OKX, formerly known as OKEx, is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX). It offers spot and derivatives markets, block trading, and a trading bot. Additionally, OKX crypto exchange customers can access loaning and earning schemes, as well as DeFi services for developers.
The platform is KYC-compliant. The services are available in most regions of the world. However, customers from China and the USA are not able to use the OKX cryptocurrency exchange.
Markets
There are over 600 OKX trading pairs and more than 300 tokens available in the spot and futures markets. Both crypto-crypto and crypto-fiat trading are supported. Users are eligible to create their own P2P trading marketplaces in their preferred currencies. P2P trading supports 40 fiat currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP, and AUD.
Like many blockchain-based platforms, the OKX cryptocurrency exchange hosts its native token, OKB. Customers that hold OKB in their accounts are eligible for discounted OKX crypto fees.
OKB, as well as other listed crypto assets, can be purchased or sold on the platform with a credit card, e-wallet, or other preferred payment methods. Additionally, OKX offers an instant crypto converter. The service is free and supports all assets available on the OKX cryptocurrency exchange.
In addition to the OKX spot and futures markets, the platform also offers margin and options trading, as well as a perpetual swap. Customers can manually set up their preferred trading strategy or use the trading bot. Margin trading can support up to 75x leverage.
The trading process is partly gamified, as users with high investment rates and steady performance are ranked on the Master Traders leaderboard.
Additionally, the OKX spot and derivatives markets support the over-the-counter (OTC) trading of large-scale assets. Users can access OKX Block Trading and request quotes for individual orders. The minimum OKX crypto price for a block order is $50,000. Request-for-Quote (RFQ) forms can be submitted anonymously.
There are two separate tier lists for regular and VIP customers. Regular customer fees are five-tier, while there are eight VIP tiers. The payment level is determined by the amount of OKB tokens held, the value of assets in USD, and the 30-day OKX trade volume.
Regular users cannot hold assets worth more than $100,000 or have a 30-day OKX volume exceeding $10 million. These numbers are the cutoff for VIP users. The amount of OKB tokens held does not impact OKX crypto fees for VIP users.
Regular users are charged according to their OKB holdings. All 24-hour withdrawals are limited to 500 BTC.
- Level 1: fewer than 500 OKB tokens. Maker/taker fees are 0.080% and 0.100%, respectively;
- Level 2: 500-999 OKB. Maker/taker fees are 0.075% and 0.095%, respectively;
- Level 3: 1,000-1,499 OKB. Maker/taker fees are 0.070% and 0.090%, respectively;
- Level 4: 1,500-1,999 OKB. Maker/taker fees are 0.065% and 0.085%, respectively;
- Level 5: at least 2,000 OKB. Maker/taker fees are 0.060% and 0.080%, respectively.
At VIP Level 1, the estimated assets exceed $100,000 and the required 30-day OKX trade volume is more than $10 million. Here, the OKX exchange fees are 0.060% and 0.080% for makers and takers, respectively, and the withdrawal limit is set to 600 BTC.
Starting at VIP Level 5 and through to Level 8, the assets in holding exceed $10 million. At VIP5, makers are not required to pay any OKX exchange fees and earn back up to 0.005%. The taker fees are progressively reduced to 0.020%.
Futures and options markets follow the same tier structures for regular and VIP users. However, the required 30-day OKX trade volume differs. For regular futures traders, the volume is under $50 million, while for options traders, it’s $5 million. Futures maker fees range between 0.015% and 0.020%, and the taker fee range is between 0.030% and 0.050%.
VIP futures traders pay taker fees between 0.020% and 0.030% based on the assets in holding and trading volume. At VIP Level 5, the maker fee is down to 0.00%, and in Levels 6-8, makers receive up to 0.015% in return.
For regular options traders, all taker fees are set to 0.030%, while maker fees vary between 0.015%-0.020%. The VIP maker fees in Levels 1-4 go down to 0.02% and are down to 0 at level 5, with returns up to 0.010% at Level 8. VIP options taker fees start at 0.020% and are reduced to 0.013% at Level 8.
Other Services
There are two types of brokerage available as supplementary services on the OKX crypto exchange. Users can become either disclosed or non-disclosed brokers. In return, they can access the OKX liquidity and earn commissions.
OKX Earn is a rewards program. It allows users to earn passive income via dual investments and staking. It enables customers to earn a higher OKX crypto price value in interest.
OKX Loan offers more than 20 assets for flexible and fixed loans. There are different interest rates on the two types of lending. Flexible loan interest is updated hourly, while fixed loans have a fixed daily interest rate.
OKX Jumpstart is a blockchain incubator. The project works to provide new crypto projects with exposure and financing. Users must complete at least the Level 2 KYC verification process and have sufficient OKB funds to stake their assets in Jumpstart projects.
Developers can access the OKC Oracle solution. It’s an open-source network that provides live OKX crypto price feeds, DeFi and GameFi project support, and off-chain data transmission technology. OKC is a smart contract platform for Web3 projects.
About the Company
OKX was launched as OKEx in 2017. The platform was rebranded to OKX in January 2022. While it was initially created by Star Xu in China, its current headquarters are in Seychelles. Due to local regulations, OKX is currently banned in China.
At various times since its launch, OKX has been considered one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Based on the company’s turnover reports, it became the biggest crypto exchange in the world in May 2018.
In April 2018, it was announced that the OKX crypto exchange would establish itself in Malta, thus entering the European market. That same year, it began offering a white-label service for financial companies.
In 2019, the company began operations in India. That year, the company was reported as leading in terms of monthly derivatives volume. According to market reports, in September 2019, the total OKX volume exceeded $90 billion.
In 2020, over 180 new OKX trading pairs were listed, alongside 64 leverage listings and more than 100 derivatives instruments. The platform also oversaw the launch of several new services, including OTX Earn, Jumpstart, and Broker. At the end of the year, OKX officially launched the OKC smart contracts platform.
In a notice issued in October 2021, the company stated that it would withdraw from the Chinese mainland market. The announcement followed the new regulations in China, which saw the ban on cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, the company has maintained some of its R&D operations in the region.
Jay Hao is the current CEO of OKX. He has worked on the development of various blockchain applications and has spent more than two decades in the semiconductor industry. Hao was appointed as CEO in November 2018, following the company’s expansion to Europe.
Star Xu is a famous Chinese entrepreneur. He also founded the Okcoin cryptocurrency exchange. Both OKX and Okcoin are owned by the Ok Group. Due to disputes with Chinese authorities, Xu is no longer part of the OKX crypto exchange team.
