Always use legit crypto exchanges to stay safe!

I've been seeing way too many posts lately about people getting rugged on sketchy exchanges or losing funds on platforms that turned out to be unlicensed, so I figured I'd share what I actually look for before I trust an exchange with my money.

First thing I check is licensing. Like actual regulatory licenses, not just a "we're compliant" statement on their website. OKX (which I'll be using as an example bc I've used it a while now) is licensed in 40+ US states, registered as an MSB with FinCEN, and has MiCA pre-authorization in the EU. For me it matters because it means there's actual regulatory oversight and they can't disappear with your funds overnight.

Second thing is their security track record. Has the exchange ever been hacked? How do they store funds? OKX uses multi-sig cold storage and hasn't had a major security breach which is more than a lot of exchanges can say.

Third is proof of reserves. Any exchange that won't show you proof they actually hold your funds is a red flag imo. OKX publishes monthly proof of reserves audited by Hacken using zk-STARK proofs. They have reserve ratios above 100% for the assets I've looked at, which means they hold more than what users have deposited.

I know this sounds like a lot of research but it takes 15 minutes and could save you from losing everything. Don't just go with whatever exchange your favorite youtuber is shilling.