Pionex KYC has two levels. Level 1 needs no ID upload: choose your country of residence and enter your full legal name, and you can deposit, trade, run bots and withdraw up to 20,000 USD a day. Level 2 adds an ID and a liveness check and raises the daily withdrawal limit to 1,000,000 USD, while an account with no KYC cannot trade or deposit and has a withdrawal limit of 0 (checked September 2026).
Sign up for Pionex with Fee Otter's code FEEOTTER and you get a 50% rebate (15% exchange auto-rebate + 35% Fee Otter extra), 2.5 times the common 20% referral code, and bot trades count too.
This guide is based on Pionex's official blog, help center and Terms of Service (as of 2026-09-28): what each level requires, where to find it on web and app, what to do if you mistype your name at Level 1, the ID and age rules at Level 2, review time, common blockers and how to email for help, the one-account rule, which countries cannot verify, and how Pionex stores your selfie and ID. For other exchanges side by side, see our exchange KYC comparison.
Quick answers
- No KYC: no trading, no deposits, withdrawal limit 0.
- Level 1: country or region of residence plus full legal name, no ID; 20,000 USD per day and 100,000 USD per 30 days.
- Level 2: government-issued ID plus facial recognition; 1,000,000 USD per day and 30,000,000 USD per 30 days.
- You can skip ahead: Pionex lets you submit Level 2 without doing Level 1.
- One account per person: the Terms of Service allow one account per user, and accounts cannot be lent or transferred.
- Unsupported regions: Pionex publishes a list of countries and regions where KYC is unsupported; see below.
Pionex KYC levels and withdrawal limits
| Level | What you submit | Trade and deposit | Daily withdrawal limit | 30-day withdrawal limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unverified | Nothing | No | 0 | 0 |
| Level 1 | Country or region of residence, full legal name | Yes | 20,000 USD | 100,000 USD |
| Level 2 | Government-issued ID, facial recognition (liveness check) | Yes | 1,000,000 USD | 30,000,000 USD |
Source: Pionex identity verification (KYC). Limits are as shown on the official page and in your account. Another official article also says that completing Level 2 raises your deposit and withdrawal limits.
In practice, if your funds are in the range of a few thousand to tens of thousands of USDT, Level 1's 20,000 USD per day is usually enough. But the 30-day total at Level 1 is only 100,000 USD, so if you move money often or need to withdraw a large sum at once, go straight to Level 2.
Level 1: only country and name, but think twice before submitting
According to the official KYC guide, on the web go to Avatar → KYC → KYC → Verify; in the app go to Pionex → Avatar → Identity verification → Verify (some versions use Account → Settings → Security → Identity verification). At Level 1 you select your country or region of residence, enter your full legal name, read the confirmation conditions next to each checkbox, tick only those that apply to you, then submit.
Two things to get right first:
- Your name cannot be changed after submission: the official FAQ says the Level 1 full legal name cannot be modified once submitted. The fix is to complete Level 2; once approved, the details from your highest verification level are treated as valid.
- Your country is missing from the list: it means you live in a country or region Pionex does not support, and it cannot provide services to you.
Level 2: ID, age and liveness check
The Level 2 steps: go back to the KYC page and click Upgrade, read the conditions and requirements, and click Start if they apply to you; choose the issuing country and document type and upload clear, unmodified photos of the document; then allow camera access and follow the on-screen liveness check before submitting. In the app, after photographing the document you tap "Document is readable" to submit it.
Rules listed in the official beginners guide to identity verification:
- Accepted IDs: documents officially issued and legally recognized by a government, including passports, certain national identity cards and driver's licenses. What you can pick depends on the issuing country you select on the page.
- Age: you must be 18 or older under the law to use the service, so under-18s cannot complete verification; the Terms of Service also require individuals to be at least 18 to open an account.
- Multiple nationalities: Pionex suggests using the nationality most closely tied to your personal identity.
- Why a selfie: the system compares your selfie with the ID photo to confirm it is you.
On timing, Pionex's blog guide says Level 2 is typically reviewed in 15 to 60 minutes (How to verify KYC on Pionex). The same guide says that after verification you can buy USDT by credit card and create your first bot.
When verification fails or gets stuck
The official KYC FAQ lists four common causes:
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Not all photos uploaded | Make sure every required photo finishes uploading; only then does the submit button activate |
| Page left open too long | Refresh the page and upload all photos again before submitting |
| Browser problems | Switch to Chrome or submit through the app |
| Incomplete document photos | Re-shoot so that every edge of the document is in the frame |
The official KYC guide also warns not to add watermarks or edit the photos. If it still fails after all that, email Pionex at service@pionex.com with the subject "KYC failure" and include your Pionex account email or phone number so the KYC team can review it.
One account per person, no lending or borrowed identities
The Pionex Terms of Service state that duplicate accounts are not allowed and Pionex will open one and only one account per user. You may not sell, lease, furnish or otherwise give any person or entity access to your account, or circumvent the controls on how many accounts you can hold. The official KYC guide likewise says each person may verify only one account, and warns that using someone else's ID or fake information may lead to restricted account services.
This rule shapes how you switch codes: a referral code cannot be changed once bound, so if you want your Pionex account under our code and the backfill window has passed, close the old account and immediately register again through our link. The new account can trade after Level 1; Level 2 on the new account can only be completed once the old account has been closed for 30 days (per Pionex support, September 2026), so Level 1's limits of 20,000 USD per day and 100,000 USD per 30 days apply in the meantime. Steps are in our Pionex rebind guide.
Which countries or regions cannot do KYC?
The Pionex help center lists countries and regions where phone number services and KYC are not supported (updated 2025-12-01): Iran, North Korea, Central African Republic, Cuba, Crimea, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen, Afghanistan, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Japan (official list). The Terms of Service separately restrict Mainland China, Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, France and others. Check that your country of residence is on neither list before you verify; Pionex may change the lists at any time, so check the latest notice.
How your selfie and ID are stored
- Selfie: the beginners guide says Pionex stores user selfies securely and will never disclose them to third parties.
- ID and identity data: under the Pionex Privacy Policy, Pionex may ask for your date and place of birth, taxpayer or government ID number and a copy of a government-issued ID, and may obtain information from public databases, ID verification partners and credit bureaus where permitted by law.
- Safeguards: the policy lists firewalls, data encryption, physical access controls at data centers and information access authorization controls.
- Retention and correction: data is kept to meet legal and regulatory obligations and for business purposes, for as long as the law requires; you can review and correct inaccurate data by logging in or contacting support.
The Terms of Service also say you consent to this collection and that records are stored in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Regulatory status and scams
An exchange's licences and registrations differ from country to country; see exchange licences compared.
Upload your ID and selfie only on the KYC page of the official Pionex app or website. If anyone offers to "handle verification for you", asks you to send ID photos over a messaging app, or wants to borrow your identity or your verified account to run bots, refuse. It breaks the Terms of Service, and your account could be used for things you cannot control.
Scammers lure people into buying virtual assets with promises of guaranteed or high, low-risk returns, then demand extra payments labeled as unfreezing fees, deposits or taxes. Do not trust high-return offers or hand over assets. Offers of "guaranteed-profit bot settings" or "we will manage your Pionex account" follow the same script.
KYC and your rebate: add the code before your first bot
Your KYC level does not change your rebate rate; the referral code used at sign-up does. With our code FEEOTTER (already built into our link), Pionex automatically returns 15%, and after you bind your UID Fee Otter adds a 35% extra rebate: 50% in total (15% exchange auto-rebate + 35% Fee Otter extra), the same for spot, futures and futures grid bots, settled daily. If you forgot the code, you can add it within 14 days of sign-up as long as you have never used a bot; once you have used a bot, only 3 days from sign-up remain. Pionex says manual trades do not shorten the window, but to be safe, add our code before your first trade. So the order is: sign up through our link, complete KYC, bind your UID, then start your first bot. See Pionex referral code for sign-up and the Pionex fee rebate guide for rebate and grid examples. If you trade in size or are already a VIP on another exchange, contact Fee Otter support; we work with the exchange's official team to seek benefits such as a VIP tier trial for you (subject to the exchange's approval).
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