Onboarding Process
Onboarding Process
Getting Started — Without the Headache
To begin trading on Initiativ, you’ll need to complete a quick onboarding process. This ensures your company is verified and eligible to access the exchange — but we’ve made it radically simpler than anything you’d find on a traditional financial platform.
Let’s break down what this means.
What Is KYB, KYC, and KYT?
Before accessing any regulated platform, you’re typically required to complete basic verification checks. These checks serve different purposes:
KYB: Know Your Business — confirms that the company you represent is legitimate, registered, and compliant.
KYC: Know Your Customer — ensures that the individuals signing up are verified and authorized to act on behalf of the company.
KYT: Know Your Transaction / Trader — monitors user behavior to detect suspicious activity or trading patterns over time.
These checks are essential to prevent fraud, meet compliance standards, and protect the integrity of the exchange. Every financial-grade platform uses them — but most do so in ways that are deeply inefficient.
How It Works on Traditional Exchanges
On exchanges like ICE or EEX, onboarding is notoriously time-consuming:
You’re typically required to complete over 200 pages of documentation
Legal and compliance reviews can take several weeks
The process is designed for financial institutions, not operating companies or industrials
Fees, notarizations, and manual account activations are common
For a mid-sized industrial company just looking to buy emission allowances, this process is completely disproportionate to the need.
What We’ve Built Instead
Initiativ is designed with industrial clients and SMEs in mind — not just banks or brokers.
We’ve replaced the old-school onboarding workflow with a streamlined, digital-first experience:
No paperwork
No legal back-and-forth
No prior financial infrastructure required
Most users complete onboarding in under 5 minutes.
What to Expect
The onboarding process takes place entirely online, and includes:
Basic Company Details Upload your registration number, company name, and VAT info.
Authorized Person Verification Upload ID and proof of authorization to act on behalf of the company.
Activity Declaration Declare whether you’re trading for compliance purposes, speculative intent, or procurement.
Registry Linking (Optional) If you already have a registry account (e.g. EU, UK), you can pre-authorize it during onboarding.
Account Creation & Wallet Setup Once verified, your trading account and wallet are automatically created. You can start trading immediately, with your fee schedule applied based on your selected plan.
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