OKX Review 2026: Is It Safe? Proof of Reserves, the 2020 Withdrawal Freeze and US Guilty Plea, Licences, Fees and Sign-up

I started on Bybit and Binance, then also began using OKX because its fee discount was higher. I am now VIP 1 there. The VIP benefit I value most is that idle funds in the trading account earn interest automatically. On Binance, the trading account and the earn account are separate, so money has to be moved before it earns anything. On OKX, once a VIP turns on Auto Earn, USDT sitting in the trading account is lent out without being moved.

The short version: OKX grew out of OKCoin (2013) and OKEx (2017) and was renamed OKX in 2022. The company says it passed 120 million customers by the end of 2025. Its proof of reserves is published monthly with a Merkle tree plus zk-STARK proofs, and the snapshot of 8 September 2026 showed BTC 109%, ETH 101%, USDT 105%. I found no record of its exchange custody wallets being hacked, but two events are worth knowing: a withdrawal suspension of about six weeks in 2020, and a guilty plea in the US in 2025 with more than US$504 million paid. Regular users pay 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker on spot.

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 dated, so check OKX’s official pages before you act. Crypto prices are volatile, and keeping assets on an exchange carries the risk of the exchange itself.

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

What kind of exchange OKX is

The user figure comes from the CEO’s 2025 year-end letter; the rank is a same-day snapshot from CoinGecko.

Is OKX safe?

Proof of reserves: monthly, Merkle tree plus zk-STARK

A proof of reserves compares what an exchange holds in its wallets with the total of all user balances. OKX started publishing one in November 2022 and added zk-STARK zero-knowledge proofs in March 2023. These prove that the user balance total is correct, that no balance is negative, and that every user is included.

OKX’s 47th report (snapshot at 00:00 UTC+8 on 8 September 2026) covered US$27.4 billion in primary assets:

Source: the OKX proof of reserves page. It covers 22 coins, the wallet addresses are public and the verifier is open source. You can check on the same page that your own account was included.

The official page does not name a third party for the latest report (the 36th report, in October 2025, named Hacken). A proof of reserves is a snapshot at one point in time, not a full financial audit. What it can and cannot prove, and the reserve ratios of 14 exchanges, are in the proof of reserves guide.

Custody and OKX Shield

OKX says most assets are kept offline in cold wallets, using semi-offline multi-signature with keys held in separate locations.

OKX Shield, launched in October 2026, is often mistaken for insurance. It is a voluntary goodwill programme for losses caused by a third party taking over your account, and OKX decides whether to pay:

• Regular users can be reimbursed up to US$100,000, VIP 1 to 3 up to US$250,000 and VIP 4 to 6 up to US$500,000.
• You must activate it and turn on passkey, large-withdrawal protection, web-withdrawal protection and multi-factor authentication.
• Each verified identity can have one approved claim in its lifetime, filed within 72 hours. Transfers you start yourself and scams are not covered.
• Whether it applies depends on which OKX entity serves your account.

I found no published figure for an OKX insurance fund.

The 2020 withdrawal suspension of about six weeks

On 16 October 2020, OKEx suspended crypto withdrawals because one of its private key holders was “cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations”. Withdrawals resumed on 26 November, about six weeks later. OKGroup said at the time that the Chinese investigation had temporarily ended and Star Xu had returned to his normal duties (The Block).

This was not a hack, but users could not withdraw their coins for six weeks. If an exchange’s critical keys sit with a few people, trouble for one of them can stop withdrawals.

The 2025 US guilty plea and other fines

These penalties were about compliance, not stolen customer assets. They do show that OKX has served users in places where it did not hold a local licence.

Account security settings

OKX offers passkeys, 2FA, a withdrawal address allowlist (new addresses need email confirmation), an anti-phishing code, large-withdrawal protection and web-withdrawal protection. Passkey, large-withdrawal protection, web-withdrawal protection and multi-factor authentication are also requirements for OKX Shield.

OKX licences and service regions

The Singapore and US entries come from press reports; I did not check each regulator’s register.

Restricted regions: the English risk and compliance disclosure (updated 8 July 2026) lists Afghanistan, Canada, Cuba, Hong Kong, Iran, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, North Korea, Syria, the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, parts of the United States and its territories, and Uzbekistan. The UK, South Korea, Brazil and some others have only partial restrictions, for example on derivatives. The Traditional Chinese version of the list differs slightly; the English version is the one to follow.

How to sign up for OKX

Create an account with an email address or phone number, enter the invitation code in the invitation code field, then complete identity verification (KYC).

OKX trading fees: 0.10% spot taker, 0.05% futures taker

From OKX’s official fee page (7 October 2026). You move up a tier by meeting either the asset threshold or the 30-day volume threshold:

• The 30-day volume for VIP 1 is US$1 million on spot or US$5 million on futures.
• A maker order waits on the order book; a taker order fills against an existing order.
• For general-user fees at 13 other international exchanges, see the international exchange fee comparison.
• The official fee page currently shows no discount for holding OKB, so articles saying otherwise may be out of date.
• Fees vary by the OKX entity serving you; the table is the global schedule.

In money terms: a regular user buying 1,000 USDT of BTC at market pays 0.1%, or 1 USDT. A limit order that fills as maker pays 0.08%, or 0.8 USDT.

VIP rates and the invitation code discount stack

My account is VIP 1, with spot maker at 0.0675% and taker at 0.0800%, matching the table. The 20% fee discount from signing up with an invitation code is calculated on top of the VIP rate: on the day you trade, the discounted amount comes back to the funding account, not the trading account.

My OKX VIP 1 fee rates, screenshot from October 2026

Daily fee discounts credited to the funding account, screenshot from October 2026

Taking a VIP 1 market buy of 1,000 USDT of BTC: the 0.08% fee is 0.8 USDT, the 20% discount returns 0.16 USDT the same day, and the net cost is 0.64 USDT. The returned USDT lands in the funding account, so you have to transfer it to the trading account yourself before trading with it.

Deposits and withdrawals: deposits are free. Each withdrawal pays one network fee regardless of the amount, adjusted to network conditions and shown on the withdrawal page (OKX).

USDT network fees shown on my app’s withdrawal page on 7 October 2026:

TRC20 is the most expensive network in this table, while X Layer, Arbitrum and Polygon cost less than 0.02 USDT, as long as the receiving exchange or wallet supports the same network. Aptos withdrawals were temporarily unavailable that day.

OKX USDT withdrawal networks and fees, screenshot from 8 October 2026; fees move with network conditions, so some differ slightly from the 7 October table

Depositing USDT to OKX on-chain

On OKX’s deposit page, choose USDT and a network, copy the address, and withdraw from the sending side. Both sides must use the same network, or the funds may be lost. Deposits below the minimum are not credited either (OKX).

USDT networks on the app’s deposit page on 7 October 2026. The minimum deposit is 0.01 USDT on most networks and 0.1 USDT on TRC20:

Aptos, Avalanche C-Chain, Berachain, Monad, Plasma, Tempo, Unichain and OKT Chain are also listed. USDT0 is a version of USDT on other chains; OKX opened deposits and withdrawals for it in September 2025.

Watch out: BNB Smart Chain (BEP20) is not on the list. BEP20 withdrawals are cheap on many exchanges (Bitget charges 0.01 USDT, for example), but OKX supports neither USDT deposits nor withdrawals on that chain. When sending USDT to OKX from elsewhere, pick a network both sides support, such as TRC20, Solana, TON, Arbitrum or Polygon.

OKX USDT deposit networks, screenshot from 8 October 2026

If a transfer is confirmed on-chain but the receiving exchange has not credited it, see what to check in my account of a delayed transfer from OKX to Bitfinex: USDT deposit delayed: what to do.

OKX earn: trading-account Auto Earn and Simple Earn

Auto Earn: idle funds in a VIP trading account are lent out automatically

Auto Earn is OKX’s earn feature inside the trading account, open only to VIP 1 to VIP 9. Once it is on, idle coins in the trading account are lent automatically to OKX’s margin and flexible borrowers, with no separate subscription.

• Coins: USDT, USDC, SOL, ETH, TRX, DOT and ADA.
• No effect on trading: assets tied up in open orders or used as cross margin still earn, the assets stay in the trading account, and you can still transfer them after turning it on.
• Interest: paid every hour; the annual rate changes every hour.
• Cap: 5 million USDT per main account for USDT.

Coins supported by Auto Earn+ and their rates at the time, screenshot from 8 October 2026

I turned on USDT Auto Earn on 21 August 2026. By 7 October it had earned about 317 USDT in total, and the lending rate that day was 3.04%; in the screenshot below, taken on 8 October, it was 3.01%. For me, the benefit is not having to move money between the trading and earn accounts: USDT waiting to be traded earns interest in the meantime.

The USDT Auto Earn+ details, screenshot from 8 October 2026

Keep in mind that the lending rate moves with borrowing demand, so 3.04% and 3.01% are only the figures at those moments. While funds are lent out, you carry the risk of USDT, of OKX and of the borrowers.

Simple Earn: available without VIP status

Without VIP status, you can use Simple Earn, subscribed from the funding account, with flexible and fixed terms.

• Yield source: flexible Simple Earn lends your coins to borrowers and margin traders, with interest settled every hour.
• Fee: OKX keeps 15% of the yield.
• Rate: on 7 October 2026 the market lending rate for USDT was about 3.0% to 3.5% and changes every hour. The 10% shown on the page is a new-user bonus, capped at 500 USDT for 180 days.
• Redemption: you can redeem at any time and funds return immediately, but redemptions in a coin may be temporarily limited when its pool is fully lent out (OKX FAQ).

For how exchange earn products compare with short-term Treasury ETFs, Aave and Bitfinex lending, and what extra risk each one adds, see Where to park idle USD and USDT.

Pros and cons: who OKX suits

More exchange guides and comparisons are on the crypto topic page.

FAQ

Is OKX safe?

OKX publishes a proof of reserves every month using a Merkle tree plus zk-STARK proofs. The snapshot of 8 September 2026 showed BTC at 109%, ETH at 101% and USDT at 105%. I found no record of OKX's 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. A proof of reserves is a snapshot, not a financial audit.

Why did OKX suspend withdrawals in 2020?

On 16 October 2020 OKEx suspended crypto withdrawals because one of its private key holders was cooperating with a Chinese public security investigation. Withdrawals resumed on 26 November, about six weeks later.

What are OKX's trading fees?

Regular users pay 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker on spot, and 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on futures (official fee schedule, 7 October 2026). Assets of US$100,000 or enough 30-day volume move you up to VIP 1. The official fee page currently shows no discount for holding OKB.

What licences does OKX hold?

According to OKX, OKX Middle East holds a VARA virtual asset service provider licence in Dubai, and OKX Europe received MiCA authorisation from Malta's MFSA in January 2025. OKX withdrew its Hong Kong licence application in May 2024 and stopped exchange services for Hong Kong residents.

Can I redeem OKX Simple Earn Flexible at any time?

OKX says flexible subscriptions and redemptions can be made at any time and funds return immediately, but redemptions in a coin may be temporarily limited when its pool is fully lent out. The yield comes from lending to borrowers and margin traders, and OKX keeps 15% of it.

Can idle funds in an OKX trading account earn interest automatically?

Yes, but only for VIP 1 to VIP 9. With Auto Earn turned on, idle USDT, USDC, ETH and other supported coins in the trading account are lent to margin and flexible borrowers, interest is paid every hour, and the assets stay in the trading account without affecting trading.

Can I deposit USDT to OKX on BSC (BEP20)?

No. On 7 October 2026 neither the USDT deposit list nor the withdrawal list on OKX included BNB Smart Chain (BEP20). Use a network both sides support, such as TRC20, Solana, TON, Arbitrum or Polygon.