OKX guide in plain English:
sign-up, deposits, first trade
and account security
Written in the order a beginner actually goes: sign-up and KYC, fiat deposits, your first spot trade, account security settings, then the Auto-Invest and Grid Bot tools. Each guide shows the month it was last updated.
Check your country first: OKX's Risk & Compliance Disclosure lists restricted jurisdictions including jurisdictions in the United States (and US territories such as Puerto Rico), Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, India and Malaysia, among others, and okx.com does not serve mainland China. In the US, OKX runs a separate platform, OKX US, which this site does not cover; the code below is not for it.
OK18866 (enter manually if needed)
* OKX pays this site a referral commission when the code is used; the trading fees you pay do not go up because of it. Full disclosure →
Beginner route
New to OKX? Read the guides in this order
- 1Sign-up and KYCWhich documents to prepare, how to submit verification, what to fix if it's rejected
- 2DepositP2P, card, bank transfer or on-chain USDT, and what to check before each
- 3First spot tradePlace a small limit order and check how the fee is calculated first
- 4Account securitySet up 2FA, an anti-phishing code, a withdrawal allowlist and API permissions
You don't have to leave security for last: 2FA can go on as soon as sign-up is done.
Step-by-step OKX guides for your first weeks
In the order you'll need them, with the easy-to-miss steps marked.
From email to verified account
Filling in the form doesn't take long; the wait is the review, which OKX's Help Center says is completed within 24 hours. Covers the documents to prepare, photo problems that get an ID rejected, and how to resubmit.
Four ways to fund your account
P2P, card, bank transfer or on-chain USDT: which one fits what you already hold, and the checks to make before each.
Your first spot trade with 100 USDT
Limit vs market, Maker / Taker, how to set take-profit / stop-loss, and the order-entry mistakes to avoid.
Security settings and what each one protects
2FA, anti-phishing code, withdrawal allowlist, API restrictions and proof-of-reserves self-checks, plus common scam tactics.
OKX Auto-Invest: settings and common mistakes
How to pick parameters, common mistakes, and how to read a DCA backtest.
OKX grid trading settings: range, grids and fees
When to run it and when not to, range width, grid count, and the fee threshold each grid has to clear.
A few OKX numbers worth knowing in advance
Parameters beginners keep running into when they start using OKX.
OKX spot Taker fee tiers (2026)
Source: OKX public fee page · checked October 2026✱ Tiers are assessed on 30-day volume or account assets, each business line assessed separately with the highest tier applying; above regular user comes VIP 1 directly, with no intermediate step. If you're just starting out, the regular-user rate of 0.10% is the one that applies to you.
Is OKX safe, and what has gone wrong before?
Proof of reserves, licences and past incidents, covered in their own article.
Common questions before signing up
Is CryptoDesk an OKX official site? Does signing up with your code cost anything?
No. CryptoDesk is an independent third-party site that takes part in OKX's referral programme; it is not OKX's official site and is not owned or controlled by OKX. Using our code costs you nothing extra: OKX pays us a referral commission, and the trading fees you pay do not go up because of it. With the code you can get up to 20% off trading fees, subject to OKX's current terms.
OKX redesigns its app often. Do your guides keep up?
Each guide shows the month it was last updated at the top. If a button or menu name doesn't match what you see in the app, email us and we'll check the guide against OKX's current pages and correct it.
Why only OKX and not Binance? What if I use Binance?
Covering one exchange lets us go into its menus, fee tiers and settings in detail. If you use Binance, the general points here (identity verification, deposit networks, account security) still apply, but menu names and button positions differ.