Plain-language guides to checking an exchange yourself: licenses, proof of reserves and the warning signs.
Find the legal entity that operates the exchange, look it up on the regulator's own public register, and know the difference between an anti-money-laundering registration and a full license.
Last updated 2026-09-22
A reserves report only means something if it covers liabilities, is recent, and can be verified by someone other than the exchange. Here is what to look for and what to ignore.
Last updated 2026-09-22
Vague corporate identity, promised returns, withdrawal friction and pressure to hurry — the patterns that tend to show up before people lose money.
Last updated 2026-09-22
Attackers drained an estimated $6.3 billion from Binance's hot wallets on 29 October 2026. Reported figures run from $5.5 billion to $6.4 billion depending on the source and the hour. Here is what each source says, what Binance has said about covering the losses, and how the hack enters Binance's Takame score.
Last updated 2026-11-01
Bitget's hot wallets were drained on 24 September 2026. Reported losses run from about $352 million to about $388 million depending on the source and the day. Here is what each source says, and what official registers show about Bitget.
Last updated 2026-09-28
A crypto exchange license usually covers named activities, such as buying, selling and holding crypto for customers. Earn, staking, lending and derivatives are often handled by separate rules, separate licenses or retail bans. Here is how that works in seven places, and how to check it yourself.
Last updated 2026-09-28
On 3 November 2026, five days after an estimated $6.36 billion was stolen from Binance, CoinGecko still rated it 10 out of 10 and CoinMarketCap still ranked it first, with no notice about the hack. Here is what each ranking measures, and how the hack entered Binance's Takame score.
Last updated 2026-11-04
In October 2026 the FCA settled its High Court case against Huobi Global S.A., the company behind HTX, and HTX left the UK market. A settlement that stops an exchange from promoting to UK users is not the same thing as that exchange being registered or authorised — in HTX's case it is close to the opposite. Here is what each term means, what the HTX settlement does and does not say, and how Takame treats an outcome like this.
Last updated 2026-11-07
When an exchange is hacked, three different things often get reported in the same week: law-enforcement attribution of the attacker, stablecoin issuers freezing stolen funds, and regulators acting against firms. They answer different questions. Naming who stole the money is not a finding that the exchange broke a rule. Here is what each kind of evidence tells you, and which of it Takame lets change a score.
Last updated 2026-11-07