BTC China - can they be trusted??

[$1vEr.$urfer]

I recently began trading on BTC China because I heard that they do not have any transaction fees at this point.
I opened an account there and was happy with the level of intrusion required in order to verify my details - eg supplied my mobile number - with the understanding that I would not be able to deposit/withdraw fiat without supplying further identification details.

I then uploaded bitcoins to my account on a few occasions, and traded in and out of yuan a couple of times and enjoyed the experience knowing that I'm very new at this and could "practice" trading here due to the zero trading fees policy which they currently have.

Suddenly a short time ago - after I had uploaded some more bitcoins to my account - I noticed that the website would not allow me to do anything except for direct me to a new form entitled "
Please provide identification information to continue" ...
Here is asks for more personal info such as passport numbers etc - which i am not comfortable supplying!

I wish to emphasise that my understanding of the terms and conditions were that the limited personal info I had already supplied up until this point - eg mobile number - was sufficient for the purposes of trading - with the limitation that i could not deposit/withdraw yuan fiat.

I have emailed their help desk for assistance but am afraid they will not assist me. After all I had emailed their help desk a few days ago asking for assistance with their API details not working for me, and got absolutely no response from them whatsover.

Now they're sitting with a chunk of my bitcoins and i'm powerless to do anything about it!!

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[Kenshin]

Just give them your passport details, Mt. Gox and Bitstamp ask for that too.

They are not going to steal your identity. They have death penalty for any petty crime in China.

[XBBlade]

Indeed, don't be that scared. Just provide legal information I mean it's money business so it's kinda required.

[$1vEr.$urfer]

To the credit of BTC China - their help desk did email me back quickly - with an explanation, which i am satisfied with...

So i've decided to keep my account with them

[bryant.coleman]

BTC-China is already registered with the Chinese authorities. So there is no chance that they can suddenly take away all the BTCs of their users and vanish.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Indeed, don't be that scared. Just provide legal information I mean it's money business so it's kinda required.

agree. you have to do this on nearly every exchange today.

[jook]

I'm not in possession of any of the ID documents they require and thus unable to unlock my account. Support doesn't answer. What happens upon entering a passport number, do they take their time to check it or is the account unlocked immediately? Any info on that is greatly appreciated.

[XBBlade]

I'm not in possession of any of the ID documents they require and thus unable to unlock my account. Support doesn't answer. What happens upon entering a passport number, do they take their time to check it or is the account unlocked immediately? Any info on that is greatly appreciated.

Is there a phone number? Just call and try in English

[justforbtc]

BTCCHINA only requires you to provide your passport number not documents.

[sccxszy]

Maybe I can help you, I am from China

[Grinder]

BTC-China is already registered with the Chinese authorities. So there is no chance that they can suddenly take away all the BTCs of their users and vanish.

Yes, this makes them just as safe as Enron or Madoff.

[jook]

BTCCHINA only requires you to provide your passport number not documents.

Indeed. But to provide a passport number you need to possess a passport, which I don't. So now I provided a random number, withdrew all my coins and will never use BTCCHINA again.