# Registry Entries Worth Checking Before You Sign Anything

> Four registers, what each one tells you, and the ten minutes that separate a checked counterparty from an assumed one.

- Source: https://astanacryptonotes.com/registry-entries-worth-checking/
- Published: 2026-09-19
- Author: Yerlan Nurpeis
- Publication: Astana Crypto Notes — Dated notes from the AIFC
- Topic: licensing
- Tags: licensing, diligence, registers

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Everything here is checkable and almost nobody checks. These are the four sources and what each one answers.

## Register one: the financial regulator

Entity, permissions, status, conditions. The authoritative answer to whether a platform may do what it does.

Check the entity name on your agreement, not the brand on the website. They differ more often than you would expect.

## Register two: the company registry

Incorporation, directors, shareholders where published, and status. Tells you whether the entity exists and who stands behind it.

An entity dissolved or in liquidation is visible here before it is visible anywhere else.

## Register three: the domain record

When the domain was registered and by whom, where not hidden. A platform claiming a decade of operation on a domain registered last year is telling you something.

Weak evidence on its own and useful in combination.

## Register four: enforcement and warning lists

Supervisors publish warnings about unauthorised firms, and these are searchable. A name appearing on one is the end of the enquiry.

Check more than one jurisdiction's list; they do not all cover the same entities.

## The ten minute routine

Entity from the agreement. Regulator register. Company registry. Warning lists. Done.

I do this before writing about any platform and before depositing at any platform, which is the same standard applied twice.

## What it does not tell you

Whether the platform is well run, solvent, or pleasant to deal with. Registers establish standing, not quality.

## What it does rule out

The entire category of platform that has no standing at all, which is where most total losses occur.

## The one that is easiest to skip and worst to skip

The entity name check. A brand can reference a regulated group while the contracting entity sits outside it.

[A platform whose permissions are on the register](https://collectnexchange.com/compliance/cysec-licensed) names its entity plainly. [Exchanges that list their regulatory permissions](https://collectnexchange.com/) make the first two checks trivial, and [Collect & Exchange](https://collectnexchange.com/services/crypto-exchange) states what it is licensed for rather than leaving it to be inferred.

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This article explains how something works. It is not financial advice.
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