Crypto Exchange Sign-Up Requirements 2026: Age, ID, KYC, Minimums

According to the official terms and help pages of 15 exchanges (checked 2026-10-23), signing up for a crypto exchange usually takes being at least 18, an email address or phone number, and one government-issued ID (passport, national ID card or driver's licence). Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and BingX all require basic KYC before you can deposit or trade. Minimum orders vary widely: BTC/USDT spot starts at 0.5 USDT on BingX and 10 USDT on Pionex, and a BTCUSDT perpetual order on Binance must be worth at least 50 USDT notional.

This guide puts what you need into two tables: one for age, sign-up methods, ID and KYC, and one for minimum deposits and minimum orders. Enter the referral code when you sign up: BingX says the referral relationship cannot be changed after sign-up, and Bybit only allows a one-time addition with an affiliate ID within 14 days. Bybit's conditions and steps are in how to add a Bybit referral code within 14 days; have your code ready before you start.

Quick answers

• Age: 11 exchanges state a minimum of 18. XT.COM's help centre says 18 or older and under 70. MEXC, HTX and Ourbit only say "legal age" without a number.
• Sign-up methods: every exchange accepts email, and all except Bitfinex accept a phone number. OKX requires you to bind both email and phone.
• ID: passport, national ID and driver's licence are the common three. Bybit does not accept domestic passports or visas, and BingX does not accept driver's licences in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand or Timor-Leste.
• KYC: most exchanges block deposits or trading until you verify. Pionex Lv.1 only asks for your country and legal name before you can trade, and XT.COM lets unverified accounts withdraw up to 200,000 USDT a day.
• Minimum deposit: only 6 exchanges publish numbers. The others say deposits below the minimum are not credited or refunded, and the amount is shown on the deposit page.

Age, sign-up methods, ID and KYC

Checked 2026-10-23. "Not stated" means the official pages we read do not mention it.

Sources: each exchange's terms of use (linked in crypto exchange legal entities) and official help pages, for example Binance registration, OKX registration guide, Bybit KYC FAQ, Bitget KYC page, BingX ID documents, Pionex KYC guide, KuCoin KYC, XT.COM verification rejections, HTX KYC. Withdrawal limits by level and review times are in the crypto exchange KYC comparison.

Bybit's ID rule: a driver's licence, a passport and an ID card can each verify one Bybit account. Pionex does not accept voter IDs, military IDs or birth certificates, and the document must be the physical original, not a scan or screenshot.

Minimum deposits and minimum orders

Minimum deposits are listed only where an official page or official public API gives a number. Minimum orders come from each exchange's official public API for BTC/USDT spot and the BTCUSDT perpetual. Checked 2026-10-23.

API sources: Binance spot, Binance futures, OKX, Bybit, Gate, Bitget deposits, BingX futures, Pionex, KuCoin deposits, XT.COM deposits, HTX deposits. Pionex deposit figures come from its official fee guide (2026-08-18), WEEX from its deposit FAQ, and the Bitfinex wire threshold from its verification levels page.

Binance, OKX, Bybit, MEXC and Pionex all say a deposit below the minimum will not be credited, and OKX, Bybit, MEXC and Pionex add that it will not be refunded. Before you send, check the minimum for your network on the deposit page.

Restricted countries: check you can sign up

Every exchange lists the places it does not serve in its terms or help pages. The US, Canada (all of it or some provinces), North Korea, Cuba and Iran are excluded almost everywhere. Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and EU countries vary by exchange. Some points to watch:

• Gate: clause 2.5 of its terms lists 35 restricted places, including Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Spain, Japan and Thailand.
• HTX: does not serve any EU member state, the UK, Hong Kong or Singapore.
• Pionex: the help-centre list (29 places) and the list in the terms (14) are different, so read both.
• Bybit: the help page (updated 2026-10-16) does not list Australia or France, but clause 11.3 of the terms in force from the same day does.

A country-by-country comparison of Binance, OKX, Bybit and BingX is in restricted countries of the big four exchanges. In Indonesia, crypto trading is supervised by OJK; local deposit channels and the register are covered in IDR deposit channels. If you sign up through a VPN or give a false country of residence, the account can be closed and your positions liquidated when it is found out.

Example: where can you start with 100 USDT?

Say you have 100 USDT to send over BEP20. You want to buy a little BTC spot, then open the smallest BTCUSDT futures position:

• KuCoin: BEP20 minimum deposit 0.1 USDT and spot minimum 0.1 USDT. But the smallest futures order is 1 contract = 0.001 BTC. At the 2026-10-22 mark price of 81,231 USDT that is about 81 USDT notional, or about 8.1 USDT of margin at 10x (fees not included).
• Binance: spot minimum 5 USDT; a futures order needs at least 50 USDT notional, about 5 USDT of margin at 10x.
• BingX: spot minimum 0.5 USDT and futures minimum 0.0001 BTC (about 8.1 USDT notional), so even 1x works.

Once you trade, fees add up. At the 0.05% taker rate in BingX's official futures API, 100,000 USDT of monthly notional costs 50 USDT in fees. If you signed up with code FEEOTTER, BingX automatically refunds 45%, or 22.5 USDT, with no UID binding on Fee Otter needed. Enter the referral code at sign-up: on BingX it cannot be changed afterwards, and on Bybit, once the 14-day window has passed, the only route is a rebind.

Checklist before you sign up

1. 1

   Check your region

   open the restricted-countries part of the terms and make sure neither your residence nor your nationality is listed.
2. 2

   Have your ID ready

   an original passport, ID card or driver's licence that has not expired, with the same name and date of birth as your sign-up details.
3. 3

   Have the referral code ready

   fill in the referral field before you submit; most exchanges do not let you change it later.
4. 4

   Turn on 2FA

   Bybit says withdrawals need both email and Google Authenticator codes, so set them up early.
5. 5

   Test with a small deposit

   for the first transfer, check the minimum and network on the deposit page and wait for it to arrive before sending more.

Registration guides by exchange

Step-by-step screenshots and where to enter the code: Binance, OKX, Bybit, Gate, Bitget, MEXC, BingX, Pionex, KuCoin, WEEX, XT.COM, HTX, Ourbit. For CoinW and Bitfinex, see CoinW invite code and Bitfinex invite code. If you already have an account and want a new code, see exchange rebind rules.

Futures rebates when you sign up through Fee Otter (2026-10-23): KuCoin 60% (all automatic, paid by the exchange); WEEX and XT.COM 70% (60% automatic exchange rebate + 10% Fee Otter extra rebate); BingX 45% (all refunded automatically by BingX); Binance 40% (20% automatic + 20% extra, code FEEOTTER); Bybit 40% (all paid by Fee Otter as extra rebate); OKX 20% automatic rebate + exclusive rewards. Fee Otter's extra rebate is paid out as USDT on BEP20, minimum 1 USDT, with a 0.015 USDT network fee. Rates for the other exchanges are on the rebate rates page.

FAQ

How old do you have to be to open a crypto exchange account?

Most exchanges say at least 18. Binance says 18 or the age of majority where you live, whichever is higher. XT.COM's help centre adds under 70. MEXC, HTX and Ourbit only say "legal age".

What ID can I use if I don't have a national ID card?

Most exchanges accept a passport or driver's licence, and Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, Pionex, KuCoin, XT.COM and CoinW also accept a residence permit. Bybit and CoinW do not accept visas, and BingX does not accept driver's licences in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand or Timor-Leste.

What is the minimum deposit on a crypto exchange?

It depends on the coin and network. Published USDT minimums: XT.COM 0.1 on each network; KuCoin and Pionex 1 on TRC20 and ERC20, 0.1 on BEP20; HTX 1 on each; Bitget 0.01 on TRC20 and BEP20, 0.5 on ERC20. For the others, the deposit page shows the amount.

Can I sign up without KYC?

You can create the account, but on most exchanges you cannot deposit or trade. Binance, OKX, Bybit, Gate, Bitget, KuCoin and BingX all require verification first. Pionex Lv.1 only needs your country and name before you can trade.

How much do I need to open a futures position?

It depends on the exchange. For the BTCUSDT perpetual, BingX's minimum is 0.0001 BTC and at least 2 USDT, Bybit's is at least 5 USDT, Binance's is at least 50 USDT notional, and on KuCoin 1 contract is 0.001 BTC. The margin you need is the notional divided by your leverage, plus fees.

Can I add a referral code after signing up?

It depends on the exchange. BingX says the referral relationship will not change after sign-up. Bybit lets you add one within 14 days of sign-up if it is a main account with no referrer yet, and only an affiliate code; for Fee Otter you enter affiliate ID 163627 in the form, not FEEOTTER (steps in how to add a Bybit referral code within 14 days). After that window, or if you already have a referrer, you have to follow each exchange's rebind rules; see exchange rebind rules.

Compiled from each exchange's official terms, help pages and public APIs (checked 2026-10-23). Minimums and ID rules can change at any time; the sign-up and deposit pages apply. For information only; not investment advice.

ⓘ Rates above are for futures; spot is 45% on WEEX and XT.COM.

Data verified: 2026-10-23