Proof of Address for Crypto Exchanges: What Counts and What Gets Rejected

The details that differ sit at the edges: whether a phone bill counts, what makes a lease acceptable, how the date window is counted and what kind of file you can send. A mobile phone bill on its own is turned down by four of the five exchanges compared here, one of them with exceptions in places it doesn’t name. Four take a private lease, three of them with conditions attached. The table has each exchange’s version.

No bills in your own name?

A bill in a parent’s, partner’s or landlord’s name won’t do, whoever pays it. Address pages ask for a document issued in your name, and failure pages give another person’s name on the document as a reason a proof of address is invalid.

Going by the five lists, these are the documents most likely to be in your own name:

• Your own bank statement, or a letter from your bank. All five list bank documents, so we’d start here. Watch the exact name of the letter on the list: one accepts a “Bank Reference Letter” but refuses a “Bank or company referral letter”, so ask your bank for the document by the name the list uses.
• A letter from a government office. Every exchange in the table names at least one of tax documents, a voter registration letter or certificate, or a certificate of residence from your local authority.
• A lease in your name. Four exchanges take a private lease, and three of them set conditions: how long it runs, who signs it and how long is left. A short let, or one with only a few weeks left, can pass some of those rules and fail others. Pages can also disagree: an older failures page, last updated November 2025, lists tenancy agreements and ID cards as not accepted, the opposite of the same exchange’s FAQ updated in August 2026. That FAQ points you to “the supporting documentation guidance displayed on the verification page”, so go by what that page shows you.
• An ID card that shows your address. Four list it. At one of them it can’t be the same document you used for the identity step, in which case you’d need a passport or another ID for that step.
• Employer or university paperwork. Three exchanges list documents from your employer, and two of those also name a school, college or university as an issuer. Even where payslips are refused, a university housing agreement, a letter from a university confirming you study there and your current address, or a government student grant, loan or bursary letter sent to that address can still be on the list.
• Housing support. At least one list also includes a letter from an NGO or non-profit about temporary housing.

Two shortcuts fail on the rules themselves. Editing a bill is one of them, since the rules ask for “original, unedited documents only”, or for documents that are complete, official and unaltered. The other is ordinary post in place of an official letter. Asked whether a letter or package sent to you can be used, one exchange’s FAQ answers “No.”

If nothing on any list is in your name, ask the exchange’s support which document would cover your case before you upload anything. None of the five describes an exception process, or using someone else’s bill with or without that person’s permission, so the answer has to come from support.

How recent does proof of address need to be?

Three months is the rule at four of the five, but they don’t all count it from the same day. Each exchange’s wording tells you which day:

• “Issued within the last three months” counts from the issue date.
• “Dated within the last three months” counts from the date on the document, and the page that says it adds: “Documents older than three months will be rejected.”
• “Dated less than three months before the date of submission” counts back from the day you send it.

Binance also counts from the date of issue, but the length depends on your country of residence. Its table gives 6 months to every country it doesn’t name, “unless otherwise stated on the document (up to 1 year)”, and to a few it does; 3 months to a longer named list; and 2 months to one. Its upload notes only say “three or 6 months depending on jurisdiction”, so your country’s row in the table is the line to follow. Our proof of address date check works from that table. Pick your country and document type, enter the issue date, and it shows the last day the document still counts.

Some documents run on their own clock:

• ID cards. One three-month rule opens with “Except for the Proof of Identity”, and another exchange accepts an ID card, residence permit or driving licence showing your address for as long as it’s valid.
• Leases. One exchange tests a lease by its term instead of an issue date, asking for one at least 6 months long with at least 2 months left. The other three that take a private lease state no separate window for it, so their general date rule is the one written down.
• Two documents in that country table. A certificate of residence is “within 3 or 6 months, depending on the jurisdiction”, and a government tenancy contract is “valid within 1 year”.

If your document is close to its last valid day, we’d send a newer one. Binance says its address review “may take up to 1-2 working days”, and only one of the five ties the count to the day you submit, not the day someone reviews it.

The windows are as each exchange’s help-centre pages gave them in October 2026, and they change; if your upload screen asks for a more recent document, that’s the rule you’re under.

Name and address: the same as you typed them

Each exchange’s rules tie the document to what’s already on your account.

• Your name. Three of the five spell it out: your name “the same as the ID submitted”, a name that matches the one on your identity document, and the same name at both verification levels. None of them says how close is close enough if your bill leaves out a middle name, uses initials or orders your names differently. Our page on names spelt, ordered or changed differently from your ID covers each case, including a legal name change.
• Your address. Three also tie it to what you typed, in wording that runs from “must be the same as the residential address entered” to an address that “matches exactly” with the document. Where the form asks for your address, copy it as the document prints it, house or flat number and postcode included, rather than typing it from memory.
• A home address. Three exchanges refuse P.O. boxes, and at least one list also says “your residential address must be visible” and refuses mail forwarding and virtual office addresses. One of the three adds a note naming a single region without saying why, so check the current wording if you use a P.O. box.

As for why they want a home address at all, the two exchanges that give a reason both start with regulatory compliance, and add that the address helps keep your account, or the information on it, accurate and secure.

Outside the exchanges, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s identity-proofing guideline, SP 800-63A, gives a general reason. Among the fraud checks it recommends is a “Mailing address check”, which looks at whether the mailing address “is a known virtual Post Office (PO) Box or has other high-risk characteristics”.

Can you upload a PDF or a screenshot of a bill?

If the bill or statement reaches you online, we’d upload the PDF your provider issues rather than a photo of your screen. The pages that mention PDFs recommend the format or ask for the original PDF, and one accepts “a PDF file of a paperless bill” by name.

Photos, scans and screenshots are where the rules split:

• Colour copies accepted. One list takes colour screenshots and colour scans, as long as the first page is clearly visible and everything on it is readable, but turns down photocopies, and scans or screenshots that are blurred, reflective or in black and white.
• Originals only. Two exchanges’ failure pages list screenshots, scanned copies and printed copies among the reasons for refusal, and their fixes ask for the original document, as a colour photo or a PDF file. One of them also answers “No” when asked whether e-copies of identity documents can be used. Neither page says how that applies to a bill that only exists online, so read the instructions on the upload screen before you send a downloaded PDF there.

File types and size limits differ too, and one exchange caps uploads at 5MB. If your bank’s statement opens with a password, get a copy without one before you upload it, since that exchange turns password-protected files away.

Proof of address rejected, or you’ve moved?

Two exchanges’ failure pages have a section on an invalid proof of address. Both list another person’s name on the document and a document type they don’t accept, and both repeat the three-month rule beside them. One adds an address from a country restricted under its policies. Rejection messages vary, and the five headings that follow are ours rather than an exchange’s, so pick the one closest to yours:

• The type of document. Swap it for a type on that exchange’s accepted list. A better photo won’t change what kind of document it is.
• The date. Send a newer document, or a different type whose latest issue falls inside the window.
• The name. See no bills in your own name, or the name rules under name and address if the document is yours but written differently.
• The country. A different document doesn’t change where you live. If the address really is your home, the exchange’s terms are what apply. If you’ve moved, update the address with proof of the new one. To appeal the result on Bybit, submit a case support ticket.
• No reason, or the same file refused twice. Stop sending that file and send a different accepted type, ideally from another issuer. Bybit asks you to wait another 24 hours if your application has been denied more than five times within 24 hours. While a review is still running, uploading the documents again won’t help. If a second accepted document is refused as well, stop uploading and ask the exchange’s support which requirement it missed.

If your exchange sets the date window by country, why Binance rejects proof of address, and the fix for each reason has the upload steps, the 1–2 working day review and the appeal option in its privacy portal.

Moved since you were verified

A new home needs a new document, and each exchange handles the change in its own place:

• Bybit lets you update the address document without resetting your verification, once you’ve completed its Advanced level. After an update, you wait 180 days from your last submission before you can send another.
• Kraken sends you to its Change Account Info form: choose Address, then attach a valid proof of address for the new one.
• OKX says you can change the address on your account, and that you may need to provide an additional proof of address.
• Binance points you to [Modify Proof of Address] once you’re logged in; moving house has its steps.

The windows in how recent is recent enough apply to the new document too, and they count from the document’s date, not from the day you moved. If an exchange asks you to verify again after the move, what each verification level asks for, and why you may be asked again explains the requests that can follow.