How to Verify an Exchange's Proof of Reserves Yourself
Log in, find your record ID or hash on the exchange's proof-of-reserves page, and check that it sits in the published Merkle tree with your correct balance. Then confirm the report covers liabilities, not just assets, and that each asset you hold is backed at 100% or more. A snapshot is a point in time, not a guarantee.
At the end of October 2026, one of the largest exchanges said it would publish a full proof-of-reserves report on Monday, November 2, after a hot wallet incident it valued at about $6.3 billion. Reports like that get a lot of attention, but most people only read the headline ratio. You can do better than that in about ten minutes. This guide shows how to check your own balance, what to look for on the asset side and the liability side, and where proof of reserves stops being useful.
What a Proof of Reserves Report Actually Contains
A complete report has two halves. The asset side lists wallets the exchange says it controls, often with signed messages or on-chain addresses so anyone can check the balances. The liability side is the total of what customers are owed in each coin, usually committed to in a Merkle tree so that individual users can confirm they were counted without everyone’s balance being made public.
The number that matters is the reserve ratio per asset: assets held in a coin divided by customer balances in that coin. A ratio of 100% or more means the exchange held at least as much as it owed in that coin on the snapshot date.
| Part of the report | What it shows | What you can check yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet list or signed addresses | Crypto the exchange claims to control | Balances on a public block explorer |
| Merkle root | A fingerprint of all customer balances | That your record leads to the same root |
| Reserve ratio by asset | Coverage for each coin | That every coin you hold is at 100% or more |
| Snapshot date | When the numbers were taken | That it is recent, and after any incident |
| Preparer and scope | Who checked what | Whether liabilities and debts were in scope |
Step by Step: Checking Your Own Balance
- Open the proof-of-reserves page from inside the official app or site. Type the address yourself. Many large exchanges publish these pages, and Cointelegraph’s report on OKX’s launch shows how such a page lets users check their own balance (Binance explains its process in its help center guide on verifying your account balance). Scammers copy these pages too.
- Find your record ID or hash. It is usually under an audit or verification section of your account and is tied to a specific snapshot date.
- Run the verification. Paste the ID into the exchange’s verifier, or into the open-source tool the exchange links to. The tool rebuilds the path of hashes from your leaf up to the root.
- Compare the root. The root shown by the tool must match the root published in the report for that date. If it does not match, the check failed.
- Check your balances in the leaf. The amounts per coin should match what your account showed at the snapshot time. Small differences can come from open orders or staking products, so compare against the right date.
- Write it down. Keep the snapshot date and result. Over a few months you get a history, and a missing month becomes visible.
If you want a deeper check, look up two or three of the listed wallet addresses on a block explorer and confirm the balances are roughly what the report claims. You will not be able to verify every address, but random spot checks are worth doing.
The Liability Side Is Where Reports Fall Short
A report that lists only assets tells you very little. An exchange could hold a large pile of coins and still owe more than it holds. Look for an explicit statement that customer liabilities were included, broken down by coin.
Also watch for what sits outside the tree. Loans the exchange has taken, collateral it has pledged, and assets borrowed for a single day can all make the asset side look stronger than it is. Reports prepared under narrow agreed procedures may not look at any of this. Read the scope paragraph, and if it says off-chain liabilities or company debts were not examined, treat the ratio as partial.
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Assets only, no liabilities | Coverage cannot be calculated |
| One total ratio, no per-coin breakdown | A surplus in one coin can hide a gap in another |
| Single snapshot, no history | Easy to borrow assets for one day |
| No user-level Merkle check | You cannot confirm you were counted |
| Scope excludes debts and pledged assets | Solvency is not really tested |
How to Use the Result in Your Own Plan
Proof of reserves is one input into how much you leave on any platform, not a reason to keep everything there. A clean report reduces one kind of risk on one date. It does not protect against a hack, a withdrawal pause or a frozen stablecoin. That is why we suggest keeping only your active trading balance on exchanges, as described in our guide to how much crypto to keep on an exchange.
For longer-term holdings, self-custody removes the dependency on someone else’s reserves altogether. Our overview of crypto wallet types and the hardware wallet guide for beginners cover the options. And be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to “verify your reserves” or recover funds after an incident; that pattern appears in our list of crypto scam red flags.
After an Incident: What to Look for in the Next Report
When an exchange publishes a reserve report after a loss, a few extra checks apply. The snapshot date should be after the incident, otherwise it says nothing about the gap. The coins that were taken should be covered at 100% or more in the same coins, since a surplus in something else does not match what users hold. And any funds frozen by issuers or investigators should be described separately, because frozen tokens are not the same as tokens the exchange can use.
Finally, compare the new report with the last one before the incident. If customer liabilities in a coin fell sharply, ask why. If the asset side grew, see whether it came from the company’s own funds, as the exchange may have said, or from somewhere less clear.
The Bottom Line
Checking proof of reserves yourself is quick: confirm your record is in the tree, confirm the root matches, confirm liabilities are included and every coin you hold is backed. Then remember what it cannot tell you. Use it to decide how much to trust a platform with, and keep the rest of your plan built around not needing that trust.
Frequently asked questions
What is proof of reserves in plain terms?
It is a report in which an exchange shows the crypto it controls and compares it with what it owes customers. A useful report covers both sides: assets in wallets the exchange can prove it controls, and total customer balances, so you can see whether every asset is backed at least one to one.
How do I check that my own balance is included?
Most exchanges that publish Merkle-tree proofs give each user a record ID or hash inside their account. You enter it on the verification page, or in an open-source verifier the exchange publishes, and it shows the path from your record up to the published Merkle root. If the root matches and your balance is right, you were counted.
Does a Merkle tree check prove the exchange is solvent?
No. It proves your balance was included in the liabilities total at the snapshot time. Solvency also depends on the asset side being real and unencumbered, and on there being no large debts that sit outside the report. That is why the liability side and any independent review matter.
Is proof of reserves the same as an audit?
Usually not. Many reports are attestations or agreed procedures that check specific numbers at one moment. A full financial audit reviews the whole balance sheet, including loans and other obligations. Read who prepared the report and what it says it did and did not cover.
How often should a proof of reserves be published?
More often is better, because a snapshot can be dressed up for a single day. Monthly or more frequent snapshots, with history you can compare, are more useful than a one-off report. After a major incident, look for a fresh snapshot taken after the event.
What should I do if my record is missing or wrong?
Take screenshots, check that you used the right snapshot date, and contact support through the official site or app only. If the discrepancy is real and not explained, treat it as a reason to reduce what you keep on that platform rather than waiting for reassurance.