This page is commercial. Saying so before anything else.
The code below is ours, and further down there is one sign-up link that carries it. If you register through that link, OKX pays us a referral fee; as far as we can tell you pay no more than someone who signed up with nothing. That arrangement does not change how the risks are described here, and we are not going to pretend an exchange account is a safe default. Opening one involves identity checks, fees that move, and a cash-out step where most of the real money is lost. We are not FCA-authorised, so if you are reading this from the UK, treat it as information rather than an offer. Nothing here is investment or legal advice, and whether any of it is available where you live is yours to confirm.
This page exists because the same handful of questions kept surfacing in our crypto payout guides, and answering them again in every article helped nobody. So: the code, the step it goes in, what the discount is and isn't worth, and the checks worth doing first. If the risky part is what you came for, skip to cashing out — that section matters more than the rest of the page put together.
The code, up front
Enter this in the invite code field when you register. It is optional; the account opens either way, and the only difference is the discount attached to your fee tier.
The tidiest way to do this is to copy the string above and type it in yourself on OKX's own sign-up form, because then you know exactly what you entered. If you would rather not retype it, you can also open the OKX sign-up page from here and the code travels with you. To be clear about what that is: it is the only referral link on our English pages, we are paid a referral fee if you register through it, and you should not pay more for having used it. Typing the code in by hand gets you the same result, and we would honestly rather you did that.
Who this is for, and who should close the tab
Close the tab if your clients can pay you by bank transfer, Wise or Payoneer. Those routes are simpler, leave a cleaner paper trail, and skip an entire category of risk. Our comparison of payout methods covers them, and for most freelancers one of those is the right answer. Chasing a fee discount is a bad reason to add a crypto step to a payment that never needed one.
The narrower case is the real one: a client insists on paying in stablecoin, the money has already arrived, and now you need somewhere to turn it into local currency. In that situation a platform with identity checks, verified merchants and a dispute process is a different proposition from meeting someone in a chat group. That is the honest argument for having an account, and it is the only one we will make.
How sign-up tends to go
The registration itself takes a few minutes. What slows people down is verification. Roughly:
- Basic details. Email or phone, a password. The invite code field is usually collapsed behind a small "invite code" or "referral code" link, so open that before you submit. Once the account exists you generally can't add one.
- Identity verification (KYC). ID document, sometimes a liveness check. There's no way around this, and nobody who offers to "handle verification" for you is worth trusting with your documents.
- Security settings. Turn on two-factor authentication and withdrawal allowlisting. This protects you far more than any fee discount.
- Check your actual fees. The fee schedule inside your account shows the rate and discount that really apply. Look there rather than assuming.
Interfaces move around
Exchanges redesign their sign-up flow regularly, so read the list above as the shape of the process rather than a screen-by-screen walkthrough. If what you see doesn't match, trust the screen in front of you. That's also why there are no "verified today" screenshots on this page.
Worth checking before you register
- Availability where you live. Coverage differs by country and changes. Read the platform's terms for your region first.
- Local rules. Some countries restrict crypto services outright. If you're unsure, and especially if the amounts are meaningful, take proper advice rather than a forum post.
- Use your own identity. Accounts opened in someone else's name, or lent out to a friend, cause problems that are very hard to unwind later.
- Know your exit first. Getting crypto in is easy. Turning it into spendable local currency is the part that goes wrong, so plan that before you start.
Reading the fees without being misled
Exchange fees aren't one number. They usually vary by account tier, by whether you're the maker or the taker of an order, and by product. So anyone quoting you a single definitive percentage is simplifying something that isn't simple — including anyone quoting you a number for this code.
An invite code applies a discount on top of that tier. Promotions are quoted as an "up to" ceiling, they move around, and none of them is a fixed entitlement. The number in your own account's fee schedule is the one that counts — not the number on whichever page handed you the code, this one included.
Fee discounts are a rounding error next to a bad P2P trade. Spend your attention on the cash-out, not the fee table.
The part that actually matters: cashing out
Opening an account is the easy half. Converting stablecoin to local currency is where people lose money, and the failure modes are consistent:
- Releasing crypto before payment lands. A forged transfer receipt, a screenshot, a plausible excuse to hurry. Nothing counts until the money is genuinely in your own bank app.
- Prices that look too generous. An unusually good rate is bait far more often than it's luck.
- Moving off-platform. The moment a counterparty suggests finishing the trade privately, you've given up every protection the platform provides.
- Volatility. Even stablecoins have wobbled off their peg. Hold what a client paid you for as little time as you can.
Our full walkthrough of receiving stablecoin and converting it is in get paid in USDT and convert it safely, and the wider set of tricks aimed at people waiting to be paid is in how to avoid payout scams. Read those before your first trade, not after.
Common questions
Where does the invite code field sit during sign-up?
In an optional field on the sign-up form, usually collapsed behind a small "invite code" or "referral code" link, which is why most people miss it. It changes nothing about the account itself, only the fee tier. You generally can't add one afterwards, so open that field before you submit. Screens change, so go by what you see.
Does using the code cost me anything?
Not that we are aware of. The code attaches a discount to your trading fee tier, and OKX pays us a referral fee out of its own side. You should not end up paying more than someone who signed up with no code at all. What the discount is worth on any given day is set by OKX's current promotion, so check its page rather than ours.
How much is the discount actually worth?
Less than the noise around it suggests. Exchange promotions are quoted as an "up to" ceiling, they are revised without notice, and the discount lands on a trading fee that is already small next to what one bad P2P trade costs. The fee schedule inside your own account shows the rate that applies to you. Treat any source promising a permanent or guaranteed rate with suspicion.
Is an exchange available where I live?
Check it yourself, because coverage differs by country and changes. Read the platform's terms for your own region before registering, and note that some countries restrict crypto services outright. If you are in the UK, treat this page as information rather than an offer: we are not FCA-authorised and nothing here is approved as a financial promotion for UK consumers.
Will an exchange account make cashing out safe?
It removes some risks and leaves others. KYC, merchant verification and a dispute process beat trading with a stranger from a chat group, but none of it stops you releasing crypto before payment truly lands, and it doesn't remove volatility. Read the scam guide before your first trade.
The body of this page carries one sign-up link with our referral code attached — the only one on the English side of the site — and the full position is on the disclosure page. Fees and promotions follow whatever the platform shows at the time. Nothing here is investment or legal advice — for anything significant, take advice where you live. Rewritten 4 September 2026; that date is when this text was written, not a re-verification of OKX's current fee schedule.