10 Best No KYC Crypto Exchanges in 2023

Researching the best no KYC crypto exchange to use to trade securely and privately? We’ve rounded up 10 of the best crypto exchanges without KYC in 2023.

The list of trustworthy and secure no KYC crypto exchanges gets smaller each year as governments around the world crack down on crypto. But many investors still hold privacy above all else and want to transact without disclosing their personal information. The team at Koinly have rounded up the best crypto exchanges without KYC - where there’s either no KYC at all or where KYC is only required over a specific limit. Let’s dive into our round-up of the 10 best no KYC crypto exchanges for 2023.

What are the best no KYC crypto exchanges?

1. MEXC
2. CoinEx
3. dYdX
4. ByBit
5. PrimeXBT
6. Bisq
7. Hodl hodl
8. Uniswap
9. PancakeSwap
10. SimpleSwap

We’ve curated our list using a mix of centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges with the most up-to-date information at the time of writing, as many former no KYC exchanges like KuCoin, Bitget, and OKX have implemented mandatory KYC in just the last few months. You can compare them easily below:

MEXC

MEXC is a global crypto exchange without mandatory KYC. Millions of users use MEXC every day to buy, sell and trade more than 1600 cryptocurrencies, and the exchange trades hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto daily. 

There is a range of product offerings available on MEXC, including spot and P2P trading, futures trading, leveraged ETFs, and savings products to help you easily earn passive income from crypto. As well as this, MEXC has some of the lowest trading fees of any crypto exchange, with considerable discounts for MXC holders.

When it comes to KYC, MEXC does have KYC, but it isn’t mandatory. There are three different account tiers on MEXC: unverified, primary KYC, and verified plus. For unverified users, you’ll have withdrawal limits of 5 BTC per 24 hours.

Unfortunately, as of late 2023, MEXC isn’t available for US residents. While some may be tempted to use a VPN to get around this seeing as the platform doesn’t enforce mandatory KYC, MEXC is clear that any users who break its terms and conditions for using their platform may have their account suspended and access to their funds revoked.

CoinEx

CoinEx is a no KYC exchange that serves users globally including in Europe, North America, and Australasia.

CoinEx offers a huge range of investments and products, with more than 600 cryptocurrencies available for spot trading, margin trading, and futures trading. As well as this, the exchange offers earn products and promotional rewards. 

The exchange has relatively low trading fees, with tiered discounts for CET token holders. Those with no CET holdings will pay 0.2%, while those with substantial holdings will pay as little as 0.1%.

Best of all, for crypto traders who value privacy, CoinEx does not require mandatory KYC. While there are withdrawal limits in place, these withdrawal limits are largely based on your VIP tier on your CET holdings.

A word of warning for US investors though, in June 2023, CoinEx agreed to stop onboarding new US clients to its platform imminently, following a large settlement and ban from operating in New York. 

dYdX

dYdX is a hybrid decentralized exchange for perpetual trading options for more than 35 cryptocurrencies. While this exchange won’t be for everyone (as you’ll need a firm understanding of leverage and risk before you start playing around with contracts), it’s an excellent option for those looking for more advanced investment opportunities as many services like these are often restricted in countries like the US, UK, Canada and Australia. 

All you need to do to get started using dYdX is connect a non-custodial wallet. dYdX supports MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and many more including WalletConnect compatible wallets. 

Because of its non-custodial nature, there is no KYC on dYdX. Anyone outside of dYdX’s restricted locations can use the platform immediately with no verification necessary.

However, if you’re in the US or Canada - it’s not good news. dYdX is not available to residents in either country. 

Bybit

Bybit is a top 5 crypto exchange in terms of daily trading volume with more than $700 million. There are more than 400 cryptocurrencies available to trade, and all major fiat currencies like USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and CAD are supported.

Bybit has a range of investment opportunities available to investors including spot trading, margin trading, leveraged tokens, and derivatives trading in the form of contracts and options. As well as this, there’s a variety of products offering passive income from crypto including savings accounts, liquidity mining, and ETH 2.0 staking.

However, you won’t be able to access all of these products without completing some KYC. Like many exchanges, Bybit has different individual KYC levels users can opt to complete, including Non KYC, Individual KYC Level 1, and Individual KYC Level 2. 

For those who haven’t completed any KYC, you won’t be able to access earn products and your daily withdrawal limit is 20,000 USDT. Bybit is also clear that it may at any point require KYC to approve withdrawal requests. 

However, due to the harsh regulatory requirement in the US, Bybit does not serve US residents. While it can be tempting to use a VPN to get around this, your account may be suspended if you’re found to be breaking Bybit’s user terms and conditions.

PrimeXBT

PrimeXBT is a global crypto exchange, as well as offering investors access to other more traditional markets like Forex currencies, commodities CFDs, and stock indices.

When it comes to crypto, PrimeXBT has a more modest range than some of the other exchanges in our list, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, and EOS.

When it comes to your personal data, PrimeXBT takes a hard stance of respecting users’ privacy while trading - meaning there’s no mandatory KYC. PrimeXBT does however reserve the right at any time to conduct a verification of a client’s identity or source of funds using a Customer Due Diligence procedure. 

Bisq

Bisq is a decentralized Bitcoin exchange network, that allows peer-to-peer trading using unique, open-source software that connects users who want to trade. All your trades are non-custodial, so Bisq never holds your funds, and all data is transferred using Bisa’s own secure, peer-to-peer network, built on the Tor network. 

Bisq acknowledges that most centralized exchanges require users to divulge personal information in order to set up an account, and then in turn link users' trading activity to their respective identities. They believe that this practice creates extreme risks for users that their personal details and financial information will be stolen, leaked, or otherwise used against their own best interests.

Biqs will never ask you for your personal details, and there are very few limits in place for trades.

HODL HODL

HODL HODL is a non-custodial Bitcoin trading solution that allows users to trade directly with each other without holding user funds. Instead, any funds traded on the platform are locked in multi-sig escrow, minimizing the possibility of theft and reducing trading time for users.

Since the platform doesn’t hold funds, it’s not subject to the complex compliance procedures that most centralized crypto exchanges are, meaning there’s no mandatory KYC on the platform and HODL HODL will never ask you for your personal information.

As a P2P trading site, there are no withdrawal limits, but there are limits to the number of contracts, active offers, and volume allowed for a single trade.

Uniswap

Uniswap is the largest decentralized exchange, boasting a total value locked (TVL) of more than $4 billion.

Investors can trade Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens at speed with minimal slippage, as well as other native cryptocurrencies and tokens on other blockchains including BNB Chain, Optimism, and Polygon. As well as this, there are opportunities for earning through liquidity provision on the dex.

As a decentralized exchange, all you need to get started with Uniswap is a non-custodial wallet with funds. There’s no KYC, and at no point will Uniswap ask for your personal details. 

Pancakeswap

PancakeSwap is the most popular decentralized exchange for BNB Chain, letting investors easily trade BNB and other BEP-20 tokens easily. All you need to get started is a non-custodial wallet like Trust Wallet. 

As well as trading, there are a number of other investment opportunities on the dex including liquidity provision, farming, staking, and even a lottery. 

As a decentralized exchange, PancakeSwap will never ask you for personal details and there’s no KYC necessary.

Simpleswap

SimpleSwap is an instant crypto exchange, offering more than 900 crypto and fiat currencies available to trade. To use SimpleSwap, you don’t even have to register an account, you just set the terms of your trade, enter relevant wallet addresses and go.

As such, there’s no mandatory KYC for SimpleSwap users, making it an easy option for buying and selling crypto without needing to provide your personal information in the process. As well as this, the interface for the platform is very straightforward, making SimpleSwap a potentially more appealing option than some decentralized exchanges that take a little more getting used to.

Do I have to report my transactions on no KYC crypto exchanges?

Yes. Even if you’re using no KYC crypto exchanges, most tax offices have released clear guidance that crypto is subject to tax - and any attempt to avoid tax on cryptocurrency is tax evasion and a criminal offense with steep penalties. 

Tax offices around the world are cracking down on investors they believe may be avoiding crypto taxes, with dedicated operations to match wallet addresses with identities. So even if you’ve got away with not paying tax on your crypto for now - it’s inevitable that your tax office will catch up with you eventually.

How Koinly can help

Koinly crypto tax software makes it easy to do your crypto taxes - whichever exchange, wallet, or blockchain you’re using. We support all of the exchanges mentioned above, as well as hundreds more.

All you need to do is connect your exchange with Koinly using API or by importing a CSV file of your transaction history.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to find all the information you need about your crypto capital gains, losses, income, and expenses under your tax summary. You can also download specific tax reports based on your location including IRS, ATO, HMRC, and CRA reports (and many more).

FAQs

More questions? We got you.

What is KYC?

KYC is an acronym for 'know your customer' (or sometimes, 'know your client').

It refers to the verification of a customer's identity, usually using documents like an ID card or passport, as well as a document to provide proof of address if applicable. 

KYC is implemented to monitor transactions, track criminal behavior, and prevent terrorism financing according to global anti-money laundering policies. However, other relevant agencies - like your tax office - may also request this information from exchanges if it’s pertinent. 

Why use a non-KYC exchange?

People may want to avoid KYC because:

• They value the privacy and anonymity of cryptocurrency
• They wish to hide their credentials from authorities
• They don't trust a third party with their personal info
• They wish to hide proceeds from creditors, employees, or spouses
• They simply don’t want to wait for the validation process

Are non-KYC exchanges safe?

You should always DYOR about exchanges and check out user reviews before depositing any funds. We’ve chosen and vetted the exchanges in this list based on publicly available information. In particular, decentralized exchanges may be more secure than centralized exchanges due to their non-custodial nature. 

Will the government crack down on non-KYC exchanges?

Yes - and it’s already happening. In just the last few months, exchanges that formerly required no KYC like OKX, Bitget, and KuCoin have all either implemented KYC procedures, or withdrawn services from the US due to the harsh regulatory environment for crypto exchanges.

Can the IRS track my crypto if I use a non-KYC exchange?

Yes. The IRS may still be able to track crypto even if you’re using a no KYC exchange. The vast majority of blockchains, excluding privacy coins, are public. That means anyone, anywhere, can view all the transactions on a given blockchain, including wallet address and more. All the IRS then needs to do is link your identity to a particular address. 

Is there a way to buy crypto without KYC?

Yes. You can use a number of the crypto exchanges without KYC in this list to buy crypto without providing your personal information. However, if you’re using traditional payment methods like Visa or Mastercard, your bank may want to verify the transaction. Your tax office may also be able to request personal data from your bank.

Can I use Binance without KYC?

No. While you can create a Binance account without KYC, you cannot access the vast majority of the products available on Binance, including buying, selling, and trading crypto.