Buy rate, sell rate and spot: how each is worked out
Each currency page shows a P2P buy rate and a P2P sell rate for OKX and for Binance, plus one spot reference. They are worked out as follows.
- P2P buy rate: what you would pay for 1 USDT. Every 10 minutes our server reads the public USDT sell ads on OKX P2P and Binance P2P, keeps ads whose order limits cover about USD 300 in your currency, and takes the median of the five lowest prices.
- P2P sell rate: what you would receive for 1 USDT. Same method, applied to the buy ads, using the five highest prices.
- Spot reference: the OKX USDT/USD index multiplied by the day's exchange rate for the US dollar. Nobody trades at this number. It shows what 1 USDT is worth at market value, with no P2P layer on top.
Why the median of five rather than the single best ad? So that one ad cannot set the figure on its own. The USD 300 filter drops ads whose minimum order is far larger than that. A dash means the exchange had no suitable ads for that currency and side at the last check.
P2P quotes have been recorded since 27 October 2026.
Who sets USDT P2P prices?
The users who post ads. Both exchanges say so in their own help pages.
- OKX's What's P2P trading? (updated 15 September 2026): P2P buyers are “buying at a rate set by the users themselves”, and “The ad price will be the unit price that your buyers and sellers will get when they place an order on your ads.”
- Binance's Introduction to Binance P2P Trading (updated 9 May 2024): “The offers you see on Binance P2P are provided by other Binance users”, trading in their preferred local currency, price and payment method.
Binance's P2P glossary adds that floating-price ads move with the market and refresh every minute, while fixed-price ads do not. On both exchanges the money moves outside the platform, between the buyer's and the seller's own payment accounts, while the exchange holds the USDT in escrow until the seller confirms payment.
Fees differ too. OKX says there is no service fee for P2P trading but that “external payment providers may still charge transaction fees”. Binance says it “may charge transaction fees from takers/makers for every completed order”.
Official crypto rules by country, as background
The rules below come from regulators', tax authorities' and exchanges' own pages. None of these sources, and neither exchange, gives a reason for a country's premium or says a rule raises or lowers P2P prices. Read them as context for the snapshot, not as an explanation of it.
| Currency | What the official sources state |
|---|---|
| INR | Gains from virtual digital assets are taxed at 30%, plus surcharge and 4% cess (Income Tax Department, ITR-2 FAQ). Payments for transferring a virtual digital asset fall under the TDS rules of section 194S, certified on Form 16E; under the Income-tax Act, 2025 this reporting is merged into Form 141. India is on OKX's list of restricted locations (OKX Risk & Compliance Disclosure, 8 July 2026). FIU-IND fined Binance Rs 18.82 crore by an order dated 19 June 2024; Binance says it registered with FIU-IND in August 2024. |
| PKR | The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) states: “All Virtual Asset Service Providers must obtain a formal license before offering services in Pakistan.” Firms already operating had until 5 September 2026 to apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC) or stop. A PVARA news item of 12 December 2025 reports NOCs for Binance and HTX (an NOC, not a licence). |
| BDT | Bangladesh Bank's FEPD Circular No. 24 of 15 September 2022 is titled “Prohibition regarding virtual assets, virtual currencies and facilitating their exchange/transfer/trading”. Read the full circular on bb.org.bd. |
| LKR | The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said on 29 March 2023 that it “has not issued any licence” for cryptocurrency schemes and that crypto is not legal tender. Debit and credit cards may not be used for crypto payments under Directions No. 03 of 2021. CBSL says crypto “operates through informal channels” and can cause “a loss of valuable foreign currency to the country”. |
| VND | Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP (in force from 9 September 2025, a five-year pilot) allows only Ministry of Finance-licensed firms to provide or advertise crypto services, and requires trading in Vietnamese dong. Decree 284/2026/NĐ-CP, in force from 1 September 2026, fines unlicensed crypto services and advertising at VND 180–200 million for organisations and half that for individuals. ZaloPay's and VNPAY's e-wallet terms prohibit virtual-currency transactions (terms as of September 2026). |
| IDR | The Financial Services Authority (OJK) took over crypto supervision on 10 January 2025. OJK tells the public to trade crypto only through platforms on its whitelist; the December 2025 whitelist does not include Binance or OKX. Operating without a licence carries 5 to 10 years in prison under Article 304 of the P2SK Law. |
| PHP | Neither OKX's restricted list nor Binance's prohibited-country list names the Philippines. That does not mean either exchange is registered there. For the current rules, check the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas sites directly. |
| AED | OKX Middle East Fintech FZE and Binance FZE both appear on Dubai's VARA public register with active licences, issued on 17 September 2024 and 15 April 2024. ADGM's announcement of 23 July 2026 refers to the FSRA's earlier recognition of USD₮ as an Accepted Fiat Referenced Token. |
| EUR | ESMA says the MiCA transitional period ended on 1 July 2026; unauthorised crypto-asset service providers must stop onboarding new EU clients and stop marketing. Binance said on 24 June 2026 that it had withdrawn its MiCA application in Greece and would seek authorisation in another member state. OKX serves residents of approved EEA countries through OKX Europe Limited in Malta. The Netherlands is on Binance's prohibited-country list (version of 5 January 2026). |
| GBP | The FCA's financial promotion rules for crypto have applied since 8 October 2023, including to firms based overseas; promoting outside the permitted routes breaches section 21 FSMA, a criminal offence. OKX's own disclosure says its P2P services are restricted in the United Kingdom. The FCA expects a new crypto regime to start on 25 October 2027. |
Rules change, and several of these regimes are still being put in place. Before you rely on any line above, open the regulator's own page and check the date.
FAQ
What is a USDT P2P premium?
It is the percentage by which the P2P buy price of 1 USDT in a currency sits above the spot reference for that currency. A negative figure means P2P buyers were paying less than spot.
Why was USDT dearer on INR P2P than on PHP P2P on 27 October 2026?
Advertisers set P2P prices, and in that reading INR ads sat about 8.8% above spot while PHP ads sat within 1% of it. The official rules for each country are listed further down this page as background.
Is the premium the price I will actually pay?
No. It is based on the median of the five best ads that accept an order of about USD 300. Your price depends on the ad, the payment method and the amount, and the order page on the exchange is final. Latest figures are on the rates page.