How to Use OKX Managed Sub-Accounts? Delegation and Exit

OKX

06 October 2026

The core tension of a managed sub-account is this: you hand over trade execution rights, but you keep asset ownership and the right to withdraw at any time. Understanding this point helps you decide whether it fits your needs.

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What is a managed sub-account

A managed sub-account is a special type within the OKX sub-account system. It is designed for delegating a sub-account to a trading team. Both the investor and the trading team need to open an OKX account. After binding, the trading team executes strategies on the sub-account through API, but cannot withdraw coins. Assets always remain within the investor's main account system.

Compared with a normal sub-account, a managed sub-account has two key differences: the investor cannot trade during the binding period, and API Key permissions are fully controlled by the trading team.

Delegation permissions: what you can and cannot do after binding

Once a managed sub-account is successfully bound to a trading team, the permission structure becomes fixed.

What you can do:

Transfer assets in or out of the managed sub-account through the main account. However, the official recommendation is to inform the trading team in advance to avoid interrupting ongoing strategies.
Log in to the sub-account to view information. But whether you can see positions, open orders, and history depends on the trading team's settings. The default state is not viewable. You can only see it after the trading team actively enables access.
Unbind with one click. This is your unilateral right and does not require the trading team's consent. After unbinding, the trading team will receive an email notification.

What you cannot do:

Trade. During the binding period, the investor cannot place any orders on the managed sub-account.
View or create API Keys. API permissions on the managed sub-account are fully controlled by the trading team. As the investor, you do not have this access.
Modify the trading team's settings. Although you can set alert and unbinding thresholds, the switch for viewing trade records is in the trading team's hands.

One rule that is easy to overlook: a managed sub-account can only be bound to a trading team once. After unbinding, it cannot be bound to another trading team. This means if you are dissatisfied with a trading team, after unbinding this sub-account can no longer be used for managed purposes. It can only be deleted or converted to another use.

How fees are calculated

The fee rate for a managed sub-account takes the lower of the two parties: managed sub-account fee rate = Min[trading team account fee rate, investor parent account fee rate].

There is no extra restriction on the taker fee rate, but the maker fee rate has a lower limit: if the managed sub-account inherits the trading team's fee rate, the maker fee can go as low as 0.

This means if you are a high-level VIP user, or the trading team is a high-level VIP, after binding, the sub-account can enjoy the better fee rate of the two. After successful binding, the fee rate takes effect on T+1 day.

Exit: unbinding and asset recovery

There are two paths to exit a managed sub-account: manual unbinding and automatic unbinding.

Manual unbinding is the most direct method. Find the managed sub-account in "custody" status on the sub-account page, select "unbind", and complete two-factor verification. Unbinding is a unilateral operation by the investor and does not require the trading team's approval.

Automatic unbinding is suitable for users who want to set risk-control thresholds. You can set alert lines and unbinding lines for total net asset value or balances of up to three coins. When assets fall below the unbinding line, the system will automatically unbind and send an email notification. Automatic unbinding is off by default and needs to be actively enabled.

After unbinding, assets remain within your main account system. You can transfer the assets in the sub-account back through the main account. If you no longer use this sub-account, it is recommended to delete it after unbinding to avoid management confusion.

Who it suits and who it does not suit

The applicable scenario for a managed sub-account is clear: you have funds, but do not want to trade yourself or do not have time to trade yourself. You are willing to hand execution rights to a trading team while keeping asset ownership and the right to withdraw at any time.

If you fall into the following situations, a managed sub-account is worth considering:

You want to delegate to multiple trading teams at the same time, using different sub-accounts to isolate different strategies and funds.
You want to protect the trading team's strategy privacy and prevent strategy details from being exposed in your main account trading records.
Your VIP level or the trading team's VIP level is high, and binding can give you a better fee rate.

If you fall into the following situations, a managed sub-account may not suit you:

You want to manually intervene in trading at any time. During the binding period you cannot trade; you can only watch.
You want to unbind and then switch to another trading team while continuing to use the same sub-account. The rules do not allow this.
You cannot accept that the trading team by default does not let you view trade records. This is the default setting and requires the other party's consent to enable.

One detail to confirm in advance: for a trading team to unbind your sub-account, the condition of three consecutive months of zero trading volume and funds below 1000 USDT must be met. This means if you are dissatisfied with a trading team, although you can actively unbind, the trading team cannot casually kick your account out in reverse.