Source of Funds at a Crypto Exchange: Why a Deposit Can Freeze Your Account for 15 Days

Anyone who deposits cryptocurrency on an exchange tends to assume the balance will be available immediately afterwards. That is true less and less often. If an incoming payment triggers an anti-money-laundering review, access to the account can be restricted for two weeks or longer, and in confirmed cases the business relationship ends altogether. OKX co-founder Star Xu described this practice publicly on September 2, 2026, saying out loud what many providers handle quietly. For you as an investor in Germany, that means the question of where your coins came from is no longer a formality that surfaces at some point on a tax form. It decides whether you can reach your money. This article explains what triggers a review, what happens while one is running, which documents you should keep to hand, and who you can turn to if your account is already frozen. What Star Xu announced on September 2 Star Xu, co-founder and chief executive of the exchange OKX, replied on X on September 2, 2026 to a user whose transfer from a sports betting platform had triggered a risk review. His answer was more explicit than such answers usually are. Deposits from addresses classified as risky could trigger s...