OKX is the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, founded in 2017 by Star Xu and processing roughly $40 billion in daily derivatives turnover across one of the deepest perpetuals order books in the market.

Perpetual swaps run up to 100x leverage in USDT, USDC, and coin-margined variants, backed by a unified account that margins spot, futures, and options from one collateral pool. OKX was also the first global exchange to list perpetuals priced on licensed ICE Brent and WTI oil benchmarks, extending its engine beyond crypto.

Its regulatory footprint is among the broadest in the industry. A MiCA license from Malta's MFSA passports across the EEA alongside a MiFID II derivatives venue, approvals include VARA, MAS, and AUSTRAC, and a compliant US entity relaunched from San Jose after settling with the Department of Justice.

Custody claims are verifiable rather than asserted. More than 40 consecutive monthly Proof of Reserves reports use zk-STARK cryptography to show over $20 billion in primary assets covered above a 1:1 ratio, and the main exchange has no major disclosed hack in its history.

Gate is the fourth-largest crypto perpetuals venue and one of the oldest exchanges still operating, founded in 2013 by Dr. Lin Han and serving more than 49 million users after its group-wide rebrand from Gate.io. The platform reported $3.8 trillion in 2024 trading volume, with contract trading contributing $2 trillion of it.

Its perpetuals platform spans 560+ pairs at up to 125x leverage in USDT and BTC-margined variants, backed by a unified account, portfolio margin, and a dual-price liquidation system keyed to external spot indexes. Gate also leads every centralized exchange in stock perpetuals open interest, holding nearly double Bybit's total as equity contracts become the market's fastest-growing segment.

Its regulatory map is wider than most offshore rivals can claim. A MiCA license from Malta's MFSA covers the EU alongside a full VARA license in Dubai, and licensed local entities serve Japan through the Coin Master acquisition and Australia under AUSTRAC registration.