Finally found an exchange that worked for me!

[Aero Blue]

After trying many exchanges and going through countless "KYC" applications, just to be denied, I found the perfect one. I tried all of the ones I knew about:

Kraken: Extensive KYC (relatively fast), hard to deposit

Gemini: Verification was okay, had to send a wire to verify ($30 fee)

Cex.io: Didn't even make it passed the "where do you live?" question (US)

Tried a few others possibly that I don't remember at the moment. Then just out of curiosity I tried "Abra", an app I saw on the App Store when I was messing around. I can't believe how easy it was compared to other exchanges, I was able to purchase Bitcoin (my entire goal) with a credit card in about 10 minutes, THAT's INCLUDING KYC. Absolutely amazed, I thought I would never find a good way. Never heard of Abra, and I don't care, they are so fast. Not trying to shill for referrals or anything, no links here, go look it up yourself. If you are having trouble with other exchanges this might be the right one for you. I live in the US, so YMMV!

[XCASH]

What did KYC involve?

[timerland]

No offense, this post reminds me a lot about one of those really fake car ads, sorta like "Have a problem with your car! Come down to us, we'll fix it right away, no charge." They do have a really attractive with a lot of too good to be true things. 5$ minimum, no fees? How does the company turn profits then...?

I'm very skeptical about their legitimacy with KYCing though because one would predict that KYC would probably be needed for most verified exchanges, as from personal experience, I've not found a single exchange that has not asked for ID, except with the slight exception that I was allowed to buy 1,000 USD worth of BTC from paxful with no ID. Have you thought about avoiding the red-tape and acquiring bitcoins in a decentralized, p2p method (localbitcoins)?

[Aero Blue]

No offense, this post reminds me a lot about one of those really fake car ads, sorta like "Have a problem with your car! Come down to us, we'll fix it right away, no charge." They do have a really attractive with a lot of too good to be true things. 5$ minimum, no fees? How does the company turn profits then...?

I'm very skeptical about their legitimacy with KYCing though because one would predict that KYC would probably be needed for most verified exchanges, as from personal experience, I've not found a single exchange that has not asked for ID, except with the slight exception that I was allowed to buy 1,000 USD worth of BTC from paxful with no ID. Have you thought about avoiding the red-tape and acquiring bitcoins in a decentralized, p2p method (localbitcoins)?

They had KYC, the difference was that it was fast and simple. No writing shit on a piece of paper or waiting 3 days just to have your stuff denied because there was a bit of glare on the photo. Literally just used my DL and I was able to buy via credit card in 30 seconds with a 5% fee. Idk how they do it, but it's pretty awesome.

[JeromeTash]

Honestly, i had never heard of this service or wallet until today. Surprisingly according press, the start up was first talked about in 2015. I really wonder why it's not at least popular by now given the positives you have talked about. Low media/advert exposure perhaps?

I've not found a single exchange that has not asked for ID, except with the slight exception that I was allowed to buy 1,000 USD worth of BTC from paxful with no ID. Have you thought about avoiding the red-tape and acquiring bitcoins in a decentralized, p2p method (localbitcoins)?

Ever tried using https://bisq.network?
It's the one bitcoin exchange where you don't need to worry about KYC at all.

[harizen]

Abra is one of the popular exchange here in our country. It was considered as an alternative if ever our top local crypto exchange here doesn't seem to meet a certain user's criteria. However, feature-wise comparison, still the top local exchange here got the lead.

Well then, good for you if you found an exchange that suits your needs and able to reach your expectations. A nice review too.

But next time, if ever you encounter an app by lurking at the play store or any related platforms, always do a background check first before installing it on your device. Good thing you ended up on a quite popular exchange service.

[timerland]

No offense, this post reminds me a lot about one of those really fake car ads, sorta like "Have a problem with your car! Come down to us, we'll fix it right away, no charge." They do have a really attractive with a lot of too good to be true things. 5$ minimum, no fees? How does the company turn profits then...?

I'm very skeptical about their legitimacy with KYCing though because one would predict that KYC would probably be needed for most verified exchanges, as from personal experience, I've not found a single exchange that has not asked for ID, except with the slight exception that I was allowed to buy 1,000 USD worth of BTC from paxful with no ID. Have you thought about avoiding the red-tape and acquiring bitcoins in a decentralized, p2p method (localbitcoins)?

They had KYC, the difference was that it was fast and simple. No writing shit on a piece of paper or waiting 3 days just to have your stuff denied because there was a bit of glare on the photo. Literally just used my DL and I was able to buy via credit card in 30 seconds with a 5% fee. Idk how they do it, but it's pretty awesome.

Ah. I see, my bad then. I didn't see any mention of KYC on their site so I got a tad confused. And I guess that's how they profit, the 5% fee. They mention 0$ trading fees, which I guess it means you can exchange your BTC to other currencies for free right, not you won't get charged a fee for buying BTC.

That seems very simple then, but it's definitely a hefty fee, which makes sense. I've personally used Paxful, Kraken, and Poloniex and I remember my Kraken ID being verified with a couple of hours. I don't remember how long polo was, maybe I'm certain they don't charge a 5% fee, maybe worth a try bud?

I've not found a single exchange that has not asked for ID, except with the slight exception that I was allowed to buy 1,000 USD worth of BTC from paxful with no ID. Have you thought about avoiding the red-tape and acquiring bitcoins in a decentralized, p2p method (localbitcoins)?

Ever tried using https://bisq.network?
It's the one bitcoin exchange where you don't need to worry about KYC at all.

Ah yeah. That was one of the DEX (decentralized exchanges) I was talking about.

[joniboini]

You are not allowed to access or use the services of Abra International if you are located, incorporated or otherwise established in, or a citizen or resident of: The United States of America, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

Source: https://www.abra.com/

Seems like the US residents should not be able to use their services though. How could OP use this service then? Did they update their policies or they failed to KYC their user properly and just allow everyone to register?

[Aero Blue]

You are not allowed to access or use the services of Abra International if you are located, incorporated or otherwise established in, or a citizen or resident of: The United States of America, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

Source: https://www.abra.com/

Seems like the US residents should not be able to use their services though. How could OP use this service then? Did they update their policies or they failed to KYC their user properly and just allow everyone to register?

This is an email from Abra that I received on July 26, 2019 at 5:48:10 PM CDT which outlines the changes for US users:

Important changes to the Abra app for US users

Due to restrictive regulatory conditions in the United States, Abra will be migrating systems for compliance reasons which will impose changes for US Abra users, as follows:

• Synthetic assets on Abra for US users will be migrated to a native hosted wallet solution starting July 30, 2019.  A synthetic asset on Abra is anything other than Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The migration will allow US users to continue managing and transacting with most of assets from the Abra app without interruption. However, US users need to take action for the migration by opening the app, otherwise, after August 29, 2019 their balances will be converted to BTC. Please be advised, some assets may be unavailable to use (exchange, send, and withdraw) for a few minutes while the migration takes place.
• US users will no longer be eligible to hold QTUM, BTG, EOS, OMG, SNT after August 29, 2019. Unfortunately, with this migration we will no longer be able to support QTUM, BTG,  EOS, OMG, SNT crypto assets for US persons. US users holding positions in QTUM, OMG, or SNT will have to exchange or withdraw these investments from Abra by 11:59 PM EST on August 29, 2019. US users holding positions in EOS or BTG will have to exchange their investment by 11:59 PM EST on August 29, 2019. After that date, any remaining balances in these assets will be converted to bitcoin in the app.
• New York residents will not be eligible to hold any synthetic assets on Abra after August 29, 2019. A synthetic asset on Abra is anything other than Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).  New York residents will need to exchange or withdraw  any synthetic holdings by 11:59 PM EST on August 29, 2019. After that date, any remaining balances in those assets will convert to Bitcoin in the app.

   
    
Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are not affected by these changes.

For more details on these changes, please reference our announcement and FAQs.

Team Abra

Edit:

Found the post on their website which has more details on the changes: link

(Probably easier to read than my shitty formatting)

[erikalui]

I checked the website and it only allows you to buy few currencies and plus it has not even mentioned about the countries that are supported for withdrawals and mainly is for US and Philippines as per their FAQ and on the main page they say they are available in 150 countries??

[gentlemand]

Strange how certain services are always up there in comments and others stay below the parapet. Abra's been going for quite some time but it's hardly ever mentioned or suggested here.

At present the market rate for 0.01 BTC is $97.60. On Abra with a card you pay 109.97. That's for a credit OR debit card when credit is the one that should attract the higher fee. That's a big hit.

And weren't they planning on setting up a giant Western Union style network? That seems to have gone silent.