KYC is indeed needed for account verification in the exchange. And if you want to participate in IEO, the account must first verify. And I have never done IEO in exchange without requiring KYC. Binance, Probit, Bittrex all three exchanges all require KYC for those of you who want to participate in IEO.
Yep, even on second-tier exchanges, such as Latoken, you still need to go through KYC to participate in IEO.
Unfortunately, without this in any way, all exchanges seek to introduce this