How to create a read-only OKX API key

Open OKX API management ↗

We checked these steps against OKX's own documentation on 25 September 2026. OKX can rename a button at any time. If a label differs, look for the same permission.

Before you start

• Two-factor security codes set up on your OKX account, because OKX asks for them to confirm the key.
• Make a new key for Sovereign; an older OKX key may have trading permissions switched on.

Permissions

Turn on only:

• Read

Keep these off:

• Trade
• Withdraw
• Transfer
• Earn (if shown)
• Loan (if shown)

Steps

Sovereign connects to OKX from one fixed IP address. The connection form in Sovereign shows it next to these steps, with a copy button.

1. Sign in on the OKX site you normally use: okx.com, my.okx.com (Europe), app.okx.com (US and Australia) or tr.okx.com (Turkey).
2. Click your profile icon (top right), then “API and connections” (some menus just say “API”), then “Create API key”.
3. In “API key name”, type Sovereign.
4. Under “Used for”, pick the option for your own API use, not “Binding third-party apps”.
5. In “IP address allowlist”, paste Sovereign's IP address.
6. Under “Permissions”, make sure “Read” is on. Leave every other permission off.
7. In “Passphrase”, make up a passphrase and write it down. OKX can never show it to you again.
8. Confirm, then enter the security codes OKX asks for.
9. Copy the API key and the secret key OKX shows you before you close that screen.
10. Paste them into API KEY and API SECRET in Sovereign, your passphrase into PASSPHRASE, then press “Connect & Sync”.

Where each value goes in Sovereign:

• API key → API KEY
• Secret key → API SECRET
• Passphrase you created → PASSPHRASE

Does an OKX API key expire?

• With an IP restriction: Never expires (read-only key bound to an IP).
• Without an IP restriction: Not guaranteed — OKX's own rules conflict.

One key covers one account: leave “Account” on your main account, and connect each sub-account with its own key. Sovereign syncs your Trading account at its total equity (coins in open orders, posted as margin or held by trading bots included; borrowed coins come in as margin loans), Funding balances, futures, perpetual and options positions and Simple Earn flexible, but not staking, on-chain Earn or Dual Investment.

If something goes wrong

• If OKX won't let you create a key: in some regions the account needs more than $100 in assets first.
• If the “Used for” option for your own use mentions trading: choose it anyway; the “Permissions” step decides what the key can do.
• If you lose the passphrase: OKX cannot recover it, so delete the key and create a new one.
• If the connection fails with an IP error: on OKX, edit the key so its IP allowlist holds exactly Sovereign's IP address; don't remove the IP.

Sources

• www.okx.com/help/api-faq
• www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/
• www.okx.com/help/subaccounts-account-mode-and-api-connections-faq
• www.okx.com/help/third-party-app-ip-whitelist-launch