Exchange Froze My Deposit: What Binance, OKX & Others Say

Held, locked, under review: what is going on

When an exchange does not credit a deposit that has arrived on-chain, the coins are not lost. Exchanges must follow anti-money-laundering rules, and their help centres describe a handful of situations in which a deposit waits for a check: the sender’s details are missing under the Travel Rule, the exchange wants to know where the money came from, the coins’ origin looks abnormal, the address is sanctioned, or the whole account is restricted.

The names differ by exchange — “locked” at OKX, “Pending Assets” at Bybit, “on hold” at Kraken, an account review at Coinbase — but the fix is the same: answer the exchange’s request through its own app or website. We read each exchange’s public help pages on 30 Oct 2026; below is only what those pages say.

Five exchanges compared

Exchange	What its pages say triggers a hold or review	What it may ask for	How to resolve or appeal
Binance	Source-of-wealth and source-of-funds reviews, which it says it runs to keep accounts secure and comply with applicable regulations, including anti-money-laundering rules.[1] The page does not say whether deposits are held during a review.	Documents such as payslips, tax statements and bank statements. They must match the name on your account and be in a non-editable format (PDF, JPG, PNG); screenshots must show the full page, including the URL.[1]	Not stated on public pages we could read.
OKX	Travel Rule additional verification in regulated regions; required questionnaires or assessments not completed;[2] identity verification not passed or a compliance review, which can restrict deposits, withdrawals or trades.[3]	The sender’s legal name, whether they sent from an exchange or a private wallet, and sometimes their country of residence.[2]	On the Assets page, find the locked deposit, select Submit and fill in the sender’s details.[4] If the issue persists after completing assessments, contact OKX Assistant.[2]
Bybit	Pending Travel Rule verification; deposits over a chain’s daily deposit credit limit (shown as Pending Assets); deposits that fall under “Abnormal Asset Origin”.[5]	For the Travel Rule, specific information about the deposit, requested by email.[5] For Abnormal Asset Origin: not stated on public pages.	Complete Travel Rule checks from Deposit History. For Abnormal Asset Origin, click Appeal on the web; Bybit asks you to allow two days for review and says a failed appeal cannot be made again.[5]
Kraken	Deposit above your funding limit, a name mismatch, a hold your bank requested, a missing deposit reference, an unverified account, or duplicate deposits within 72 hours.[6] An account restriction for security, legal or regulatory reasons pauses all fiat and crypto deposits and withdrawals.[7]	Identity verification or updated details, including a face photo;[7] Source of Wealth or Source of Funds documents such as payslips, tax returns or bank statements.[8]	Follow the fix for your hold reason or wait for instructions from Kraken Support.[6] Account verification usually takes 10–14 business days; after 14 business days with no reply, use the support chat.[7]
Coinbase	An account review because of your activity or profile, regional rules, details that need updating, or a periodic review.[9] Funds sent to or received from an OFAC-sanctioned address are blocked.[10]	Source of funds or wealth, the sender or recipient of a transaction, and crypto records: exchange statements, wallet history, blockchain transaction IDs, mining or staking records.[9]	Open the notification or task in your Coinbase account and upload documents there.[9] For blocked sanctioned funds you need an OFAC licence first, then a secure link from Coinbase Support.[10]

Pages checked 30 Oct 2026. Rules vary by country and by the company that serves your account; the request shown in your own account is what counts.

Notes by exchange

Binance

Binance’s source-of-funds page explains the documents it accepts and the format rules. It also lists signed letters from certified professionals and sale contracts among acceptable evidence.^[1] We could not read Binance’s other help pages on deposits, so we do not describe how it handles a held deposit or how to appeal one. Use the official Binance app or website to contact support.

OKX

The first reason OKX lists is a Travel Rule check: the deposit may stay locked until you provide the sender’s information, depending on local law.^[2] If you sent the coins yourself, OKX’s form has an “I’m the sender” option; there are separate paths for deposits from an exchange, a card purchase through a third-party channel, and a private wallet.^[4] For balance problems that persist beyond 1–2 hours, OKX asks you to contact support via OKX Assistant with your TxID or order ID.^[3]

Bybit

A deposit over the daily credit limit is not a compliance hold: Bybit releases pending assets up to the daily limit each day, and the limit refreshes at midnight UTC.^[5] An “Abnormal Asset Origin” status is different — it goes through Bybit’s appeal: Pending Appeal, Appeal in Progress, then Successful or Failed, with the result sent by email.^[5] Bybit also lets VIP users check a deposit source address for risk, and warns that the result is not guaranteed.^[5]

Kraken

Kraken says some held deposits are released automatically and others need manual review; a name mismatch will likely lead to the deposit being returned or cancelled.^[6] Kraken says a request for Source of Wealth or Source of Funds documents does not mean you did something wrong.^[8]

Coinbase

Coinbase says a request for information doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. During a review some services may keep working, but certain transactions may be delayed, limited or unavailable; if you don’t provide the information, the result can include limits on deposits, withdrawals or trading, or account closure.^[9] If someone sends you crypto from a sanctioned address without your asking, Coinbase says it stops those funds automatically and you keep full access to your account.^[10] More in Coinbase account restricted.

What to do if your deposit is held

1. Read the status and any email inside the exchange. Note the exact wording — Travel Rule, Pending Assets, on hold, under review — and the TxID.
2. Answer only through the exchange’s own app or website. OKX, Bybit, Kraken and Coinbase all route these requests through your account or their support centre.
3. Give the sender’s details if asked. For a Travel Rule check that means the sender’s legal name, whether they used an exchange or a private wallet, and sometimes their country.
4. Gather records of where the coins came from: exchange statements, wallet history, transaction IDs, the P2P order and chat, an AML report on the sender’s address.
5. Send clear, complete, unedited documents in your name. If one is rejected, send a different document that fixes the stated reason rather than the same file again.
6. Wait for the stated review time before chasing support, and keep all messages.
7. Don’t move other funds around in a hurry and don’t accept more coins from the same sender until the question is settled.

Preventing the next hold

You cannot control every exchange’s checks, but you can avoid receiving coins with a bad history. Before a P2P trade or a large transfer, run the sender’s address through an AML checker — see how to check USDT before receiving it. Coins linked to stolen funds, sanctions or mixers are what people call dirty crypto, and big hacks show up quickly on our incidents tracker. If an exchange has already frozen your account rather than one deposit, read exchange froze your crypto.