KYC (Know Your Customer)
Identity checks that regulated financial services run on customers before or while serving them.
KYC stands for Know Your Customer. It is the process a regulated business uses to confirm who its customers are. In crypto, it usually means uploading an ID document, a selfie and sometimes proof of address before an exchange lets you deposit, trade or withdraw.
KYC is part of anti-money-laundering (AML) law. Regulators require exchanges and other crypto service providers to know their customers so they can spot and report suspicious activity. How much a service asks for depends on the country, the service and the amounts involved.
For users, KYC has costs: it takes time, it can block people without the right documents, and it creates databases of personal data that can leak in a breach. That is why some people prefer non-custodial instant swaps, which typically ask for no account. Even these services can run checks on individual transactions if their compliance rules flag them, so no-KYC does not mean no rules.
