you hold the private keys yourself.

For comparisons with other exchanges, see “How to choose a crypto exchange” and the “international exchange fee comparison”.

Binance and OKX invitation codes

More articles are on the crypto topic page.

FAQ

Which is safer, Binance or OKX?

They carry different risks. Binance publishes a zk-SNARK proof of reserves every month; on 1 October 2026 it showed BTC 100.35%, ETH 100% and USDT 103.88%. The 7,000 BTC stolen in 2019 was covered by its SAFU fund, and in 2023 it pleaded guilty in the US and settled for more than US$4.3 billion. OKX publishes a zk-STARK proof of reserves every month; on 8 September 2026 it showed BTC 109%, ETH 101% and USDT 105%. I found no record of its exchange custody wallets being hacked, but it suspended withdrawals for about six weeks in 2020 and pleaded guilty in the US in 2025, paying more than US$504 million. Neither exchange's latest report states any third-party verification.

Which has lower fees, Binance or OKX?

It depends on whether you pay fees in BNB. For regular users on spot, OKX charges 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker, and Binance 0.1% for both; paying in BNB at Binance takes 25% off, bringing it to 0.075%. On futures, both charge regular users 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker (official fee schedules, 8 October 2026).

How do the VIP 1 thresholds at Binance and OKX differ?

At OKX it is US$100,000 in assets or US$1 million in 30-day spot volume; meeting either one is enough. Binance requires US$1 million in 30-day spot volume and holding at least 5 BNB; you must meet both, and large assets alone do not get you upgraded.

Can I use BEP20 to send USDT from Binance to OKX?

No. Binance supports USDT withdrawals on BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), but OKX supports BEP20 for neither USDT deposits nor withdrawals. Choose a network both sides have instead, such as TRC20, ERC20, Solana, TON or Arbitrum.

Can I use Binance or OKX if I live in Europe?

Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece in June 2026, and since 1 July residents of the European Economic Area cannot open new accounts, deposit, place new spot orders or use earn products; they can only withdraw. OKX Europe received MiCA authorisation from Malta's MFSA in January 2025 and can provide services in the European Economic Area.