What Problems Do Institutional Users Commonly Encounter When Opening an OKX Account?
The most common issues with institutional account opening cluster around three areas: incomplete documentation leading to repeated rejections, differing document checklists for different institution types, and longer-than-expected review times. The core solution: identify your institution type first, prepare a complete document package once, then submit and track your verification status step by step.
1. Determine Your Institution Type First
What to do: Identify which type of institution you belong to – this determines what materials are needed.
How to do it: OKX classifies institutional clients into several types; different categories require different documentation:
Privately Owned Company
Privately Owned Financial Institution
Private Investment Vehicle or Family Office
Fund
Trust
Publicly Traded Company
Government-Owned Enterprise
Non-Profit Organization (NPO)
Completion criterion: Confirm which type applies to your organization by checking the list.
If you select the wrong institution type, the documents you submit later will not match the chosen type, and the review will be rejected outright. You will then have to reselect the correct type and resubmit – wasting both time and effort.
2. Prepare Basic Materials Required for Institutional Verification
What to do: Regardless of institution type, the following basic information must be prepared.
How to do it:
Company Basic Information:
Full company name
Registration number
Date of incorporation
Registered address
Principal place of business (if different from registered address)
Key Personnel Information:
At least one company officer/manager (e.g., CEO, CFO, COO)
Directors (if applicable)
Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s) (UBO)
Authorized user(s) (if different from key personnel)
Key Personnel Identification: Front and back photos or scanned copies of ID documents.
Completion criterion: All the above information has been collected, and ID documents of key personnel have been photographed or scanned.
3. Prepare Corresponding Documents Based on Institution Type
What to do: Prepare additional documents specific to your institution type.
How to do it:
Privately Owned Company / Privately Owned Financial Institution / Family Office / Fund need to submit:
Certificate of Incorporation or Business Registration Certificate (or equivalent business license document)
Memorandum and Articles of Association
Register of Directors
Register of Members/Shareholders or Beneficial Ownership Structure Chart (signed and dated within the past 12 months)
Proof of business address (if different from registered address)
Letter of Authorization to Open Account (or a board resolution containing this authorization)
Privately Owned Financial Institutions must additionally provide: FCCQ Wolfsberg Questionnaire or equivalent AML policy document (signed and dated by a senior compliance officer)
Trust needs to submit:
Trust Deed
Trustee and beneficiary information
Settlor or grantor information
Ultimate beneficial owner information (if the trustee is a legal entity)
Letter of Authorization to Open Account
Completion criterion: For your institution type, the above documents have been scanned into clear electronic copies (PDF, JPG, PNG formats) and key information (company name, registration number, dates) is clearly legible.
Common reasons for failure:
Unclear documents: Scanned copies are blurry, have glare, or corners are cropped, making it impossible for reviewers to identify key information.
Expired documents: Register of shareholders or ownership structure chart is more than 12 months out of date.
Missing key personnel information: Real-name information for at least one company officer has not been provided.
Mismatched document types: You selected "Privately Owned Company" but submitted documents suitable for a foundation.
4. Submit Verification and Track Review Status
What to do: Submit the institutional verification application on OKX and check progress regularly.
How to do it:
Log into your OKX institutional account and go to [Profile] → [Verification].
Follow the on-screen instructions to fill in information and upload documents.
After submission, the status changes to "Under Review".
Pay attention to email notifications sent to your registered email – the review team may contact you for additional materials.
After approval, the status changes to "Approved"; if rejected, the status becomes "Rejected" and you will receive an email with the specific reason for rejection.
Prerequisites: All the above materials and documents have been fully prepared.
Completion criterion: The application has been submitted and the status is "Under Review".
Risk reminders:
Longer review time: Institutional verification usually takes several business days, and VIP lending applications take about a week to complete the review. If documentation is incomplete, the timeline will be extended further.
Regional restrictions: OKX does not support institutional services from certain regions, including Hong Kong, Canada, the United States and its territories, etc. Confirm before opening an account that your registration region is not on the restricted list.
Asset management sub-account threshold: If you are managing other people's funds, becoming a trading team requires obtaining institutional identity and reaching at least VIP 1 level.
How to confirm you have handled everything correctly?
Check the status on the verification page of your OKX institutional account. If it shows "Approved", the verification is complete and your account can use institutional functions normally. If it shows "Rejected", revise your submission according to the rejection explanation in the email and resubmit. After submitting for review, wait patiently for the email notification. If you have questions, you can track the progress by submitting a support ticket.
