Coinmama pushing it?

[OmegaStarScream]

I asked a friend from Europe to make an account in Coinmama, so I could send him BTC and he could sell them to his bank account.

He went through the verification process as I asked him to, he got fully verified, and few hours after having the transaction 'in process', they sent an email asking him how he met me (during the selling process of the bitcoins, they asked about the source of the bitcoins, friend or family or other), after answering that email, they went further to ask on why I sent him the BTC which once again my friend answered.

They now finally decided that all is good and they could release the money and now it should arrive in 1-2 business days (SEPA transfer).

I'm not familiar with these exchanges to be honest because I'm most of the time trading with individuals when it comes to fiat, but aside from the KYC, are these questions a normal procedure?

[bitmover]

I have never experienced anything similar.
I used bitstamp and kraken a lot. I sent BTC from Brazil's exchanges to there to make some profits from different prices of BTC, and never had any problem.

Maybe your friend could just have said "this BTC is mine " and it would be enough.

I don't think coinmama should be asking those questions as it may be personal and your friend should not be obligated to answer them to have his money. Unless it's an enourmus amount of money, which I believe is not the case.

[figmentofmyass]

I asked a friend from Europe to make an account in Coinmama, so I could send him BTC and he could sell them to his bank account.

He went through the verification process as I asked him to, he got fully verified, and few hours after having the transaction 'in process', they sent an email asking him how he met me (during the selling process of the bitcoins, they asked about the source of the bitcoins, friend or family or other), after answering that email, they went further to ask on why I sent him the BTC which once again my friend answered.

They now finally decided that all is good and they could release the money and now it should arrive in 1-2 business days (SEPA transfer).

I'm not familiar with these exchanges to be honest because I'm most of the time trading with individuals when it comes to fiat, but aside from the KYC, are these questions a normal procedure?

i've definitely heard of these kinds of questions being asked at bitstamp, coinbase, paxos, and other exchanges who seem really rigid about AML/KYC. it's never happened to me but it's the reason i am extremely careful about what coins enter my exchange accounts and where i log in from.

i stopped recommending bitstamp to anyone because ever since ~2 years ago they are becoming overzealous with this shit. so many horror stories about really invasive KYC questions followed by account closures, long delays in recovering deposited funds, users having accounts frozen while law enforcement investigates, etc.

[1Referee]

I don't think coinmama should be asking those questions as it may be personal and your friend should not be obligated to answer them to have his money. Unless it's an enourmus amount of money, which I believe is not the case.

It's pretty standard within the legacy banking system for years now, but it's slowly but surely finding its way to crypto land as well.

I once made a physical cash deposit through an ATM and got a letter in the mail a couple of days later where they asked me how many more times I plan to deposit cash, what the source is, if I can provide all the evidence they need in case they ask for it, and how much money I currently have stored in other bank accounts.

I politely answered everything with very basic answers such as; not sure/yes/differs, etc. It seems to have worked because I haven't had new requests for more information afterwards.

[OmegaStarScream]

As an update, the money arrived at the bank account without any problems. I just want to know though, are these questions supposed to be a one-time thing or each time a transaction with a certain amount is made?

[peter0425]

I don't think coinmama should be asking those questions as it may be personal and your friend should not be obligated to answer them to have his money. Unless it's an enourmus amount of money, which I believe is not the case.

It's pretty standard within the legacy banking system for years now, but it's slowly but surely finding its way to crypto land as well.

This one. This sort of questions are standard in a banking system. I encountered this kind of questioning when opening a bank account. First I was surprised and ask the manager why such questions. Then I go to the next bank and the same question again. They simply answer is that for KYC/AML compliant.

Anyways, I have used coinmama but never been asked the same question, just go through the verification process and everything went smooth. This was December 2018 btw. I maybe be wrong, but I'm assuming that this is just a one time thingy.