The LSE Directory / Crypto exchanges
OKCoin is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in Beijing in 2013 by Star Xu (Xu Mingxing), originally built around spot trading in bitcoin and other digital assets for the Chinese market. In 2017, as China moved to crack down on domestic crypto exchanges, Xu split the business: the international side relaunched as OKEx (renamed OKX in 2022), while OKCoin continued as a separate, US-focused entity offering spot trading through classic and unified accounts, a simple buy and sell product for retail users, an OTC desk for high-volume trades, mobile apps, and self-custody wallet services. Its US operating entity, Okcoin USA, Inc., held state money-transmitter licensing under NMLS number 1767779. OKCoin's differentiation within the crypto-broker category was regulatory standing rather than product breadth: unlike OKX's larger global platform, which offers derivatives, margin trading and a far wider listings set, OKCoin positioned itself as a compliance-first, retail-friendly US on-ramp. By its own account it served over 1 million customers across more than 190 countries and territories, employed more than 300 people, and maintained offices in San Francisco, San Jose, New York City, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan; it explicitly did not offer its products in the United Kingdom. The company's trajectory changed materially in 2025. In February 2025, OKX's operator settled with the US Department of Justice over allegations that its affiliate Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business and had solicited US customers despite policies barring them, agreeing to pay roughly 500 million dollars, comprising about 84 million dollars in penalties and approximately 421 million dollars in forfeited fees earned from US customers. Following that settlement, OKX relaunched a licensed US operation in April 2025, headquartered in San Jose, California, under newly appointed US CEO Roshan Robert, a former Morgan Stanley and Barclays executive. As part of that relaunch, OKCoin is being folded into the OKX brand rather than continuing as a standalone exchange. OKCoin USA turned off trading at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on 15 May 2025 and stopped accepting new deposits, with existing customers migrated to the OKX platform. As of this research, okcoin.com remains live only for existing account holders to view balances and process withdrawals during the wind-down; it is not accepting new trading activity, and the OKCoin name is being retired in the US in favor of OKX.
