BITSTAMP frozen my 10 btc and asking years worth of signed address transactions

[Forgotoldaccount]

I would like to update this thread now as I am EXTREMELY lucky they have made a mistake.
I told them I'm consulting a lawyer and to cancel my pending withdrawals as they were insistant on these informations.
Then somehow (even though they told me no transactions will be processed until they receive these) I did an XRP ripple withdrawal and it was processed instantlyl

Big oops for them and a big relief for me

Hello. I have had a couple btc since about 2014 and mainly use bitcoin for gambling and poker activities.
In April this year I had a big win at fortunejack about 30 btc
I deposited 16 btc to bitstamp. Sold 6 and left 10 btc in there
Few days ago went to sell the rest and they've frozen it and thus begins this following conversation by support tickets::

Thank you for filling out our KYC form. We have received your transaction request.

However, before we can properly process your currently pending transaction request, we ask that you elaborate further on the origin of the cryptocurrency deposited to your account, as well as provide us with information and documentation which can confirm your statements, such as bank deposit slips showing deposits to other exchanges, purchase logs, trading history, withdrawal history, or any other documentation relevant to your crypto origins.

Additionally, we ask that you elaborate further on your answer in our KYC form regarding your intended activities on our platform being related to online gambling activities.

My response I sent screenshots of my win at fortunejack and an email from fortunejack detailing my withdrawal

They then reply this...

Thank you for your reply. We have received your transaction.

However, before concluding this procedure, we ask that you provide us with some financial documentation, which can confirm how the funds you used to purchase your initial cryptocurrency acquisitions, that you used in your gambling activities, was acquired or accumulated, such as a salary pay slip, tax revenue statement, investment portfolio or similar. We also kindly ask that you elaborate on how your winning are reported as your taxable income and provide us with your most recent tax statement.

We also ask that you provide us with screenshots showing your initial cryptocurrency purchases and provide us with the relevant addresses where your initial cryptocurrency was deposited.

Additionally, we ask that you provide us with an estimated amount that you would be depositing/withdrawing to/from your Bitstamp account per year (in USD and BTC)?

To which I reply:I do not have any of this information, I have had a few bitcoin for many years, and earlier this year I had a big win on fortunejack casino like shown.
You are asking impossible things.

Then they reply this:

Continuing with this KYC procedure, before we can process your transactions, we kindly ask that you elaborate further on these BTC that you held for several years, and elaborate on their origin by providing us with documentation which can confirm how the crypto was obtained, such as purchase logs, trade logs, purchase confirmation emails or similar. We also kindly ask that you provide us with your initial addresses that you used during your crypto activities as well as provide us with a few screenshots showing the withdrawal of the crypto to Fortune Jack.

If at all possible we also ask that you sign your initial addresses, that you used during your crypto activities, with a message containing this ticket number, where the "address", "signature" and "message" are clearly separated by quotation marks.

We ask you to submit your documents in PDF, JPG, PNG format in a reply to this ticket.

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,
Jernej T.

I am basically shocked and do not know how to proceed.. They are clearly just wanting to keep my money, asking these impossible things.
Does anyone have any advice

[1715042045]

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[Broly46]

They will continue to harrass you and requesting your grand ancestors grand parent of the sibling of the boss of the name and the every valuable information they can harness, when you keep your btc in their hand, it’s not YOURS anymore, be prepare to be asked to do all the demand they want from you, they may even ask for a copy of your nude photo LOL.😂

[mk4]

That's a lot of information they're demanding lol. Unfortunately, it looks like they're just doing the typical AML procedures to make sure you didn't get your BTC somewhere illegal or whatever. Though it's understandable how annoying this is. Unfortunately it looks like you have no choice but to do some digging on your gambling accounts and on your bitcoin wallets. 10 BTC is no joke.

Unfortunately, another perfect reason to not unnecessarily leave funds on exchanges.

[TheUltraElite]

Are those coins really from FJ casino or did you hide the details here about tainted source coins that you had be dealing with and used FJ as a "mixing" mode or a transit wallet to cover up your tracks? Most of the newbies posting such threads, I would not trust without having head both sides of the story. Bitstamp has been here for long time and them asking KYC with such strict details does make me wonder what juicy information they have obtained on the coins.

You may try to present a story in your way of describing but this is what I suspect has happened.

[yoseph]

That's a lot of information they're demanding lol. Unfortunately, it looks like they're just doing the typical AML procedures to make sure you didn't get your BTC somewhere illegal or whatever. Though it's understandable how annoying this is. Unfortunately it looks like you have no choice but to do some digging on your gambling accounts and on your bitcoin wallets. 10 BTC is no joke.

Unfortunately, another perfect reason to not unnecessarily leave funds on exchanges.

They definitely don't want to give back the bitcoins that's why they are asking for things that they definitely know you are unable to provide. How can you ask someone to provide the origin of the bitcoins that they deposited on the website, it's really absurd. Would have been great if the money was just deposited into a normal wallet instead of exchanges some are very sketchy.

[mk4]

That's a lot of information they're demanding lol. Unfortunately, it looks like they're just doing the typical AML procedures to make sure you didn't get your BTC somewhere illegal or whatever. Though it's understandable how annoying this is. Unfortunately it looks like you have no choice but to do some digging on your gambling accounts and on your bitcoin wallets. 10 BTC is no joke.

Unfortunately, another perfect reason to not unnecessarily leave funds on exchanges.

They definitely don't want to give back the bitcoins that's why they are asking for things that they definitely know you are unable to provide. How can you ask someone to provide the origin of the bitcoins that they deposited on the website, it's really absurd.

Though I find OP's situation very unfortunate and while what they're asking is definitely a bit too much for my taste, I really wouldn't make conclusions that fast. Bitstamp is a big and pretty reputable exchange in the cryptocurrency space, and while 10 BTC is a good amount of money, I don't think they would attempt to take funds of people with that low of an amount(in contrast to the size of their userbase and trading volume).

[o48o]

Oh wow! One thing i have seen them speeding things up is tweeting about it. I am pretty sure that people will retweet it for you and it's bad publicity for them so they want to clear things up as fast as possible before it is trending.

But this is one more reminder that there could be price to pay for letting exchanges hold your bitcoin.
Then again, i am pretty sure i am in this exact situation if i try to cash out my btc and deposit them on my bank account. I have no proof on their origins from when they ask about it.

[Forgotoldaccount]

Are those coins really from FJ casino or did you hide the details here about tainted source coins that you had be dealing with and used FJ as a "mixing" mode or a transit wallet to cover up your tracks? Most of the newbies posting such threads, I would not trust without having head both sides of the story. Bitstamp has been here for long time and them asking KYC with such strict details does make me wonder what juicy information they have obtained on the coins.

You may try to present a story in your way of describing but this is what I suspect has happened.

Wow this is quite inflammatory. Yes it's legitimate winnings at fortunejack. I deposited something like 0.5 btc and withdrew 36 btc in total. If you work for fortunejack like your avatar suggests you would know which account I am as there was a big fuss about that in that fortunejack themselves did extensive kyc and asked me to send Apostilled identification and other things before finally releasing my winnings...
And now this from bitstamp, it seems every company in the crypto space is at it.

[Kyraishi]

They will continue to harrass you and requesting your grand ancestors grand parent of the sibling of the boss of the name and the every valuable information they can harness, when you keep your btc in their hand, it’s not YOURS anymore, be prepare to be asked to do all the demand they want from you, they may even ask for a copy of your nude photo LOL.😂

Sadly, these are the standards that exchanges are forced to adhere to, to even be able to operate, and it does just seem like regular AML practices that the exchange needs to adhere to.

It's around 100,000 or so USD, and any exchange would be pretty tight about that money and they need to know exactly where the funds came before they are able to help you move the funds, unfortunately they'll need a shit ton of your details and it's almost normal practice.

Next time, I recommend you just go p2p transactions and don't touch exchanges at all, so your money can't get frozen.

[clonely]

They will continue to harrass you and requesting your grand ancestors grand parent of the sibling of the boss of the name and the every valuable information they can harness, when you keep your btc in their hand, it’s not YOURS anymore, be prepare to be asked to do all the demand they want from you, they may even ask for a copy of your nude photo LOL.😂

Sadly, these are the standards that exchanges are forced to adhere to, to even be able to operate, and it does just seem like regular AML practices that the exchange needs to adhere to.

It's around 100,000 or so USD, and any exchange would be pretty tight about that money and they need to know exactly where the funds came before they are able to help you move the funds, unfortunately they'll need a shit ton of your details and it's almost normal practice.

Next time, I recommend you just go p2p transactions and don't touch exchanges at all, so your money can't get frozen.

I understand what you're saying. But then what is the meaning of decentralization? Anyone can somehow own 16 BTCs. I know we're talking about a big amount, but it's inconceivable to ban a person's account for that.

[Wexnident]

Hello. I have had a couple btc since about 2014 and mainly use bitcoin for gambling and poker activities.
In April this year I had a big win at fortunejack about 30 btc
I deposited 16 btc to bitstamp. Sold 6 and left 10 btc in there
Few days ago went to sell the rest and they've frozen it and thus begins this following conversation by support tickets::

Thank you for filling out our KYC form. We have received your transaction request.

However, before we can properly process your currently pending transaction request, we ask that you elaborate further on the origin of the cryptocurrency deposited to your account, as well as provide us with information and documentation which can confirm your statements, such as bank deposit slips showing deposits to other exchanges, purchase logs, trading history, withdrawal history, or any other documentation relevant to your crypto origins.

Additionally, we ask that you elaborate further on your answer in our KYC form regarding your intended activities on our platform being related to online gambling activities.

My response I sent screenshots of my win at fortunejack and an email from fortunejack detailing my withdrawal

They then reply this...

Thank you for your reply. We have received your transaction.

However, before concluding this procedure, we ask that you provide us with some financial documentation, which can confirm how the funds you used to purchase your initial cryptocurrency acquisitions, that you used in your gambling activities, was acquired or accumulated, such as a salary pay slip, tax revenue statement, investment portfolio or similar. We also kindly ask that you elaborate on how your winning are reported as your taxable income and provide us with your most recent tax statement.

We also ask that you provide us with screenshots showing your initial cryptocurrency purchases and provide us with the relevant addresses where your initial cryptocurrency was deposited.

Additionally, we ask that you provide us with an estimated amount that you would be depositing/withdrawing to/from your Bitstamp account per year (in USD and BTC)?

To which I reply:I do not have any of this information, I have had a few bitcoin for many years, and earlier this year I had a big win on fortunejack casino like shown.
You are asking impossible things.

Then they reply this:

Continuing with this KYC procedure, before we can process your transactions, we kindly ask that you elaborate further on these BTC that you held for several years, and elaborate on their origin by providing us with documentation which can confirm how the crypto was obtained, such as purchase logs, trade logs, purchase confirmation emails or similar. We also kindly ask that you provide us with your initial addresses that you used during your crypto activities as well as provide us with a few screenshots showing the withdrawal of the crypto to Fortune Jack.

If at all possible we also ask that you sign your initial addresses, that you used during your crypto activities, with a message containing this ticket number, where the "address", "signature" and "message" are clearly separated by quotation marks.

We ask you to submit your documents in PDF, JPG, PNG format in a reply to this ticket.

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,
Jernej T.

I am basically shocked and do not know how to proceed.. They are clearly just wanting to keep my money, asking these impossible things.
Does anyone have any advice

Follow the procedures and if you see that the same requirements are just being repeated over and over again, then that would be the time to act. Basic standards of investigation especially since the transaction came through the internet. It really is quite hard to verify the information since the data was a few years ago plus the information bitstamp has is also limited with how the crypto is a decentralized system after all.

[Kyraishi]

They will continue to harrass you and requesting your grand ancestors grand parent of the sibling of the boss of the name and the every valuable information they can harness, when you keep your btc in their hand, it’s not YOURS anymore, be prepare to be asked to do all the demand they want from you, they may even ask for a copy of your nude photo LOL.😂

Sadly, these are the standards that exchanges are forced to adhere to, to even be able to operate, and it does just seem like regular AML practices that the exchange needs to adhere to.

It's around 100,000 or so USD, and any exchange would be pretty tight about that money and they need to know exactly where the funds came before they are able to help you move the funds, unfortunately they'll need a shit ton of your details and it's almost normal practice.

Next time, I recommend you just go p2p transactions and don't touch exchanges at all, so your money can't get frozen.

I understand what you're saying. But then what is the meaning of decentralization? Anyone can somehow own 16 BTCs. I know we're talking about a big amount, but it's inconceivable to ban a person's account for that.

I think what you don't realize here, is that a lot of services that operate in the crypto industry are actually completely against our way of thinking, especially with decentralization, and most companies just want profits.

Most exchanges like bitstamp are not decentralized at all, and when you give them your funds, the funds are no longer yours and they are able to just pull bullshit like this, freezing accounts, etc. Unfortunately, exchanges need to do this, due to the KYC and AML policies they are required to follow.

[Forgotoldaccount]

I would like to update this thread now as I am EXTREMELY lucky they have made a mistake.
I told them I'm consulting a lawyer and to cancel my pending withdrawals as they were insistant on these informations.
Then somehow (even though they told me no transactions will be processed until they receive these) I did an XRP ripple withdrawal and it was processed instantlyl

Big oops for them and a big relief for me

[mk4]

I would like to update this thread now as I am EXTREMELY lucky they have made a mistake.
I told them I'm consulting a lawyer and to cancel my pending withdrawals as they were insistant on these informations.
Then somehow (even though they told me no transactions will be processed until they receive these) I did an XRP ripple withdrawal and it was processed instantlyl

Big oops for them and a big relief for me

So you pretty much just sold the BTC for some XRP and you were able to withdraw them? If that's all it took then that's one hell of a amateur loophole on their side lol.

[Forgotoldaccount]

I would like to update this thread now as I am EXTREMELY lucky they have made a mistake.
I told them I'm consulting a lawyer and to cancel my pending withdrawals as they were insistant on these informations.
Then somehow (even though they told me no transactions will be processed until they receive these) I did an XRP ripple withdrawal and it was processed instantlyl

Big oops for them and a big relief for me

So you pretty much just sold the BTC for some XRP and you were able to withdraw them? If that's all it took then that's one hell of a amateur loophole on their side lol.

Yes. Now watch xrp depreciate overnight massively 🙄🤣

[Kyraishi]

I would like to update this thread now as I am EXTREMELY lucky they have made a mistake.
I told them I'm consulting a lawyer and to cancel my pending withdrawals as they were insistant on these informations.
Then somehow (even though they told me no transactions will be processed until they receive these) I did an XRP ripple withdrawal and it was processed instantlyl

Big oops for them and a big relief for me

That's crazy mate. I never would have expected anything like that to happen.

I'm assuming it's likely a problem with their support staff, and when they canceled the other transactions, they only put a block on BTC transactions, not in other currencies, and then you where quick enough and you didn't get flagged for withdrawing a large amount of ripple (which is weird, but lucky actually).

Good job mate, this time if you want to cash out try local bitcoins or localETH, don't use a centralized exchange.

[mk4]

So you pretty much just sold the BTC for some XRP and you were able to withdraw them? If that's all it took then that's one hell of a amateur loophole on their side lol.

Yes. Now watch xrp depreciate overnight massively 🙄🤣

What the hell. Have they responded to your reply concerning lawyers and stuff? I'm just curious.

With that said, you dodged a huge bullet there. Well done. I don't think I would think of trying to dodge them in that in that way if I was in your situation.

[Forgotoldaccount]

Thanks yes. They did reply this after I asked they cancel the frozen withdrawal::
Thank you for your reply. As per your request, your pending withdrawals have been cancelled.

Please note that, in order to properly process your future transactions, we are going to have to require you to provide us with the previously requested information and documentation.

We look forward to your reply.

Anyway, let this thread serve as a warning to anyone using exchanges that unless you have a complete evidence trail of where your coins are from you are liable to lose them

[dothebeats]

This is a common occurrence from huge exchanges complying to AML regulations set in place. Heck, even in small sum withdrawals, if you exceeded the exchange's low limits, you'd be asked on where did your funds came from, and you'd be put in this tedious task of asking your bank for statements some few months (or even years) ago and the exchange will decide whether you have the capacity (or the 'weight') to trade those sums. Good thing that they do not really see how things work on their end and you managed to get past this annoying verification through XRP. I didn't know XRP has some uses after all!

[Kyraishi]

Thanks yes. They did reply this after I asked they cancel the frozen withdrawal::
Thank you for your reply. As per your request, your pending withdrawals have been cancelled.

Please note that, in order to properly process your future transactions, we are going to have to require you to provide us with the previously requested information and documentation.

We look forward to your reply.

Anyway, let this thread serve as a warning to anyone using exchanges that unless you have a complete evidence trail of where your coins are from you are liable to lose them

That's crazy, they didn't even mention the issues with the lawyers and they look like they are surprised - they probably think it's a normal threat for people to make.

You didn't give them any of your documents, right? There's a chance that even though you escaped with your own funds they might have to come after you due to AML rules and it you gave them enough to chase after you you might be in for a long battle.

This is a common occurrence from huge exchanges complying to AML regulations set in place. Heck, even in small sum withdrawals, if you exceeded the exchange's low limits, you'd be asked on where did your funds came from, and you'd be put in this tedious task of asking your bank for statements some few months (or even years) ago and the exchange will decide whether you have the capacity (or the 'weight') to trade those sums. Good thing that they do not really see how things work on their end and you managed to get past this annoying verification through XRP. I didn't know XRP has some uses after all!

I haven't seen it a lot with low amounts, exchanges don't usually have time to hold amounts like 0.2 BTC, but they will definetly fuck around with your 10 BTC withdrawal.