OKX vs Variational

Fees, coins, new listings, perp prices and safety of OKX and Variational, side by side.

OKX

Centralized exchange · since 2017

Global centralized exchange and Web3 wallet provider, launched internationally in 2017 as OKEx and rebranded OKX in 2022.

Open on OKX ↗

Variational

Perp DEX · since 2021

Peer-to-peer RFQ derivatives protocol on Arbitrum; its Omni app offers zero-fee perpetuals on 500+ crypto and traditional markets.

New users: Weekly points toward the VAR genesis airdrop, plus loss refunds

Claim on Variational ↗

Lower futures taker fee: Variational (0% vs 0.05%)
More coins: OKX (669 vs 565)
Cheaper perps more often: Variational (244 of 324 shared coins)

OKXVariational

Trading fees (base tier)

Spot maker0.08%—

Spot taker0.1%—

Futures maker0.02%0%

Futures taker0.05%0%

Markets (live)

Coins listed669565

Coins with perpetuals485565

Coins with spot pairs4040

24h volume$23.48B—

Coins only here356 coins trade on both313209

New listings (detected live)

Last 30 days0—

Last 90 days0—

Perpetuals listed on both

Cheaper on more coinsof 324 shared perps, by mid price76 coins244 coins

Average funding (24h)positive = longs pay shorts+0.007%+0.002%

Typical price gapmedian between the two venues0.077%0.077%

Safety and access

Proof of reservesYes · monthlyYes · real-time

Licenses3EU: MiCA CASP authorisation for OKX Europe Limited from Malta's MFSA (27 January 2025), US: OKX INC., NMLS #1767779, Dubai: provisional virtual asset licence (July 2022)None listed

Restricted regions15 regionsCanada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia…10 regionsUnited States and US territories (incl. Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands), Canada, Taiwan, Cuba, Iran…

HeadquartersGlobal platform operated by Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. (Seychelles); regional entities incl. Malta (EEA), UAE, Singapore and the US (San Jose, California)—

Exchange tokenOKBVAR

Incidents on record30

Highlighted = better on that line. Fees are base-tier rates before VIP and token discounts. Markets and listings are counted live from exchange APIs.

Top coins only on OKX

USDC USDS LEO USD1 GRAM SHIB USDG PUMP PYUSD RLUSD PI LIT NIGHT EURC

Top coins only on Variational

XMR M MNT JST KAS CAKE VET XDC SUN JASMY RUNE TWT AKT ORCA

Biggest perp price gaps right now

Liquid perpetuals listed on both exchanges, by mid price. Open a coin to see every route after fees.

OPENAI-89.80%Variational higher ANTHROPIC-89.71%Variational higher QNT-82.28%Variational higher MINA-0.62%Variational higher CRV-0.35%Variational higher W+0.34%OKX higher CHIP+0.24%OKX higher SAND+0.24%OKX higher

OKX or Variational?

OKX and Variational are compared here on what matters when you choose where to trade: base trading fees, how many coins each lists, how quickly they add new ones, perpetual prices and funding on the coins both list, and safety signals such as proof of reserves and restricted regions. Live numbers update from the exchanges' public market data; fees and policies were checked against each exchange's own pages.

OKX lists 669 coins and Variational 565. 356 coins trade on both, 313 only on OKX and 209 only on Variational. In the last 30 days OKX added 0 new coins and Variational —.

On the 324 perpetual contracts listed on both exchanges, OKX was cheaper on 76 and Variational on 244, with a typical gap of 0.077%. Gaps like these are what the arbitrage scanner tracks; average 24h funding on the shared coins was +0.007% on OKX and +0.002% on Variational.

Fees above are base-tier rates before VIP levels and token discounts; OKX offers 1 discount option and Variational offers 3 discount options. Availability depends on where you live, so check the restricted regions before signing up.

Which lists more coins, OKX or Variational?

OKX lists 669 coins and Variational 565. 356 coins trade on both exchanges.

Do OKX and Variational publish proof of reserves?

OKX: yes. Variational: yes.