Swap front-end routing orders through third-party processing partners
Privacy 10.0
Safety 8.4
Instant Swaps Since 2018 Reviewed 22 Oct 2026
SideShift.ai review
Account-free shifting service with automated risk screening; not available in the US
- No account needed
- Accepts Monero
- Accepts Lightning
- May ask for ID
- Screens deposits
- Holds your funds
ID on risk flag KYC 3 Documentation reviewed
Privacy
4.2/ 10
Caution
Safety
5.9/ 10
Fair
Based on terms and documentation. No test transactions published yet. See the arithmetic
SideShift.ai review in short
SideShift.ai is a swap service operating since 2018. Its terms put it at KYC level 3 of 4: ID on risk flag. NoKYC Score grades it 4.2/10 for privacy (caution) and 5.9/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. To watch: it may ask for ID, screens deposits and holds your funds while you use it. No incidents are on record.
- Category
- Instant Swaps
- KYC level
- 3 of 4: ID on risk flag
- Grades
- Privacy 4.2/10, Safety 5.9/10
- Sign-up
- No account needed
- Custody
- custodial
- Jurisdiction
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Incidents on record
- 0
- Last reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
Cite this review
NoKYC Score, "SideShift.ai review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/sideshift
Also available as plain text.
What SideShift.ai is
SideShift.ai is an instant swap service operated by Paradigm Ltd, with a legal contact address in Basseterre, St. Kitts. Its legal terms contain no identity-verification requirement, but state that an automated risk system checks every transaction and that the service may freeze a transaction for as long as an investigation requires or refuse to execute it. The terms record that device and IP data are collected and may be passed to government bodies. Residents of the United States, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Saint Kitts and Nevis are excluded from using the service.
What SideShift.ai offers, and what to watch
7 of 15 privacy and safety features, 4 warnings in its terms.
"Not stated" means its own pages do not say.
Identity
- ID never required No
- No account needed Yes Usable without creating an account, or the account is only a random number.
- No email needed Yes An email address is not required to sign up or use it.
- No phone number Yes A phone number is never required.
Payment
- Accepts Monero Yes Monero hides sender, receiver and amount, so the payment cannot be traced to you.
- Accepts Lightning Yes Bitcoin Lightning payments: fast, cheap and more private than on-chain.
Access
- Tor onion address Not stated
- Works without JavaScript Not stated
Trust
- Never holds your funds No
- Own liquidity Not stated
- Refund without ID Not stated
- Open source No
- Independent audit Not stated
- Company named Yes The operating company and its jurisdiction are published.
- 5+ years operating Yes Has operated continuously for five years or more.
Warnings
- May ask for ID Yes The terms reserve the right to demand identity documents, often after a risk flag.
- Screens deposits Yes Deposits are scored by blockchain analytics; a flag can freeze them.
- Passes orders to partners Not in terms
- Holds your funds Yes The operator controls user funds while they are on the platform.
- Email required Not in terms
- Phone number required Not in terms
- Closed source Yes The code is not public, so its behaviour cannot be checked.
- Nobody accountable Not in terms
Does SideShift.ai require KYC?
- 0 Never
- 1 Not mentioned
- 2 Rare
- 3 On risk flag
- 4 Mandatory
KYC level 3: ID on risk flag. The terms allow funds to be held and identity demanded after an automated risk flag.
Terms section 3.11 applies automated risk checks to all transactions and allows freezing them during an investigation.
How the grades add up
Both grades start at 50 points and move by fixed, published amounts. Nothing is adjusted by hand. The total is divided by ten.
Privacy
4.2- Starting points 50
- KYC level 3: ID on risk flag -14
- No registration +6
- No email needed +3
- No phone needed +1
- Accepts Monero +4
- Accepts Lightning +1
- AML screening -7
- Closed source -2
- Total, clamped to 0–100 42
Safety
5.9- Starting points 50
- Legal entity disclosed +5
- AML screening -3
- Closed source -3
- 5+ years operating +10
- Total, clamped to 0–100 59
Test ledger
Real transactions run by our editors. A badge without a ledger is an assertion; this is the proof.
No test transactions published yet
The grades above rest on SideShift.ai’s terms and documentation. Tests will appear here with the date, route, amount band and result as they are run.
Incidents on record
No incidents are on record for SideShift.ai. If you have a documented case, report it.
User reviews
Reviews never change a grade. Reviews with a transaction reference are marked.
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SideShift.ai: common questions
Does SideShift.ai require KYC?
SideShift.ai is rated KYC level 3 of 4 on this site: ID on risk flag. Terms section 3.11 applies automated risk checks to all transactions and allows freezing them during an investigation.
Is SideShift.ai safe to use?
SideShift.ai has a Safety grade of 5.9 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 4.2 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.
Is SideShift.ai legit?
SideShift.ai is a working swap service that has operated since 2018. It publishes the company that runs it, in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 5.9 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.
Is SideShift.ai a scam?
NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for SideShift.ai. Its terms also allow it to hold a flagged deposit and ask for identity documents.
Do I need an account or email to use SideShift.ai?
No account needed.
Does SideShift.ai have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on SideShift.ai's own pages.
Which cryptocurrencies does SideShift.ai support?
SideShift.ai supports BTC, ETH, XMR, USDT, LTC, SOL, BCH.
Is SideShift.ai custodial?
Yes. SideShift.ai holds funds during a trade, which means it is able to delay or freeze them.
Can I use SideShift.ai over Tor?
SideShift.ai does not publish an official onion address.
Listing history
- Listing added. Facts and KYC level set from the service's own terms and documentation.