Crypto-Bridge Just sprung KYC on everyone today - No notice given

[Steamtyme]

Edit: here is my post detailing how I ended this for myself. I am linking it here to add support to the Flag I am creating.

Just putting this out there for anyone who may be using or was considering using Crypto-Bridge. I have some coins there so I really have no choice now but to submit to their bullshit no notice call. I really should have seen this coming when they made all US clientele perform this earlier in the year. I'm just amazed how it was rolled out, I found it in another random Discord Channel. I guess I'm just a bit miffed at teh fact that they are complying with laws in countries that don't concern me.

They previously allowed anyone outside the US to operate without KYC, so what's the difference now. Either way, I guess I'll have to fill it out eventually but I'll wait until I've seen it in action for a couple days. Sure as shit not letting them have my coins, just because they've changed the rules. I also wouldn't really give a shit, if they had provided some notice.

Edit:

Starting October 2019, all users are required to submit user verification to use CryptoBridge.
The 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive requires users to submit verification of their identity to continue using CryptoBridge.

Proceeding with this requirement will redirect you to our partner, Fractal. Upon completion, full functionality of your account will be restored. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ensures that your privacy is protected at any time.

Find more about KYC in our blog.

This is the message you are greeted with once you attempt to log in to your account.

Introducing user verification
Oct 1, 2019 | News

Since CryptoBridge entered the market, we are on a mission: Thinking decentral. Both in a technical and in a jurisdictional sense. While we still strive to present new challenges for international financial regulation, we are facing the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) and will adjust our gateway services to pave the way for CryptoBridge moving forward.

Therefore, starting October 2019, all existing and new users are required to submit user verification before continuing to use deposits and withdrawals, to protect customers and CryptoBridge from being held responsible for any illegal intentions or money laundering activities. Introducing AMLD5 not only creates a legal status for crypto assets, it also enables them to become viable and legitimate financial networks. It also facilitates the listing of security tokens on CryptoBridge.

We are working closely with our partner Fractal who stores all user-submitted data with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance measures in a European data storage facility. GDPR holds personal data privacy to significantly higher standard than any previous national or international legislation and sets the bar very high for the handling of private data. Consequently, CryptoBridge does not have access to any user information other than their UUID associated with a successful completion identity verification. Personal information is not shared unless there is a court order mandating to release it. You’ll find more in depth information in our privacy policy.

We are looking forward to release an even more efficient and faster identity verification process in the upcoming weeks.

This is the Blog explaining it, note it was published October 1st. They are so F'd on this they don't even have a decent system for KYC up and running. Going to be a few weeks for a streamlined process; might have been niuce to announce it then implement it when the process was ready.

[1713489037]

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[1713489037]

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[o_e_l_e_o]

Since CryptoBridge entered the market, we are on a mission: Thinking decentral.

Hahahahaha, good one.

Therefore, starting October 2019, all existing and new users are required to submit user verification before continuing to use deposits and withdrawals, to protect customers and CryptoBridge from being held responsible for any illegal intentions or money laundering activities. Introducing AMLD5 not only creates a legal status for crypto assets, it also enables them to become viable and legitimate financial networks. It also facilitates the listing of security tokens on CryptoBridge.

In plain English: If we don't do this, our profits will be affected, and we care way more about out own profits than we do about your privacy or security.

We are working closely with our partner Fractal who stores all user-submitted data

Oh good. A third party storing all users' data. Because that's never gone wrong before *cough* Binance.

This is the height of scummy behavior, as far as I am concerned. If you are going to implement KYC, then you should give your users plenty of notice so the ones who don't want to compromise their own security can withdraw their coins. Holding users funds hostage and demanding they either sacrifice their coins or sacrifice their information is incredibly immoral. It's becoming an increasingly common event, and one of the reasons I stay away from centralized exchanges at all costs.

[mk4]

Holding users funds hostage and demanding they either sacrifice their coins or sacrifice their information is incredibly immoral.

I think it's mostly the case that they don't have any choice but to require KYC, just like ShapeShift was forced to. Pretty much the government was like: "require KYC or we shut down your business." I honestly would understand their stance if only they've given at least a weeks notice to their users about them going to require KYC. In this case with Crypto-Bridge, it looks like they're simply just very unprofessional on how they announced the KYC requirement.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I think it's mostly the case that they don't have any choice but to require KYC, just like ShapeShift was forced to.

Sure, but that doesn't mean they have to implement the KYC at the same time they announce it.

No court order says "Implement KYC TODAY or you will be shut down". They could quite easily give a grace period of a couple of weeks. They could suspend accounts from deposits, buys, sells, trades, etc., until they have completed KYC, but still allow them to withdraw whatever they have already deposited. They could freeze their entire exchange for 2 weeks whilst still allowing withdrawals, and then implement the KYC requirements. They also must have known this was coming. Their first contact from the government definitely wasn't "KYC or shutdown". There would have been correspondence leading up to this, and they would have anticipated this was going to happen. To give their customers absolutely zero warning and just say "your information or your coins" is pretty much theft.

As always, don't store your coins on an exchange.

[Steamtyme]

I think it's mostly the case that they don't have any choice but to require KYC, just like ShapeShift was forced to.

Sure, but that doesn't mean they have to implement the KYC at the same time they announce it.

That's really my only gripe. Do what you feel you have to do but at least approach it with dignity. When they announced it for US citizens I'm pretty sure they got at least 2 weeks notice if not more. It's one thing to perform KYC with a business of your choosing after research, but to be told you have to do this now, and this is the only way. There isn't even a lite version of KYC for low volume withdrawals.

They for sure knew, likely since implementing the US portion. It's funny that they fall into the rhetoric that this is the only way forward for Crypto to become a "viable and legitimate financial network" as quoted above.

[mk4]

Pretty much. If they'd announce it a bit earlier, heck, I'd even take a 3 day notice rather than no warning at all. If they did put up a notice and if I was a user of the exchange, I would just sigh, withdraw the funds, and probably move on to another exchange. Knowing in my mind that the exchange itself had no choice either but to put up KYC requirements. But then again, chances are that they're simply just very unprofessional, or the more shadier reason- they did it on purpose for their users to actually be forced to submit KYC to have access to their funds.

[shaw1]

Pretty much. If they'd announce it a bit earlier, heck, I'd even take a 3 day notice rather than no warning at all. If they did put up a notice and if I was a user of the exchange, I would just sigh, withdraw the funds, and probably move on to another exchange. Knowing in my mind that the exchange itself had no choice either but to put up KYC requirements. But then again, chances are that they're simply just very unprofessional, or the more shadier reason- they did it on purpose for their users to actually be forced to submit KYC to have access to their funds.

I'm going with shady on purpose.
That's too bad. I've got some funds there, but not enough for me to sell my identity.
Any warning time, and I would've just withdrawn, and gone about my business.

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

[o_e_l_e_o]

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

And there we go.

This is exactly what exchanges which implement KYC with no warning are counting on. Privacy conscious users abandoning their coin(s). I'm not saying that's the wrong thing to do; I would do the same thing in your shoes with an amount I could afford to lose, rather than hand over everything needed to steal my identity to some internet stranger to then pass on to another stranger working for some third party.

There is no good reason to not give at least a week or two grace period. Not doing so is simply theft from users who don't want to send their documents. Even if I were inclined to complete KYC on an exchange, I sure as hell wouldn't be doing it on an exchange with such blatant disregard for their users. I hope others take notice of this before signing up to this exchange.

[coupable]

After building a good reputation, it's sadly bad to turn into a scam builder. I used crypto bridge for some of my small trades since about a  year, and it was perfect. The platform has already a high number of users and this will be a disaster for a lot of them, but also for listed coins who will loose trade volume. I can't imagine that they will soon run out with the rest of deposits but adding KYC for its users in this way would destroy everything.
I will announce this in my local  board.

[bitmover]

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

And there we go.

This is exactly what exchanges which implement KYC with no warning are counting on. Privacy conscious users abandoning their coin(s).

I would try to use photoshop on any document and send it to KYC.
I know it is not right. However, those exchanges are not right either. Suddenly enforcing KYC is a theft.

[Coin_trader]

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

And there we go.

This is exactly what exchanges which implement KYC with no warning are counting on. Privacy conscious users abandoning their coin(s).

I would try to use photoshop on any document and send it to KYC.
I know it is not right. However, those exchanges are not right either. Suddenly enforcing KYC is a theft.

It's actually not a theft. Regulators nowadays are very strict regarding this. The exchange only fault was not informing the users in advance. But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML. It's either to force close or force user to submit KYC.

[TimeTeller]

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

And there we go.

This is exactly what exchanges which implement KYC with no warning are counting on. Privacy conscious users abandoning their coin(s).

I would try to use photoshop on any document and send it to KYC.
I know it is not right. However, those exchanges are not right either. Suddenly enforcing KYC is a theft.

It's actually not a theft. Regulators nowadays are very strict regarding this. The exchange only fault was not informing the users in advance. But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML. It's either to force close or force user to submit KYC.

CB should have sent an email in advance regarding this new policy.
So users can opt to retain their coins or not.
But CB I believe intentionally does this move so users will be obliged to comply their KYC requirements, else, the coins will be in their possession.
So you can consider it as cheating tactic. This new policy has been in discussion for such certain period within their management.
It is not that they came up with this policy a day before they posted it on their website.
Too bad for those who don't want to undergo KYC with coins in that exchange.

[Coin_trader]

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

And there we go.

This is exactly what exchanges which implement KYC with no warning are counting on. Privacy conscious users abandoning their coin(s).

I would try to use photoshop on any document and send it to KYC.
I know it is not right. However, those exchanges are not right either. Suddenly enforcing KYC is a theft.

It's actually not a theft. Regulators nowadays are very strict regarding this. The exchange only fault was not informing the users in advance. But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML. It's either to force close or force user to submit KYC.

CB should have sent an email in advance regarding this new policy.
So users can opt to retain their coins or not.
But CB I believe intentionally does this move so users will be obliged to comply their KYC requirements, else, the coins will be in their possession.
So you can consider it as cheating tactic. This new policy has been in discussion for such certain period within their management.
It is not that they came up with this policy a day before they posted it on their website.
Too bad for those who don't want to undergo KYC with coins in that exchange.

This actually what I said. Read carefully this statement.

The exchange only fault was not informing the users in advance

I said that's its not actually a theft since you have a chance to claim it by undergoing KYC it's not just like that they didn't give you a way to recover your funds. It's up to the user to comply or not. I'm telling you this because I'm more on the legal side and experience this kind of situation. But I understand your feeling as a normal user of exchange. So don't worry. I'm not with the exchange. I'm just explaining the legal process. I'm not telling that they are really doing that thing for legal peocess.

[Steamtyme]

I would try to use photoshop on any document and send it to KYC.
I know it is not right. However, those exchanges are not right either. Suddenly enforcing KYC is a theft.

I get it but that adds an extra layer of risk to things, if you fail the KYC and then turn out to have attempted to cheat it I'd bet you just forfeited any chance of recovering that account. Like I said I'll eventually just do it, I don't handle people trying to take what is mine very well.

But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML.

Yes there was a hint that they may roll it out in the same way they did for citizens of their country, giving them notice to decide whether or not they wanted to continue to do business there. My guess enough people just left, so they figured at least this way they can take in a nice payday. You can't operate this type of exchange that really only had a place in the market because they offered something different. Considering they were able to provide notice the last time, your argument they had no choice is misleading. They may not have a choice in implementing this, but they had a choice in allowing a grace period.

I said that's its not actually a theft since you have a chance to claim it by undergoing KYC it's not just like that they didn't give you a way to recover your funds . I'm just explaining the legal process. I'm not telling that they are really doing that thing for legal peocess.

Correct I believe that's more along the lines of extortion not theft. It's funny you point to a legal background. There are very few laws that join nations, I am not a citizen of either that created these laws that this exchange is conforming to. I accepted the laws that the exchange operates within, in the same way this forum has an obligation to follow US laws and I agree to participate here. The problem is using my balance which one can reasonably expect to have on an exchange if they are thinking of beginning trading, or just to have a small amount available to sell at a quick price run up, to then forcibly extort my identity and personal information. To begin complying with laws outside of their country of origin, with no notice.

[Kyraishi]

Today we see another crypto-exchange fall victim to KYC, and instead of them choosing to follow decentralization and their original business model, they've given it all up to maintain their profits. It's to be expected, it's the decision any business would make.

I'd understand if they gave users a couple weeks or months to get funds off the site, but by the looks of it, you can't do that? They said starting OCT, which is the current month??

Does this mean existing users will be unable to withdraw their funds unless they undergo KYC... That's crazy.

[Coin_trader]

But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML.

Considering they were able to provide notice the last time, your argument they had no choice is misleading. They may not have a choice in implementing this, but they had a choice in allowing a grace period.

I was pertaining here the force implementation of KYC and not the early NOTICE that they must give to all users before they implement KYC. Check my statement here:

The exchange only fault was not informing the users in advance. But I believe OP got a hint when US citizen requires KYC which he stated. Actually, the exchange can't do anything when regulators ask for it since it's require for AML. It's either to force close or force user to submit KYC.

I understand properly your point bro.

I said that's its not actually a theft since you have a chance to claim it by undergoing KYC it's not just like that they didn't give you a way to recover your funds . I'm just explaining the legal process. I'm not telling that they are really doing that thing for legal peocess.

It's funny you point to a legal background.

This is just a habit of mine since many users here don't have any legal background. I'm happy to point out some facts.

The problem is using my balance which one can reasonably expect to have on an exchange if they are thinking of beginning trading, or just to have a small amount available to sell at a quick price run-up, to then forcibly extort my identity and personal information. To begin complying with laws outside of their country of origin, with no notice.

I believe this is the risk of trading on the unregulated exchange.
---
Actually there is a solution, This is just my method if I'm in your situation. You can find a people that WILLING to do the KYC for your account then just pay him for his service. Set a 2FA security in your exchange account. Let him login and process the KYC then wait till approves. Don't worry that he might hack your account since 2FA code varies per minute. (Considering that you have tons of money in there if NOT then that much then this method is to hassle.)

[adroitful_one]

Pretty much. If they'd announce it a bit earlier, heck, I'd even take a 3 day notice rather than no warning at all. If they did put up a notice and if I was a user of the exchange, I would just sigh, withdraw the funds, and probably move on to another exchange. Knowing in my mind that the exchange itself had no choice either but to put up KYC requirements. But then again, chances are that they're simply just very unprofessional, or the more shadier reason- they did it on purpose for their users to actually be forced to submit KYC to have access to their funds.

I'm going with shady on purpose.
That's too bad. I've got some funds there, but not enough for me to sell my identity.
Any warning time, and I would've just withdrawn, and gone about my business.

Guess I'll just have to take a hit on this one. :/

I would contact support demanding that they withdraw your funds. Surely there is some legal consequences to them not withdrawing your funds if you don't want to comply with the KYC. It should be like 30 days to withdraw funds or something. I'd make a huge deal out of it and force them to change their ways or threaten legal action against them. That's really shady.

[o_e_l_e_o]

They are effectively saying "hand over either your coins or your KYC documents against your will". They had the choice to give customers a warning and a grace period, and they chose not to do that so they could deprive some users of their coins and keep these coins for themselves. Even if customers did complete the KYC, they are still being forced to hand over something against their will. Call it theft by extortion, if you will, but either way they are taking something from the customer against their will.

You can find a people that WILLING to do the KYC for your account then just pay him for his service.

I'd only do this if you would be happy to forfeit the coins. If the exchange discover this is what you are doing, the account will be locked immediately.

I would contact support demanding that they withdraw your funds.

There is probably very little legal recourse here, but they might be willing to let you withdraw your funds in exchange for not giving them a bad rep on social media.

[dkbit98]

Why could they not add tiers with optional or no KYC ?

This CryptoFridge exchange will soon die and close forever, due to low volume, and this is just my prediction.
They charged high fees for listing bunch of shitcoins and they where never really decentralized in the first place.
Some other Bitshares based exchange will replace them, and will not ask for mandatory KYC.


 

[magneto]

They most likely knew that people would simply pull out their funds if a KYC check was to be conducted, which is the reason why they made no notice of this until very recently, just before the actual KYC system is implemented.

It's unethical in my opinion to give such short notice, while people's funds are still stuck in limbo and at risk.

They should give an option for people to close down their accounts and get their funds back. I doubt there is any regulation explicitly forbidding this. Otherwise, they'll simply destroy the entire brand of "decentralised exchanges" or gateways.