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A D Crypto Derivatives Exchanges (Futures/Perp)

OKX Futures

OKX

Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd.

Status
Private company
Legal HQ
Seychelles (exchange entity); HQ San Jose, California
Founded
2017
Corporate site
okx.com
Valuation
$25B
Latest round
ICE minority stake (strategic investment)

Main investors / shareholders

  • Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) - NYSE parent · Other

OKX is a private exchange founded by Star Xu. Global HQ in San Jose, California. The exchange entity is incorporated in Seychelles (Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd.).
4.4/5 1.2/5
Taker fee 0.05%

Data verified on unchanged since the sources

Worth it if you trade derivatives and want a venue with MiFID II compliance and 400+ futures pairs.

Avoid it if you trade from the US, or the 2025 AML fine is a dealbreaker.

Visit official website ↗ Sponsored link · rating unaffected

One of the largest derivatives platforms, offering over 400 futures pairs, MiFID II compliance in the EU and competitive fees. In 2025, however, it was hit with a $505M AML fine and remains unavailable in the United States.

77
Transparency: High
77/100 · see methodology
77
Data exposure: High
77/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

Maker / Taker fee 0.02% / 0.05%
Markets Derivatives
Max leverage 125×
Supported assets 350+
Trading pairs 400+
24h volume $15B
Fiat on-ramp Yes
Deposit methods bank_card, crypto_wallet_transfer, p2p_c2c, google_pay, apple_pay, bank_transfer
Geo restrictions USA (previously restricted; relaunched April 2025 with MSB licenses), Canada (some provinces), Singapore (derivatives restricted for retail)
Fund custody Custodial (platform holds funds)
KYC Full
Supported countries EEA, APAC, LATAM, MENA · 60+ countries
Regulator VARA, MAS, ASIC, state MTL
OAM Italy registration No
Segment B2C
MiCA / License status VASP, MiCA, MPI MiCA + MiFID II (Malta) — EU regolamentato unico

Strengths

  • #2 futures; MiFID II compliance EU; 400+ pair futures; fee competitive.
  • No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

  • Fine AML 2025; no US.
  • Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
  • Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
  • Subject to regulation (MiCA + MiFID II (Malta) — EU regolamentato unico): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
  • Geographic restrictions (USA (previously restricted; relaunched April 2025 with MSB licenses), Canada (some provinces), Singapore (derivatives restricted for retail)).

Verdict

A D ★ 4.4/5 ★ 1.2/5

The A rests on one of the largest derivatives platforms, with over 400 futures pairs, MiFID II compliance in the EU and competitive fees (0.02%/0.05%). Holding the score back are the $505M AML fine of 2025, the unavailability in the US and leverage of up to 125x that stays risky for the average user.

On this lens OKX is worth little: it is custodial and full-KYC, and the 2025 AML mega-fine underscores how integrated the platform is in the regulatory perimeter the crypto-native tries to sidestep. Depth and compliance are not self-custody.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.8
Fund control 20% 0.0
Censorship resistance 20% 1.5
Costs 10% 4.5

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

Reputation

What happened to people who used OKX Futures, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.

Incidents & regulatory actions

Past incidents, resolved

Documented and closed events. They stay on file: an operator’s past is data, not a verdict.

  1. Fine Severe $504M ✓ resolved

    US criminal conviction: Aux Cayes FinTech, the company operating OKX, pleads guilty to running an unlicensed money transmitting business and pays over $504 million

    On 24 February 2025 Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd, the Seychelles-based company operating OKX, pleaded guilty before the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, agreeing to penalties totalling more than $504 million ($420.3 million criminal forfeiture and roughly $84.4 million fine). From the court documents and admissions: since 2017 OKX had an official policy barring US persons from its exchange, yet actively sought them out; between 2018 and at least early 2024 it served US customers who transacted over one trillion dollars, generating hundreds of millions in fees. Until November 2022 a retail user could open an account, receive and transfer funds and trade without completing any identity verification; the block on US IP addresses could be bypassed with a VPN, and until early 2024 customers could trade through intermediaries that disclosed no identifying information to OKX. In at least two documented episodes (April 2023 and January 2024) an employee advised prospective US customers how to supply false information to get past verification. Prosecutors put the suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds that moved through the platform at over $5 billion. The company agreed to retain an external compliance consultant through February 2027. The filing explicitly names the derivatives products too, futures contracts included.

    ↗ source
  2. Withdrawals halted Severe ✓ resolved

    Withdrawals suspended for five weeks: one of the private-key holders was unreachable while cooperating with a Chinese police investigation

    On 16 October 2020 OKEx (now OKX) suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals, stating that one of its private-key holders was out of reach while cooperating with an investigation by the Chinese authorities. The holder was Mingxing 'Star' Xu, founder of OKCoin and CEO of OK Group. Deposits and trading stayed live, but for five weeks no user could move funds out. On 19 November 2020 the exchange announced the reopening, declaring 100% reserves and that all balances were fully withdrawable; withdrawals resumed on 26 November 2020. No user funds were lost and this was not a hack: the point is the custody architecture, which had made access to funds dependent on one individual being reachable.

    ↗ source

verified on

FAQ

What are OKX Futures's fees?

On OKX Futures, spot fees are maker 0.02% / taker 0.05%. They drop with monthly volume and VIP tier.

Is OKX Futures regulated in Europe?

Regulatory status of OKX Futures: MiCA + MiFID II (Malta) — EU regolamentato unico.

Does OKX Futures publish Proof of Reserves?

Proof of Reserves publication is not documented for OKX Futures. No third-party reserve audit is documented. Reserve transparency is a critical factor after the FTX collapse.

Can I send transfers to third-party IBANs from OKX Futures?

No, OKX Futures is an exchange and does not allow transfers to third-party IBANs: fiat withdrawals return to a bank account in your own name.

Does OKX Futures support derivatives and futures?

OKX Futures offers derivatives trading, with up to 125x leverage.

Sources

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Update history

✓ Terms unchanged since Jun 14, 2026

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