Most exchanges these days require KYC, but there are still a few outliers. The list of non-KYC crypto exchanges keeps shrinking as regulators, including tax offices, push crypto exchanges to collect and share personal data through KYC, which stands for Know-Your-Customer, a legal requirement for centralized exchanges to verify the identities of their users in most jurisdictions. The stated aim is to prevent money laundering, tax evasion, and illegal activities through the use of crypto exchanges.
The few non-KYC exchanges operating are more limited in scope, while many of the major exchanges offer non-KYC tiers with varying limits. Typically, the trading volume of non-crypto exchanges is minuscule in comparison to the big boys, while the withdrawal fees in contrast are often far higher, which is probably due to the fact that their profit margins are much smaller. Nonkyc.io is an example of the latter with withdrawal fees often 10x higher than those of the major exchanges.
However, apart from the privacy they offer, non-Kyc exchanges do provide a valuable service in that their listing fees for new coins are very low, so many obscure coins or even decade-old OG coins, like Alias, can only be traded on these non-KYC exchanges as the big boys will just sneer at a coin that has less trading volume than 1k USD daily!
One needs to consider that non-KYC platforms usually do not provide robust security protocols and hence are more prone to hacking and theft, and unlike regulated exchanges, non-KYC exchanges typically don't offer insurance for loss due to system failures or hacks. Hence, it wouldn't be smart to keep your assets on these platforms for long!
Listing fees at non-KYC exchanges are extremely modest, often in the range of about 4k-6k USD, making it attractive to startup projects not yet listed anywhere else. Compare this to the listing fees of the top tier 1 exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, or OKX which range between 300,000 and 1,000,000 USD, which will often tempt/force project to get involved with VC (venture capital) finance, which has its own risks as we all know.
Many of the major exchanges, like Kucoin and MEXC offer tiered Non-KYC, yet they may still suddenly request detailed personal information despite their non-kyc stated limits. Quite possibly, in the following case regulations in a certain geographical changed suddenly, or it may have be triggered by changing VPN location too frequently, or something else setting off an alarm:
According to our policy, it is necessary for you to verify your identification and complete an enhanced due diligence questionnaire for preventing the potential risks.
Please follow the steps below to complete the KYC Verification and "EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence) Form" within THREE (3) days from the date of this email:
1. please go to “KYC verification”–“Individual/Institutional Account Verification” to complete the KYC Verification（If not yet)
If you have any questions in the progress, please refer to the following articles:
About Identity Verification
2. Please complete the attached "EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence) Form" and email it back to us.
We appreciate your understanding and patience.
Kind regards,
KuCoin Customer Care and Support Team
One of the mid-sized exchanges that has been consistent in its policy and that does offer non-kyc use is #70 ranked by volume Hong Kong based COINEX, founded about 8 years ago, one of the earliest exchanges to launch Proof of Reserves (PoR) and for every $1 in user deposits CoinEx holds an equivalent amount in reserves, and they claim to have consistently maintained over 100% reserve ratio! For non-kyc accounts, the 24-hour withdrawal limit is $10,000, while the 30-day limit is $50,000. They do list quite a few promising coins not listed by the big guys, making it attractive for those seeking to invest at the ground level of new projects.
Currently, through their 'Earn' Flexible Saving they offer APY for both USDT and USDC of about 15%, with instant redemption being available. This is limited to a deposit of up to 1k USD, upon which the APY% rewards decline. There are plenty of other staking options available, but I will limit this post just to this fairly simple one that may appeal to a large segment of users just looking to get some rewards for their idle USDT/USDC tokens. All it takes is a minimum deposit of 10 USDT/USDC to get rewards and you are in!
I am comfortable promoting this lesser known exchange as in the past few years I have often used it and never had any withdrawal issues. I recall that I had once sent some coins to an exchange wallet that had been suspended due to an upgrade and had to wait for the coins to be accessible for about a week, but this was due to my carelessness as I had sent coins without checking the wallet status. If this post is useful for you and you decide to setup an account with COINEX, I appreciate you using my signup link as I would receive a few rewards upon you using the exchange.
Wishing everyone a happy new year and hope the coming year will be a rewarding one :)!
