Updated Rules checked 2026-10-29
Which countries does OKX restrict? OKX lists its restricted regions in Section 3 of its Risk & Compliance Disclosure. The English version was last updated on 2026-07-08, and its “Restricted Locations” list has 14 entries: Afghanistan, Canada, Cuba, Hong Kong, Iran, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, North Korea, Syria, the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, certain jurisdictions in the United States (including all US territories), and Uzbekistan. The same section names 7 more countries where only some services are restricted: Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Eritrea, Russia, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
What decides whether you can use OKX is where you live, not your nationality. OKX’s sign-up guide states that eligibility depends on the country where you currently live and on which OKX legal entity serves that country; holding the nationality of a restricted location does not by itself mean you cannot use OKX. The list also changes. Section 2.2 of the Terms of Service states that OKX may adjust the services it offers in each region at any time. Hong Kong is one example: since 2024-05-31, OKX no longer offers centralized trading services to Hong Kong residents.
Below, based on OKX’s official pages, you’ll find the full list, the regions where only some products are restricted, which OKX company serves each region, what happens if you use a VPN or enter the wrong country of residence, and what to do if you move or the list changes. Every item comes with its source.
Key points:
1. The 2026-07-08 English Risk & Compliance Disclosure lists 14 restricted locations, including Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Malaysia, certain parts of the US and all US territories. OKX may restrict or prohibit the use of all or some of its services in these locations.
2. In 7 countries (Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Eritrea, Russia, South Korea and the UK), only specific services are restricted. In the UK, for example, derivatives, CeFi-related and P2P services are restricted. OKX introduces this list with “including but not limited to”, so it may not be complete.
3. US residents are served by OKX INC. Its licenses page (version of 2026-09-15) states that it does not serve New York, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands or the US Virgin Islands.
4. OKX decides eligibility by country of residence. Both the sign-up and identity verification guides tell you not to pick another country, nationality or document type to get around a restriction. If your information is false, the Terms allow OKX to restrict your services or terminate your account outright.
5. The Traditional Chinese and English versions of the same disclosure differ (the Chinese one adds El Salvador and a line about Singapore). OKX states that the English text is the authoritative version.
The information below was checked against OKX’s official pages on 2026-10-29 (fact-check date) and is provided for reference.
Which countries does OKX ban? The full restricted list
The OKX Risk & Compliance Disclosure says that OKX may not offer every service in every market and “may restrict or prohibit the use of all or a portion of” its services from restricted locations, which “currently” include the 14 entries in the table below. Section 2.2 of the OKX Terms of Service (updated 2026-10-22) points straight to this section as the source of the full list, and the Terms’ appendix defines Restricted Locations as places where OKX offers no services or only limited services.
| # | Restricted location | Official wording and notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afghanistan | Listed as restricted |
| 2 | Canada | Listed as restricted; the whole country, not province by province |
| 3 | Cuba | Listed as restricted |
| 4 | Hong Kong | Listed as restricted; since 2024-05-31, OKX no longer offers centralized virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong residents, while the OKX Web3 self-custody wallet is not affected |
| 5 | Iran | Listed as restricted |
| 6 | India | Listed as restricted |
| 7 | Japan | Listed as restricted |
| 8 | Malaysia | Listed as restricted |
| 9 | Nepal | Listed as restricted |
| 10 | North Korea | Listed as restricted |
| 11 | Syria | Listed as restricted |
| 12 | The Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine | Only these three regions, not all of Ukraine |
| 13 | Certain jurisdictions in the United States | The original reads “certain jurisdictions within the United States” and states that this includes all US territories: Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas) |
| 14 | Uzbekistan | Listed as restricted |
Source: Section 3 of the English OKX Risk & Compliance Disclosure (Last Updated: 8 July 2026), viewed 2026-10-29. The Hong Kong date comes from the “Country/Region Not Supported” section of OKX’s help article “Why did my identity verification fail?” (updated 2026-08-25).
Two things in this table are easy to misread. First, the United States is not on the list as a whole country. OKX only says “certain jurisdictions” and does not name the states on this page. US residents are in fact served by a separate company, OKX INC.; see “Which countries does OKX support?” below for its rules. Second, only three regions of Ukraine are listed. Also, a country missing from the Terms is not necessarily open: whether a product is available still depends on which OKX entity serves your country of residence.
Which regions have only some services restricted?
The same section goes on to say that OKX “may restrict services in other jurisdictions, including but not limited to” the 7 countries below, and names the restricted services after each one. Derivatives (futures) involve leverage, and if the market moves against you, your position may be liquidated.
| Country | Restricted services | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Derivatives-related and CeFi (centralized finance)-related services | Australian residents are served by OKX Australia under local terms |
| The Bahamas | Retail products | — |
| Brazil | Derivatives-related and P2P services | Brazilian residents are served by OKX Serviços Digitais |
| Eritrea | P2P services | — |
| Russia | Fiat payment services | — |
| South Korea | Derivatives-related and P2P services | — |
| United Kingdom | Derivatives-related, CeFi-related and P2P services | — |
Source: Section 3 of the English OKX Risk & Compliance Disclosure (2026-07-08) and the list of service entities at the start of the OKX Terms of Service (2026-10-22), viewed 2026-10-29. “—” means OKX gives no further detail. In OKX’s Chinese interface, P2P is called C2C.
Individual products can also carry their own regional restrictions. Take Outcomes, OKX’s prediction product: its official FAQ (updated 2026-10-15) states that it is not available in the UK, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Iceland, or the US states of Florida and Rhode Island, and users there won’t see it in the app. The OKX sign-up guide (updated 2026-10-12) also notes that even if OKX supports your country of residence, trading pairs, services and withdrawal methods may still be limited by local regulations.
Why do OKX’s Chinese and English lists differ?
I compared the Traditional Chinese version of the risk disclosure with the English one item by item. Both say they were updated on 8 July 2026, yet they differ in two places:
- The Traditional Chinese version adds El Salvador to the restricted locations; the English version does not. The English Terms of Service state that El Salvador residents who registered on or after 2026-02-19 are served by OKX Fintech, S.A. de C.V. (OKX El Salvador).
- The Traditional Chinese version has a line saying that Singapore currently supports registration on the centralized exchange, with deposits, withdrawals and trading supported (derivatives not supported). The English version has no such line. The English Terms say that OKX SG handles licensed digital payment token services in Singapore, while for users who registered with OKX Financial on or after 2025-10-31, OKX Financial Pte. Ltd. provides business that is not regulated under a Singapore license, including payment token derivatives and structured products.
The footer of the OKX Help Center states that many pages on the site are machine-translated and that the English version prevails if there is any discrepancy; Section 1.8 of the Terms of Service also gives the English version priority. That’s why this article follows the English version and lists the differences in the Chinese version for reference only. For the products actually available in Singapore, go by what your account page shows after you log in.
Which countries does OKX support? The company serving each region
OKX does not publish a list of supported countries; it only lists restricted regions. The start of the Terms of Service, however, names the legal entity that contracts with and serves residents of each region. From that you can see which regions have their own local terms, and therefore a different product range:
| Country of residence | Service entity | Scope stated in the Terms |
|---|---|---|
| European Economic Area (approved jurisdictions) | OKX Europe Limited (Malta) | European local terms apply; OKX Europe Markets Limited also provides financial instruments, including crypto-asset delivery futures |
| United States (states approved for OKX US) | OKX INC. (Delaware) | US terms apply; New York and four US territories are not served |
| Australia | OKX Australia Pty Ltd, OKX Australia Financial Pty Ltd | Australian local terms apply |
| United Arab Emirates | OKX Middle East Fintech FZE | Local terms apply |
| Brazil | OKX Serviços Digitais Ltda. | Brazilian users who registered on or after 2023-06-15, and migrated users |
| El Salvador, plus 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries including Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru | OKX Fintech, S.A. de C.V. | El Salvador residents who registered on or after 2026-02-19; residents of the other countries can use “certain products and services” through this entity |
| Argentina | OKX Fintech (Argentine branch) | Argentine residents who registered on or after 2026-02-19 |
| Singapore | OKX SG Pte. Ltd. / OKX Financial Pte. Ltd. | The former handles licensed digital payment token services; the latter handles derivatives, structured products and more for users who registered on or after 2025-10-31 |
| Mexico (registered 2022-11-16 to 2023-08-28) | OKX Bahamas FinTech Company Limited | Mexican residents who registered in that period, and institutional users who registered on or after 2023-08-29 |
| Other eligible regions | Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. (Seychelles) | All other eligible users |
Source: the list of service entities at the start of the OKX Terms of Service (Last Updated: 22 October 2026), viewed 2026-10-29. The figure of 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries is my own count of the country names listed in the Terms (excluding El Salvador).
For the US, the OKX US licenses page (updated 2026-09-15) states that OKX INC. is a money services business registered with FinCEN, the US Treasury bureau, and lists its licenses state by state. It currently does not serve residents of New York, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands or the US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico is on the global platform’s restricted list yet appears on OKX INC.’s license list, because the two are different entities.
What happens if you use a VPN or a false nationality?
The word “VPN” does not appear in OKX’s Terms of Service or its risk disclosure. Several official documents do, however, require you to give your country of residence truthfully, and they spell out what happens if your information is false:
- At sign-up you choose the country where you currently and habitually live, not your nationality, the country that issued your passport, the country of your permanent residence permit or a place you’re visiting briefly. If your country of residence is not on the sign-up list, the current sign-up flow does not support it, and you should not pick a country that doesn’t match where you actually live to get around this (OKX sign-up guide).
- During identity verification you choose your actual country of residence and nationality, use your own valid government-issued ID and complete the face check yourself. Do not pick another country, region, nationality or document type to get around an option that isn’t available to you. Services cannot be used from restricted locations, and “age or regional restrictions” are one of the common reasons verification is rejected (OKX identity verification eligibility guide, updated 2026-08-28).
- Section 7.1 of the Terms of Service: you must provide true information, including a government-issued photo ID and proof of address such as a utility bill or bank statement, and update it promptly when it changes.
- Section 4.16: if OKX has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information you provided is false, outdated or incomplete, it may temporarily or permanently restrict your use of some or all services.
- Section 11.2 (a): if your personal information is found to be false or incomplete, or inconsistent with what you gave at sign-up and you cannot give a reason OKX accepts, OKX may temporarily or permanently terminate its services without notice. Section 7.6 also allows OKX to freeze account assets and suspend access when it suspects a breach of the Terms.
Whether you can appeal a restriction depends on the cause, according to OKX’s article on restricted accounts (updated 2026-10-16). Restrictions triggered automatically by the risk-control system can be sent for manual review through a support ticket. Periodic compliance reviews require additional documents and cannot be skipped. Permanent restrictions for a confirmed breach of the Terms of Service generally cannot be appealed under current policy. If your account is permanently disabled, you can still withdraw your remaining crypto to an external wallet within the deadline given in the notification email (for example 14, 30 or 180 days, depending on the case). If the email says the account can no longer be served and the balance is under 1 USD, the assets have already been settled and you don’t need to do anything. How different exchanges handle frozen accounts is covered in what to do if your exchange account is frozen.
What if you move to a restricted region or the list changes?
After you move, update your country of residence. OKX’s FAQ on changing your country of residence (updated 2026-08-11) sets out several limits:
- You can change your country of residence at most 3 times. Once those are used up, you can’t change it again.
- You can’t change it to a country or region that OKX does not support.
- Before changing it, open orders and Grow orders must be completed or canceled.
- Your account mode must first be switched back to Spot Mode. The app path in OKX’s English guide is: Trade → three-dot icon → Settings → Account mode → Spot Mode.
- Changing your country of residence does not affect P2P (C2C) trading itself, but supported coins and features vary by region, so some features may be limited or unavailable.
The same page also states that accounts whose nationality and country of residence are both China cannot change their country of residence or any other information.
If the region you live in is added to the restricted list, OKX has no fixed, written timeline for what happens next; it depends on the announcement and notification email at the time. Hong Kong is the case the OKX Help Center describes most clearly: since 2024-05-31, OKX no longer offers centralized virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong residents, while the OKX Web3 self-custody wallet remains available as usual. In the Terms, Section 2.2 reserves the right to adjust the services offered in each region at any time; Section 1.5 states that if you do not agree to a new version of the Terms, your only option is to close your account within 30 days of receiving notice; and Section 7.5 requires you to cancel or close all open orders and withdraw all assets before closing your account. For restricted accounts, OKX’s help article lists what you may still be able to do: log in, view balances and history, close positions and submit documents.
When you withdraw, check the network and address. OKX’s withdrawal steps and fees are covered in how to deposit and withdraw on OKX. If you hold futures positions, see the OKX futures trading guide for how to close them and how liquidation works.
FAQ
Can you use OKX in the US?
US residents use the US service run by OKX INC., which is not covered by the global platform’s terms, and residents of New York, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands are currently outside its service area. The global platform’s risk disclosure lists “certain jurisdictions in the United States and all US territories” as restricted locations. The US service holds licenses state by state, according to the licenses page of 2026-09-15, and some products have their own state restrictions (for example, Outcomes in Florida and Rhode Island).
Which countries does OKX support?
OKX does not publish a list of supported countries, only restricted regions. The 2026-07-08 version lists 14 restricted locations and 7 countries with some services restricted; regions not on the list are served by a local entity or by Aux Cayes FinTech in Seychelles. The European Economic Area, the US, Australia, the UAE, Brazil, Singapore, El Salvador, Argentina and some other places have their own service entities and local terms, so the available products are not exactly the same. Go by what the sign-up page shows you.
Can you use OKX in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong residents cannot use OKX’s centralized trading services. OKX stopped offering them on 2024-05-31, and Hong Kong is also on the 2026-07-08 restricted locations list. The OKX Help Center states that the OKX Web3 self-custody wallet is not affected and remains available to users in Hong Kong.
Can you use OKX in Japan or Canada?
Japan and Canada are both on OKX’s 2026-07-08 restricted locations list, and OKX may restrict or prohibit the use of all or some of its services there. Canada is listed as a whole country, not province by province. The Outcomes FAQ also lists Japan and Canada as places where that product is unavailable.
Can you use OKX in the UK or South Korea?
The UK and South Korea are not on the restricted locations list, but both are countries where some services are restricted: in the UK, derivatives, CeFi-related and P2P services; in South Korea, derivatives and P2P services. OKX describes these restrictions with “including but not limited to”, so check your account page after logging in to see which products you can actually use.
Can you use OKX in Singapore?
Singapore is not on OKX’s English restricted locations list, and Singapore residents are served by two companies, OKX SG and OKX Financial. The English Terms of Service state that OKX SG provides licensed digital payment token services, while OKX Financial handles payment token derivatives and structured products for users who registered on or after 2025-10-31. The Traditional Chinese disclosure, by contrast, says “derivatives not supported”. The two don’t match, and OKX states that the English version prevails.
Can I use OKX if my nationality is from a restricted location but I live in another country?
Possibly. OKX looks at where you live, not your nationality. The example in the sign-up guide is a citizen of country A living in country B: eligibility depends on country B and on whether OKX has a corresponding service entity there. During verification, choose your actual country of residence; you may need to provide proof of address, such as a utility bill or bank statement.
If a country isn’t in the Terms, can you definitely use OKX there?
Not necessarily. The Terms list only covers the regions OKX itself restricts, and the list of partly restricted countries says “including but not limited to”. Local regulators may also block the website or remove the app on their own. Regulatory actions country by country are compiled in the crypto exchange restricted countries table.
The restricted regions of 13 exchanges are compared in the crypto exchange restricted countries table. OKX’s identity verification steps, required documents and common rejection reasons are in the OKX KYC guide; fees, reserves and security record are in the OKX review; and how to sign up is in OKX referral code.
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