A no KYC crypto exchange asks you to send coins first and prove itself later. The seven checks below are questions you can put to any no KYC exchange: six before the deposit, the seventh right after payout. 0trace, a private, no-KYC instant exchange, passed all seven. A completed USDC→USDT swap on Ethereum paid out about ten minutes after the order was created, and its PGP-signed Receipt verified against 0trace’s published key.
What do the terms say about KYC and AML?
0trace’s Terms of Service (last updated June 18, 2026) say the service does not perform KYC verification and never requests AML documentation from the user.
The user is never asked for a passport, ID card, driver license, selfie or proof of address, and there is no questionnaire about source of funds.
To run it on any service:
- Open the Terms of Service and any separate KYC or AML policy page. If a policy page contradicts the homepage slogan, the policy wins.
- Search the text for “discretion”, “freeze”, “hold”, “enhanced due diligence”, “source of funds” and “refuse”.
A fail is any clause that lets the service request documents confirming your identity or the origin of your funds, or freeze funds until you provide them, however rarely it says it uses that right. That is a no KYC exchange in name only.
Our result: Pass. We found no such clause in the 0trace terms.
Do you need an account?
No: 0trace has no registration, login, password or persistent profile, and the order ID is the only credential.
To run it on any service:
- Open the swap form in a private window and go as far as the deposit address.
- Write down every field, sign-up prompt and checkbox. An email “for status updates” counts.
- Note what identifies your order afterwards: a login, a cookie or an order ID you can save.
A fail is any step that asks for an email, a login or an ID before you get a deposit address.
The payout address is the only input. No email, account, ID or terms checkbox appears, and the order page shows an order ID and a one-time deposit address.
Our result: Pass.
What data is logged, and for how long?
0trace says it deletes order data 72 hours after an order closes and chat after 24 hours of inactivity, and that you can delete either sooner.
Order data means the destination address, deposit address, amounts and status. Chat is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Per the terms, 0trace stores no IP addresses tied to order data, logs no user-agent strings against orders and keeps no access logs beyond short-term operational debugging. That makes it a retention policy, so read any “no logs” claim as a list of what is kept and for how long.
To run it on any service:
- Find the privacy policy and list each data type with a period. “As long as necessary” is not a period.
- Look for a delete button on the order page and a way to delete the chat.
- Reload the swap page with the browser’s Network tab open and count the hosts. Analytics, advertising and tag-manager hosts are third-party scripts. Check the cookie list too.
A fail is a vague period, no way to delete, or third-party hosts the policy does not mention.
Our result: Pass. Each data type has a stated period, the order page has a Delete order button, and the chat can be deleted too. A homepage load in a clean browser contacted no host other than 0trace.io and left no cookies. The terms also disclose a partner-referral cookie and chat cookies.
Whatever a service logs, the blockchain stays public, so a deletion policy covers only the exchange’s records, never the ledger.
Can you use it over Tor?
Yes: 0trace runs a Tor v3 onion service that, per its terms, serves the same application as the clearnet site.
Tor Browser connects to an onion service without the service seeing your IP address. To run it on any service:
- Look for an onion link on the official site and in its terms.
- Count the characters. A v3 address has 56 before “.onion”; the Tor Project retired the shorter v2 addresses in 2021.
- Open the address in Tor Browser and run the whole flow to the deposit address. A mirror that shows a landing page and sends you to the clearnet site to swap fails.
Our result: Pass. The terms and the About page publish the same 56-character v3 address.
Where does the liquidity come from?
0trace pays out from its own liquidity reserves.
Liquidity decides who handles your coins. Own reserves mean one party, while a partner exchange or an aggregator adds parties with terms of their own. To run it on any service:
- Find the sentence that says who fills the order: “own reserves”, “partners”, “providers” or “aggregates”. Silence is also an answer.
- Read the terms for routing clauses. If an order can pass through a partner, ask whether the partner’s rules apply to you.
- Look for a statement on custody. Any instant swap holds your deposit until the payout, so the check is whether the service says so.
A fail is no statement about liquidity at all.
Our result: Pass. On custody, the 0trace trust page says it briefly holds the deposit while it executes the swap and pays out. The service is custodial for that window.
Do you get proof of your order?
Yes: 0trace issues a PGP-signed Guarantee before you pay and, per its terms, a signed Receipt after payout, and both can be verified offline.
A signed document is the one check that produces evidence. Run it before you send anything:
- Create an order and stop before paying. Download the Guarantee.
- Import the key from the service’s key page into GnuPG or Kleopatra and confirm that gpg –fingerprint prints the same value as that page.
- Verify the file with gpg –verify guarantee.asc, in Kleopatra or on the service’s own verifier page.
- Change one digit in an amount and verify again. A valid signature must now fail.
A fail is a “proof” that is a PDF, a screenshot or an email with no signature, or a signature that matches no published key.
Both 0trace documents pass. gpg reports a good signature for the Guarantee and for the Receipt of the completed order, and the line it labels “Primary key fingerprint” matches the value published at 0trace.io/pgp. A copy with one altered digit in an amount fails, in gpg and on the 0trace.io/verify page.
The Guarantee records the deposit address, the quote and the order terms before you pay. The Receipt records the executed amounts and the deposit and payout transactions after payout. Because the key comes from the operator’s own site, the next check matters as much as this one.
Our result: Pass for both the Guarantee and the Receipt.
Are you on the official domain?
The only official address of 0trace is 0trace.io, plus its Tor mirror, and 0trace says it is not affiliated with 0-trace.cc or any similarly named service.
A phishing domain can copy a site’s design and show its own deposit address. To run it on any service:
- Type the address yourself or use a bookmark from a source you trust. Do not follow links from ads or replies.
- Read the About page for stated look-alikes and affiliations.
- Look for the PGP fingerprint somewhere independent of the site. A page cannot vouch for itself, and a clone can copy a fingerprint printed on it. A clone cannot sign with the real key.
A fail is a service that does not name the official domain or publish the fingerprint of the signature key.
Our result: Pass. The Terms, the About page and the PGP page all name 0trace.io, and the PGP page publishes the signing key’s fingerprint, C8A0 3EAF 6531 C975 561F 9FDA 1B80 0B98 D27C 5611.
How did 0trace score on all seven checks?
0trace passed all seven.
| Check | Where to look | 0trace result |
|---|---|---|
| What do the terms say about KYC and AML? | Terms of Service, separate policy pages | Pass |
| Do you need an account? | Swap form, up to the deposit address | Pass |
| What data is logged, and for how long? | Privacy policy, order page, browser Network tab | Pass |
| Can you use it over Tor? | Official site, terms, Tor Browser | Pass |
| Where does the liquidity come from? | Terms, trust page | Pass |
| Do you get proof of your order? | Guarantee and Receipt files, gpg or a verifier page | Pass for the Guarantee and the Receipt |
| Are you on the official domain? | Address bar, About page, PGP page | Pass |
Run the first six before you deposit and the seventh once the payout arrives. Verify a signed order at 0trace.io/verify.
