How do you check if a crypto exchange is legit?

To check if a crypto exchange is legit, search for it in the official registers of the country where it serves you, using the regulator's own website rather than links the platform provides. Then check warning lists of unregistered firms. Registration does not prove a firm is honest, but a missing or fake registration is one of the strongest signs of a scam. The red flags of fake sites, such as young domains and withdrawal "fees", are covered in how to spot a fake crypto exchange.

How do you check crypto platform registration in the US?

The CFTC's checklist points to three places for crypto:

• FinCEN's MSB Registrant Search. Spot crypto trading companies are money services businesses that must register with FinCEN.
• NMLS. The CFTC also suggests checking the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System for state registration. How state licensing works is explained in state crypto licenses.
• NFA BASIC. Firms that handle crypto futures must register with the CFTC and the National Futures Association. BASIC shows registration and disciplinary history.

The CFTC's Registration Deficient (RED) List names foreign firms soliciting US customers without the registration they need, and the SEC runs a similar PAUSE list.

What does a FinCEN registration actually mean?

Less than scammers suggest. FinCEN says it does not verify the information that businesses submit, and that a listing is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy or endorsement by any government agency. The CFTC goes further, calling claims that FinCEN endorses a business false and possibly part of a scam. Registrations must be renewed every two years, and FinCEN removes lapsed ones only once a year, so an entry can be out of date. A registration is one data point, not a safety rating.

How do you check a crypto exchange in the UK?

The FCA says firms offering crypto products in the UK must be registered with it or have permission to promote them. Its advice is to search the Financial Services Register by name or firm reference number, check the permissions, and confirm the contact details match the ones you were given. If the firm is not on the register, the FCA says it is unlikely to have permission.

The FCA's Warning List names unauthorised firms it knows about. The FCA warns that a firm missing from the list may still be unauthorised, since scammers change names often. It also warns about clone firms that copy a real company, so contact any firm using the details on the register, not the ones in a message. The FCA notes that registration does not bring access to the Financial Ombudsman or FSCS compensation for most crypto activity. Wider UK oversight is in who regulates crypto in the UK.

How do you check if a crypto website is legit beyond registers?

Regulators agree that verification has to come from you. The CFTC notes that most scams involve unregistered people, firms and products, and that claimed experience should be checked independently. A platform found through an online contact, a dating match or a group chat deserves extra scrutiny, a pattern described in what is pig butchering.

Rules differ by country and change often. Check the regulator or a qualified professional for your own situation.