Definition

KYC (Know Your Customer)

The identity-verification process financial and crypto platforms are legally required to run before letting you transact, tying your real identity to your activity.

KYC requires platforms to collect and verify your identity documents before providing full services, in order to comply with anti-money-laundering regulation. It is a legal requirement for regulated platforms, not an optional step you can decline while still using them.

Why it matters: once identity is verified, all subsequent activity on that platform is directly linkable to you. Where financial privacy is a priority, this is a reason to consider what proportion of activity needs to run through KYC'd platforms versus self-custodied alternatives where legally available.

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