OKX

OKX is a broad international trading platform that combines centralized spot and derivatives markets with a separately self-custodied multi-chain Web3 Wallet, giving users a clearer choice between account-held trading and direct on-chain assets than a simple broker does.

Exchange balances, collateral, and proof of reserves

On the centralized exchange, customers hold and trade crypto through an OKX account. Balances can fund spot orders or, where eligible, serve as collateral for margin and derivatives without a blockchain transaction every time assets move inside the account.

Customer assets may be pooled with other users’ assets and are not covered by a deposit-protection or deposit-insurance scheme. OKX publishes monthly proof-of-reserves reports using wallet addresses, user-liability information, and a zk-STARK proof, but those reports do not turn an exchange account into self-custody.

Spot, margin, swaps, futures, and options

OKX’s order-matching market supports spot trading, while eligible customers can also use margin, perpetual swaps, futures, and options. A market order seeks immediate execution; a limit order trades immediacy for a stated price.

Perpetual swaps use funding payments, expiry futures settle at a set date, and options add strike and expiry choices. These products share an account but can have very different collateral, settlement, and liquidation outcomes from spot ownership.

P2P, Earn, and the Web3 Wallet

P2P matching lets users exchange fiat currency and digital assets with one another where available, rather than taking a standard order-book fill. Earn products place supported balances into product-specific terms instead of leaving them as freely usable trading balances.

The OKX Web3 Wallet is non-custodial and multi-chain, with a cross-chain DEX aggregator, Web3 Earn, asset management, and dapp access. The wallet holder controls private-key or recovery material, unlike an OKX exchange account.

Regional entities and European futures

OKX names different providers for customers in Europe, the United States, Australia, Dubai, Brazil, El Salvador, Singapore, and other eligible markets. Products are not available in every jurisdiction, and the product scope can change.

In the EEA, OKX Europe Limited operates under the brand while OKX Europe Markets Limited offers crypto-asset-based expiry futures. A MiCA licence in Malta does not make every globally advertised service available to every EEA customer.

A different split from Bybit

Bybit is the close comparison for centralized, derivatives-oriented spot and contract trading with regional product sets. Bybit emphasizes copy trading and bots, while OKX makes the separation between its centralized exchange and a non-custodial wallet a more material part of its offering.

That distinction matters to someone choosing between account-held order-book, margin, and derivatives activity and direct wallet-based access to on-chain protocols.