Best No KYC Crypto Futures Platforms

Best No KYC Crypto Futures Platforms

For traders in regions with strict regulations like the USA, UK and China, finding crypto futures exchanges that don’t require identity verification is crucial. This is because many popular centralized futures exchanges like Bybit or Binance block investors in these regions from accessing those services.

As regulatory pressures mount in 2024, these platforms will become harder to find, yet they remain essential for those who value privacy. Below, we’ve highlighted the leading exchanges that still offer no-KYC futures trading across centralized and decentralized finance applications.

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1. Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange built on its custom Hyperliquid L1 blockchain, providing no-KYC trading with the speed and efficiency of a centralized exchange. Supporting over 130 assets, it is the largest decentralized trading platform by volume, with over $1 billion in average daily trades across 197,000 users.

Hyperliquid also integrates trading tools, such as TradingView. The platform is suitable for both privacy-conscious and performance-oriented traders. Additionally, Hyperliquid has launched a points program where users can earn points through trading activity, with 700,000 to 1,000,000 points distributed weekly.

• ‍Fees: Based on 14-day trading volume, starting from 0.010% maker and 0.035% taker. Users who sign up with a referral link get a 4% discount on their first $25 million in volume.‍
• Available Assets: 132, including blue chips like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, AI tokens like Worldcoin, and meme coins like Popcat, WIF, DOGE, and BONK.‍
• Deposit Methods: Traders can bridge USDC from Arbitrum to the Hyperliquid Layer 1 via the native EVM bridge without any KYC.‍
• Available Leverage: Variable, starting from 2x with up to 50x for BTC and ETH. Most pairs have an upper limit of 5x to 20x.

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2. GMX

GMX is another decentralized perpetual exchange operating on Arbitrum and Avalanche, known for its innovative GLP multi-asset liquidity pool, which allows for large trades with minimal slippage. The platform offers indefinite perpetual contracts, removing the need for rollovers, making it ideal for long-term trading strategies.

GMX supports a selection of 21 assets and offers high leverage of up to 100x, beneficial to traders looking for higher-risk plays. Additionally, the platform rewards users through staking and liquidity provision, making it a popular choice for earning DeFi yield.

• ‍Fees: Opening and closing positions cost 0.05% to 0.07%, depending on whether the trade balances long and short pool positions.‍
• Available Assets: 21 pairs, including SHIB, ORDI, OP, and STAX as one of the most recent additions.‍
• Deposit Methods: Users need to fund their GMX V2 accounts with either ETH on Arbitrum or AVAX on Avalanche.‍
• Available Leverage: Up to 100x, even on some assets like DOGE, LTC, and LINK.

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3. BloFin

BloFin is the only centralized exchange (CEX) on this list, offering non-KYC trading at the Basic Level (Lv 0) with a generous 24-hour withdrawal limit of 20,000 USDT. This level provides full access to futures trading and up to 150x leverage without any restrictions, making it ideal for traders who prioritize both privacy and high leverage.

BloFin also allows users to buy cryptocurrencies directly with fiat through debit or credit cards, adding convenience that’s rare among non-KYC exchanges. With almost 400 trading pairs and robust security features, including Merkle Tree proof of reserves, BloFin combines ease of use with the most advanced trading options.

• ‍Fees: Fees for the non-KYC level on BloFin are 0.02% for maker and 0.06% for taker.‍
• Available Assets: Over 378 available pairs for futures trading, including the most recently released tokens like DOGS on TON and SUNDOG on Tron.‍
• Deposit Methods: Users can buy crypto directly on BloFin using a debit or credit card. They can also deposit assets from a range of supported networks like Binance Smart Chain (BEP20), Tron (TRC20), Ethereum (ERC20), and Solana.‍
• Available Leverage: BloFin offers up to 150x crypto futures leverage.

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4. Drift

Drift is Solana’s leading decentralized perpetual futures exchange, offering a broader range of 36 trading pairs compared to its competitor Jupiter, which handles more volume but only supports BTC, ETH, and SOL. While Jupiter offers up to 100x leverage, Drift stands out by providing more diverse trading opportunities with maximum leverage of 20x.

Drift also emphasizes a user-friendly experience with on-chain trading, using Solana-compatible wallets like Phantom. Drift recently launched BET, a prediction market platform on Solana, aiming to compete with Polymarket, further expanding its offerings beyond just futures trading.

• ‍Fees: Calculated per trade based on the size of the filled notional position. The fee structure includes a maker fee of -0.01% (a rebate) and a taker fee of 0.10%.‍
• Available Assets: 36 perpetual market pairs traded on the Solana network, including BTC, ETH, RENDER, and JUP.‍
• Deposit Methods: Entirely on-chain using Phantom, MetaMask (with Snaps), and other Solana-compatible crypto wallets.‍
• Available Leverage: Maximum leverage available is 20x for Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, with other pairs having a varying 5-10x max.

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5. dYdX

dYdX holds the distinction of being the first decentralized exchange to offer perpetual contracts. The latest version, V4, introduces a dedicated appchain built on the Cosmos SDK. This appchain ensures that the dYdX protocol uses a decentralized order book and matching engine that enhances the platform's scalability and security.

Among the new features, dYdX V4 introduces permissionless markets, allowing users to list and trade any asset instantly, provided there is an oracle price available. This is a major leap forward, as it enables the creation of markets without the need for governance approval, thus streamlining the trading process.

• ‍Fees: 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker, with an option for volume discounts.‍
• Available Assets: Over 130, including BTC, ETH, AVAX, TIA, and DOGE.‍
• Deposit Methods: Users can deposit USDC to their dYdX Chain address from several blockchains using Circle's Cross Chain Transfer Protocol.‍
• Available Leverage: 20x only for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and 5x, 6x, or 10x on other pairs.

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What are Crypto Futures?

Crypto futures are financial contracts that allow traders to speculate on the future price of cryptocurrencies, without owning the underlying assets. In centralized exchanges (CEXs), these futures often come with more trading pairs and higher leverage, but they require users to trust the exchange's custody and operational integrity.

On decentralized exchanges (DEXs), crypto futures, often called perpetual contracts, provide self-custody and transparency but may have lower leverage options and fewer trading pairs. Another drawback for DeFi futures is that the majority of the exotic pairs usually have very low volume and liquidity.

The terms "futures," "perpetuals," and "derivatives" are commonly used interchangeably in the crypto space, despite their technical differences—futures contracts typically have an expiration date, while perpetuals do not. Both types of platforms cater to different risk appetites and trading strategies, offering unique advantages and challenges to crypto traders.

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What is KYC in Crypto?

KYC, or "Know Your Customer," is a process that crypto exchanges use to verify the identity of their users, ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Almost all centralized exchanges now require KYC as a standard practice. Recent examples from 2024 include MEXC and BingX, both of which have implemented stricter KYC protocols, receiving mixed reactions from users on forums like Reddit​.

Users should be cautious of CEXs that currently offer no-KYC services, as history has shown that many popular platforms initially allowed no-KYC trading but eventually adopted KYC to comply with regulatory pressures. Moreover, the use of no-KYC exchanges carries risks like potential for legal issues and the possibility of these platforms being shut down or restricted​.

While decentralized exchanges currently offer a no-KYC option, allowing users to maintain privacy, governments may soon impose regulations on DEXs as well. The European Union's MiCA regulation and the ongoing SEC lawsuit against Uniswap in the US are clear signs that DEXs might not remain unregulated for long​.

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Are No KYC Futures Platforms Safe?

No-KYC futures platforms come with important tradeoffs. For example, decentralized perpetual platforms like Hyperliquid and GMX are generally safer due to their non-custodial nature, meaning users control their assets secured by smart contracts. These platforms are trusted in the community, reflected by their high TVL and trading volumes. However, smart contract risks, like potential bugs, still exist.

In contrast, centralized platforms like BloFin offer a familiar trading experience but operate in regulatory grey areas offshore, making them more vulnerable to risks such as sudden shutdowns, similar to what happened with the bankruptcy of FTX. While these platforms offer privacy and convenience, users must weigh these benefits against the potential security risks.

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Bottom Line

For the best no-KYC crypto futures exchanges in 2024, the top platforms are clear: BloFin stands out among centralized exchanges, HyperLiquid and GMX lead on the Arbitrum network, dYdX is the go-to for Ethereum users, and Drift, along with Jupiter, dominate the Solana ecosystem.

The broader trend in crypto trading also shows a shift towards onchain solutions, with decentralized exchanges increasingly becoming the preferred choice for privacy-focused traders.

In fact, the DEX vs CEX trade volume ratio recently hit an all-time high of 13.91%, and this number will only grow, exactly due to the demand for private non-kyc platforms.