Any company that is quick to take your money but asks you a million questions (such as employment, annual income, where you got the money from, etc. ) when you try to get it out, and then asks you more questions, and then promises to release funds but won't,  is a SCAM. Pure and Simple. Itbit, as I mentioned in a previous post, is a filthy scamming pig dressed in a $2000 suit. There are no "institutions" trading on it. What institutions? Name one that trades bitcoin? FDIC insured? By which banks? Why aren't the bitcoins you buy held in an online wallet that you can send yourself to another address, as is the case with more legitimate platforms, like Localbitcoins? Why don't they answer the phone? Why don't they send you a copy of their legal documents showing their claimed "full asset protection"?

The most insidious thing about Itbit is that they do everything to sound safer, more legitimate, more regulated, etc. than other exhanges. That is, until you try to withdraw your funds. Then lots of intrusive questions, and finally, crickets. They are designed to give you a false sense of security. That is the whole point of their website. One other thing should be mentioned: there are a number of Bitcoin exchange review websites on the net that appear to be impartial but are really funded by the very shady exchanges that they are reviewing. To make them seem legitimate, the reviews throw in more established and trusted exchanges like Kraken, but they make sure that these get a lower rating than the many fraudulent exchanges out there. The bottom line is that Bitcoin is a magnet for fraud. There are ways and means to buy, sell, and hold BTC securely, but you better start small and learn the ropes first or you will get scammed by companies like Itbit.

100% Agree. This exchange is a filthy scam pig dressed up in a $2000 suit. They make it easy to deposit fiat via wire transfer, and post it to the account within hours. They ask no questions, nor need any details, to deposit. The problem occurs when you try to withdraw fiat or bitcoin. Then they ask you a million questions about your occupation, where you got the money from, what third party wallets you use, what your annual salary is, etc. They require you to answer them before they can release the funds, but even if you do answer, they simply come up with more questions for you to answer, or they just stop answering you altogether. They claim this is to prevent money laundering, but this is complete nonsense. If they asked these questions before the deposit, and would not take your money without providing this information first, then maybe... but nothing until you try to get your funds out. Additionally they promise to send your funds "tomorrow", but tomorrow comes and the funds never arrive, even weeks after "tomorrow" has passed.

A big red flag is that their customer service department never answers the telephone. That should be rule number one before depositing any money: do they actually answer the phone in a timely manner every single time you call within their business hours? This company never answers the phone. There are some other major flags as well. For example, the company claims that the money with them is insured, but they do not mention which bank insures them, or who provides "full asset protection". They claim to be for institutions, but with bitcoin having sucn a small market cap, do you really think institutions are trading tens of thousands of dollars, or is this a way to entice people to put way more money than they otherwise would in Itbit's bank account? They claim to be federally regulated, but I urge you to ask them for the legal documents that prove this before you deposit a penny. They won't be able to provide these documents, because they are not regulated, it just sounds good so that you will trust them with your money. They use buzz words that are confusing to new bitcoin investors, such as keeping the bitcoins in "cold storage". It is true, they keep your bitcoins and money their account and never return it. "Frozen storage" would be a better term.

The bottom line is, do not trust any bitcoin exchange that hasn't been around for several years, has lots of users, and is known by the bitcoin community to be safe. Bitcoin exchanges are not like Stock exchanges, which (mostly, excluding MF global) are fairly safe. Even then, I recommend you only deposit a very small amount, call them often, and test the withdrawal process as soon as you can to make sure you can get your money out. Do an internet search. Has the exchange been around for a long time? Do seasoned bitcoin traders trust it? What happens when you attach the word "fraud" or "scam" or "stolen" next to the name of the exchange on an internet search?

One thing is for sure, Itbit is a great way for uninformed people, especially those just getting into bitcoin who do not have friends to show them the ropes, to get their money stolen.