What is KYC (Know Your Customer)?
Know Your Customer is the regulatory process where exchanges, custodians and on-ramps verify a customer's legal identity before allowing trades or withdrawals. KYC is intended to prevent money laundering but is in tension with crypto's permissionless and privacy ideals.
Why KYC (Know Your Customer) matters
Understanding KYC (Know Your Customer) is part of building a solid mental model of how Bitcoin, blockchain and Web3 systems actually work. Concepts in the General category sit at the foundation of the broader stack — get them right and the rest is far easier.
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Related terms
- CEX (Centralized Exchange) — A company-operated crypto trading venue.
- Custody — Who controls the private keys.
- AML (Anti-Money Laundering) — Regulations preventing illicit financial flows.
More general terms
- Altcoin — Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin.
- Cryptocurrency — Digital money secured by cryptography on a blockchain.
- Stablecoin — A cryptocurrency designed to track a stable reference value.
- Whitepaper — The technical document describing a protocol's design.
- Tokenomics — The economic design of a cryptocurrency.
- Market Capitalization — Circulating supply × price.
- ICO (Initial Coin Offering) — An early-stage token sale to fund a project.
- WAGMI / NGMI — Crypto slang for community sentiment.
Keep exploring
Continue with the full blockchain glossary — 136 terms in total — or read the developer blog and FAQ for deeper context.