How to open a crypto exchange: a step-by-step plan, budget and timeline

A crypto exchange earns on the spread: a client gives one currency, gets another, and you keep the markup. It sounds simple, but there are several decisions to make before the first order, and a mistake in any of them costs either money or months.

Below is the order to do things in, how long it takes and what to put in the budget. Each step also shows where we can take the work off your hands.

1. Directions and clients

Start with which exchanges you'll handle. The most common options:

• crypto ↔ card in your local currency, for example USDT → UAH;
• crypto ↔ crypto, for example BTC → USDT;
• cash, which needs an office or couriers and is the hardest to start with.

At the start, a few directions you have liquidity and a payment system for beat dozens you can't actually serve.

Think about where clients will come from right away. For a new exchange the main source is monitors: sites where clients compare rates across exchanges. Search, Telegram and a referral programme come next.

2. The legal side

Whether you need a licence depends on the country your business is registered in and the currencies you work with. The platform gives you KYC and AML tools, but compliance is the exchange operator's responsibility. So see a lawyer at the very start, before spending on anything else.

You'll also need exchange rules and a privacy policy: what you check, how long an exchange takes and what happens when a payment doesn't match the order.

We don't replace a lawyer, but we do vet everyone we work with ourselves and don't take on services that break the law or sanctions.

3. The platform: a script, your own development or a ready platform

The website, admin panel, payment checks and payouts are software, and there are three ways to get it.

• A ready-made script. The cheapest to start with. But hosting, updates and security are on you, the code is often closed and outdated, and when you move away it turns out the database isn't easy to export.
• Your own development. Full control, but it means months of work and a team you have to keep after launch. It makes sense when your process is already running and there's something to automate your way.
• A ready platform with support. Launch in weeks rather than months, and someone else handles updates. Check just three things: whether the data belongs to you, whether payment systems connect to your own accounts, and who answers if payouts stop at night.

Obminly is that third option. Rent from $49 a month including hosting, backups, updates and support in Telegram, or a licence for your own server from $1,380 one-off. Either way the data is yours, and a full database export is available at any time.

4. Payment systems, KYC, AML and liquidity

This step takes the longest, because it depends not on you but on how quickly providers open your accounts. So send those applications first. You'll need:

• payment gateways for fiat directions;
• a KYC provider to verify clients;
• an AML provider to screen incoming funds;
• exchanges to take rates from and keep liquidity on.

Set aside working capital too: a reserve in each currency that the exchange pays clients from. It decides the largest order you can accept.

We connect all of this together with you: we help with the setup and configure the integrations with the platform. The contracts and the money stay on your accounts, not ours.

5. Rates, limits and checks

For each direction you need rate sources, a markup, rounding, and minimum and maximum amounts. How to work these out so you don't lose money on small amounts is covered in our post on rates, markup and rounding.

Decide here as well what the system pays out on its own and what waits for an operator: an amount threshold, an AML risk level, limits for unverified clients. What that path looks like from payment to payout is described in the post on automatic payouts.

6. Test orders and launch

Before opening, run a few real orders for small amounts in every direction, including the unpleasant cases: a payment of the wrong amount, a payment after the order expired, an order from a risky address. Then apply to the monitors. The full list of what to check is in the pre-launch checklist.

What it costs

The total depends heavily on the country and directions, so instead of one figure, here are the items to price:

• a lawyer and business registration;
• the platform: monthly rent or a one-off licence;
• working capital for payouts, usually the largest item;
• providers: payment gateway fees, per-check fees for KYC and AML;
• the team: an operator and support, which at the start is often you;
• getting clients: monitor listings and advertising.

How long it takes

You can get from a domain to the first order in about two weeks. This is how we usually split that time:

Days	What we do
1–2	Domain, server, basic settings
3–5	Directions, rate sources, markups and limits
6–9	Payment systems, KYC and AML on your accounts
10–12	Texts, rules, translations, test orders
13–14	Launch and applications to monitors

What most often pushes the date back is a single step: waiting for providers to open the accounts.

How we help you open an exchange

We don't just give you access to a platform. We take clients from the idea to the first order:

• we put together a launch plan for your directions;
• we help connect payment systems, KYC, AML and exchanges on your accounts;
• we set up directions, rates and limits and run the test orders with you;
• we prepare rate files for the monitors;
• after launch we stay in touch in Telegram.

Leave a request, and we'll show you a demo and talk through what you need.