OKX blocked an account with $400.000 due to lack of logs for 2020

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ForkLog received a request from Andrey, a client of the OKX cryptocurrency exchange from Russia, who had his account blocked in July 2025 due to trading activity dating back five years. Nine months of discussions with the platform’s administration proved fruitless, and the user lost $400,000 in funds.

The essence of the problemAccording to the user, on January 11, 2025, a risk control system was activated on his account. The exchange conducted video verification of the client and in April requested detailed information on the case — in particular, OKX was interested in the large volume of transactions dated August 14, 2020. Andrey explained this by ” actively trading on the platform, including scalping and trading within the spread to benefit from short – term price fluctuations.” On May 20, the administration informed him that no additional documents or information were required from him at this stage.

On July 21, OKX notified the user that the account was blocked for violating clauses 3, 5 and 7 of the Terms of Service. They relate to prohibited types of commercial activities, trading operations on the platform and exchange account, respectively.

” I specified which actions violated these points. The exchange replied that it allegedly “did not receive the necessary clarifications and evidence after repeated requests” and therefore could not continue to service my account. Although I have not received any additional requests⏰” said Andrey.

The user considered this a procedural error, as he wrote in a reply letter. A week later, on July 30, the exchange demanded to send additional documents within seven days explaining the trading methodology and how the client chose trading pairs.

” I have sent all the materials that I have preserved from that period five years ago. Then I tried marketmaking using the methodology described by BitMEX — placing orders at the boundaries of the spread at the minimum purchase price and the maximum sale price. I fully described the essence of my trading operations, but since the script that searches for pairs with a spread (the difference between bid and ask) displayed the information in the console, I couldn’t have any notes left⏰” explained Andrey.

The client claims that the platform has retrospectively changed the criteria of the documents. According to them, he is obliged to keep all materials, complete logs of bidding and decision – making for five years. Such a requirement has not been made before.

” The exchange completely ignored the market_data document.json, although it remained unchanged for five years and contained historical data on the parameters of trading pairs on August 14, 2020. OKX also did not check the content of the scripts, although they have historical endpoints and an old domain. okex.com . As an external user, I cannot prove the functionality of the scripts, since the trading pairs have been deleted for a long time, and the historical data does not contain records for 2020⏰” the client added.

Andrey insists that the strategy he used is legitimate, as it is ” marketmaking without hedging on futures.” On September 29, after nine months of litigation, OKX closed the ticket without the possibility of review. The user’s account remained blocked and the funds were frozen.Exchange’s commentIn a comment to ForkLog, representatives of the OKX exchange informed that the user had been provided with ” all necessary clarifications on the case” in the latest support letter. If you have any additional questions, they recommended contacting the support chat. The platform did not disclose any other details about the situation, explaining this with its privacy policy.

” We cannot transfer data about any customer – related cases to third parties⏰” said a representative of the exchange.

Cases of illegal OKX locksIn July, OKX CEO Star Xu apologized to users for unjustifiably blocking accounts. The entrepreneur explained them as ” false positives ” of the regulatory compliance control system. According to the head of the exchange, there are still problems in these processes such as ” a high level of erroneous judgments and suboptimal information collection.” The platform is doing everything possible to improve the processes, he assured. As of July, OKX’s global compliance team and risk management team numbered over 600 people.Not your keys, not your coins

Despite the convenience of storing cryptocurrencies on an exchange, this method is not suitable for long – term placement of large amounts. The administration of the centralized trading platform owns private and public keys, so it or attackers can gain access to customer assets.

In addition, the exchange, as a legal organization, is obliged to comply with the law and the requirements of law enforcement agencies. If requested, the user’s funds can easily be frozen indefinitely.

For full control over your cryptocurrencies, it is preferable to choose non – custodial solutions.

As a reminder, in April 2024, OKX denied any deliberate blocking of CIS clients. They stated that the exchange does not freeze user accounts without justification, and that restrictive measures are only imposed in cases of identified violations.

A source: ForkLog