[RESOLVED] kucoin claiming kyc now mandatory demanding ID documents to withdraw

[bitcoinjesus2020]

they could be doing it for security, money laundering is a major risk and I believe every other exchanges have been fighting against money laundering, including kucoin, nothing to worry about if you're not doing anything illegal - kyc got some benefits as well, you can use that for your advantage

I do not have an actual need for large numbers or transactions, as you can see in one month for example I only had 9 deposits and 4 withdrawals, those "extra" benefits are of no use to someone at my scale.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

Based on the given proofs you have, it seems like your account is "too active" with thousands upon thousands of deposits and withdrawal which does not correlate to the age of your account (Aug 3, 2020) and having no KYC. In my point of view, this might be a counter measure of the exchange for money laundering since its rampant on the crypto industry.

You obviously did not even look or read anything that was presented.  9 deposits and 4 withdrawals is not mathematically equivalent or scaled to "thousands".  Where did you get "thousands of deposits and withdrawals" from?

[bitcoinjesus2020]

Did they make an announcement ahead of KYC's official launch or an immediate proceeding?

None I am aware of and far as can be told neither are others aware of.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

This is not a scam accussation. Kucoin's policy is pretty clear about KYC, which you have agreed to when registering an account:

2.3. KuCoin maintains an anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and know your customer compliance policy (the “AML/CFT Policy”). Pursuant to such policy, KuCoin may, in its discretion, require identity verification and go through other screening procedures with respect to you or transactions associated with your KuCoin Account. You agree and undertake to provide KuCoin with any and all information and documents that KuCoin may from time to time request or require for the purposes of these Terms or in connection with your KuCoin Account (including, but not limited to, your name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, government-issued identification number, photograph of your government-issued identity card or document or other photographic proof of your identity, and information regarding your Digital Token Account). KuCoin will have no liability or responsibility for any permanent or temporary inability to access or use any Services as a result of any identity verification or other screening procedures.

This doesn't mean that KYC is mandatory but they can require you to verify your identity in certain cases, so technically their support wasn't wrong when saying that KYC isn't mandatory. Trying to sell over $11,000 worth of a privacy coin is a valid reason for them to require identity verification. Kucoin has no choice but to follow these AML/CFT policies in order to remain compliant.

It is very much a scam accusation because there are many holes not only in the multiple policies I posted links to from kucoin but, in addition their representatives not being consistent, posting this one policy simply adds to the ambiguity and inconsistency I will point out why.

The factual issues:

1) Terms were changed on 8/13/20 as per the link itself I joined before this date as can be attested by the evidence, Aug. 3rd 2020.  Interestingly enough any other organization I have been a member of immediately sends out changes to their membership base if they signed up before the changes, this did not happen, no one here has mentioned the simple fact that I joined on Aug. 3rd 2020, the terms changed and as a matter of fact it appears no one has been notified.  If you have a bank account as to which this is easily compared simply recall how many times they have sent you those annoying updated T&C, this is why.

2) They have specific terminology on the kyc process and the outcomes, specifically there are 3 reference points as links I have presented in the original post that they sent me themselves in the first response to my email support request, in contract law this is what is called ambiguity in which you follow the most referenced points in case of contradictions such as these.  Again in these specific references just like the link you sent with the excerpt in which I extracted the definition of "Services" and included the excerpt from the same link, there is not even the word or mention of withdraw.

3) They define the "Services" which clearly does not include withdrawals or deposits but, here it is right from the link you sent:

Our Services

KuCoin provides you with a simple and convenient way to trade one type of Digital Token for another type of Digital Token. KuCoin provides you with a platform that matches your orders with open orders from other users of our Services. Users are not able to predetermine a trade with a particular user or with a particular account. Additionally, an order may be partially filled or may be filled by multiple matching orders. As of today, KuCoin does not provide services for the trading of legal tender  (“Fiat Currency”) for Digital Tokens or vice versa. KuCoin does not provide services for the trading of one type of Fiat Currency for another type of Fiat Currency.

4) So going by their own rules on restrictions of "Services" as you outlined above and incorporating their definition of "Services" there is no exclusion or explicit outline of withdrawal restriction, it is very clear that trading of any kind or type will be restricted which is what they did and I discovered being restricted upon attempting to trade, this is the only thing consistent about this whole event and actually in line with their own policies.  Restricting withdrawals is not explicitly, nor clearly outlined or restricted in any policy that is written and available for review.  

If you have a chance to review contract law please do because you will learn that ambiguity is a common issue that causes problems with many companies, this is why for example a civil lawsuit can be successful.

In this example kucoin has either intentionally or unintentionally made it confusing thus leaving you the customer to learn about contract law or simply hire a lawyer to review the contract.  In either presentation of these anyone would be easily successful in proving lack of consistency in their actions.  It cannot be expected of the customer to know the intentions without clear, concise and explicit terms, this is not that.  Conclusively this leaves one to generate their own thoughts on these actions.

[M-BTC]

This is not a scam accussation. Kucoin's policy is pretty clear about KYC, which you have agreed to when registering an account:

2.3. KuCoin maintains an anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and know your customer compliance policy (the “AML/CFT Policy”). Pursuant to such policy, KuCoin may, in its discretion, require identity verification and go through other screening procedures with respect to you or transactions associated with your KuCoin Account. You agree and undertake to provide KuCoin with any and all information and documents that KuCoin may from time to time request or require for the purposes of these Terms or in connection with your KuCoin Account (including, but not limited to, your name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, government-issued identification number, photograph of your government-issued identity card or document or other photographic proof of your identity, and information regarding your Digital Token Account). KuCoin will have no liability or responsibility for any permanent or temporary inability to access or use any Services as a result of any identity verification or other screening procedures.

This doesn't mean that KYC is mandatory but they can require you to verify your identity in certain cases, so technically their support wasn't wrong when saying that KYC isn't mandatory. Trying to sell over $11,000 worth of a privacy coin is a valid reason for them to require identity verification. Kucoin has no choice but to follow these AML/CFT policies in order to remain compliant.

It is very much a scam accusation because there are many holes not only in the multiple policies I posted links to from kucoin but, in addition their representatives not being consistent, posting this one policy simply adds to the ambiguity and inconsistency I will point out why.

The factual issues:

1) Terms were changed on 8/13/20 as per the link itself I joined before this date as can be attested by the evidence, Aug. 3rd 2020.  Interestingly enough any other organization I have been a member of immediately sends out changes to their membership base if they signed up before the changes, this did not happen, no one here has mentioned the simple fact that I joined on Aug. 3rd 2020, the terms changed and as a matter of fact it appears no one has been notified.  If you have a bank account as to which this is easily compared simply recall how many times they have sent you those annoying updated T&C, this is why.

2) They have specific terminology on the kyc process and the outcomes, specifically there are 3 reference points as links I have presented in the original post that they sent me themselves in the first response to my email support request, in contract law this is what is called ambiguity in which you follow the most referenced points in case of contradictions such as these.  Again in these specific references just like the link you sent with the excerpt in which I extracted the definition of "Services" and included the excerpt from the same link, there is not even the word or mention of withdraw.

3) They define the "Services" which clearly does not include withdrawals or deposits but, here it is right from the link you sent:

Our Services

KuCoin provides you with a simple and convenient way to trade one type of Digital Token for another type of Digital Token. KuCoin provides you with a platform that matches your orders with open orders from other users of our Services. Users are not able to predetermine a trade with a particular user or with a particular account. Additionally, an order may be partially filled or may be filled by multiple matching orders. As of today, KuCoin does not provide services for the trading of legal tender  (“Fiat Currency”) for Digital Tokens or vice versa. KuCoin does not provide services for the trading of one type of Fiat Currency for another type of Fiat Currency.

4) So going by their own rules on restrictions of "Services" as you outlined above and incorporating their definition of "Services" there is no exclusion or explicit outline of withdrawal restriction, it is very clear that trading of any kind or type will be restricted which is what they did and I discovered being restricted upon attempting to trade, this is the only thing consistent about this whole event and actually in line with their own policies.  Restricting withdrawals is not explicitly, nor clearly outlined or restricted in any policy that is written and available for review.  

If you have a chance to review contract law please do because you will learn that ambiguity is a common issue that causes problems with many companies, this is why for example a civil lawsuit can be successful.

In this example kucoin has either intentionally or unintentionally made it confusing thus leaving you the customer to learn about contract law or simply hire a lawyer to review the contract.  In either presentation of these anyone would be easily successful in proving lack of consistency in their actions.  It cannot be expected of the customer to know the intentions without clear, concise and explicit terms, this is not that.  Conclusively this leaves one to generate their own thoughts on these actions.

Your 'factual issues' are non-existent. There were no policy changes regarding KYC since you joined. Here is a copy of their policy from 11/2019, which has exactly the same text regarding KYC: https://web.archive.org/web/20191115081956if_/https://www.kucoin.com/news/en-terms-of-use

You're trying to give your own interpretation to their policy while it's perfectly clear. There is nothing confusing about it and you have agreed to their terms when you created your account. The staff technically wasn't wrong about KYC being non-mandatory. As they said in your first conversation, something triggered their risk assessment system, resulting in them requiring KYC information. The other staff members didn't know this as first, but once they checked why your withdraw was halted they informed you about the reason and what information was required.

A civil lawsuit will be an absolute waste of your time and money and it will very likely be striked out before even making it to court.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

Your 'factual issues' are non-existent. There were no policy changes regarding KYC since you joined. Here is a copy of their policy from 11/2019, which has exactly the same text regarding KYC: https://web.archive.org/web/20191115081956if_/https://www.kucoin.com/news/en-terms-of-use

You're trying to give your own interpretation to their policy while it's perfectly clear. There is nothing confusing about it and you have agreed to their terms when you created your account. The staff technically wasn't wrong about KYC being non-mandatory. As they said in your first conversation, something triggered their risk assessment system, resulting in them requiring KYC information. The other staff members didn't know this as first, but once they checked why your withdraw was halted they informed you about the reason and what information was required.

A civil lawsuit will be an absolute waste of your time and money and it will very likely be striked out before even making it to court.

It is noticeable you are invalidating the necessity of specifics in contract law, and your interpretation of the policy is implying withdrawals will be suspended.  This is a mistake you cannot assume anything in contract law, doing so is detrimental as it is required that specifics are outlined otherwise as you are doing any interpretation outside of what was written can be applied simply by one's emotions.

If you wrote this policy correct it, if not do not take personally what others have done it is self-defeating.

Thank you for your insights, you have made me more diligent in my thoughts on this and the motivations for making ambiguous contracts in addition to why I will avoid them in the future.

[Nisterse]

I do get that in withdrawing funds on KuCoin, it doesnt really need KYC verification but the thing is, as you reached for the support yourself you may as well get the things done since they know what they are doing exactly. If its KYC documents they needed then provide it or else it may look that it is involve in some fraudulent activities. If they detected that then that is the valid and only reason why they want you to submit KYC. Especially if it involves a huge amount of money having problems. Even in banks and other institutions, they are looking for verifications just like this one.

[M-BTC]

Point being here is, that it's not related to the currency.

What they are doing is simple blackmail for personal data. This is especially blatant as they do not provide a way to delete accounts.
So once they have your data, they store it permanently. No way around it.

I made ONE deposit valued about 5k. After realizing I would no be able to sell it due to liquidity I wanted to withdraw to Bittrex.
That's when they froze my account without either notifying me or giving me a reason.

After completing KYC they simply stopped responding to my emails entirely.

This is not about AML, this seems to rather be a KYC scam where they lock in people they suspect of being based in a country they don't service so they can keep the funds.

In my case, it's especially absurd.
I have an official and public position within the project the funds were frozen from.
Making freezing my funds because of AML completely absurd.

1.) It was my first ever deposit. I didn't even trade anything, just tried to withdraw.
2.) The funds can be traced directly from the Team wallet where they were minted to me, and then to the exchange. No fishy business.
3.) The amount itself, as I'm based in Europe, legally would not even require KYC.
4.) But even after I did go through full KYC they are not releasing my funds.

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

What makes you think that you're not required to provide KYC because you're from Europe? Have you not heard of AMLD5? Here is the entire policy available in every European language: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/843/oj

Exchanges (and other financial institutions) are forced to save personal data for 5-7 years. After that you can file a GDPR request and have it removed.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

Point being here is, that it's not related to the currency.

What they are doing is simple blackmail for personal data. This is especially blatant as they do not provide a way to delete accounts.
So once they have your data, they store it permanently. No way around it.

I made ONE deposit valued about 5k. After realizing I would no be able to sell it due to liquidity I wanted to withdraw to Bittrex.
That's when they froze my account without either notifying me or giving me a reason.

After completing KYC they simply stopped responding to my emails entirely.

This is not about AML, this seems to rather be a KYC scam where they lock in people they suspect of being based in a country they don't service so they can keep the funds.

In my case, it's especially absurd.
I have an official and public position within the project the funds were frozen from.
Making freezing my funds because of AML completely absurd.

1.) It was my first ever deposit. I didn't even trade anything, just tried to withdraw.
2.) The funds can be traced directly from the Team wallet where they were minted to me, and then to the exchange. No fishy business.
3.) The amount itself, as I'm based in Europe, legally would not even require KYC.
4.) But even after I did go through full KYC they are not releasing my funds.

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

What makes you think that you're not required to provide KYC because you're from Europe? Have you not heard of AMLD5? Here is the entire policy available in every European language: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/843/oj

Exchanges (and other financial institutions) are forced to save personal data for 5-7 years. After that you can file a GDPR request and have it removed.

This behavior of the exchanges is identical to precrime punishments as depicted in many Orwellian nightmare scenarios.  Cryptocurrency in general regardless of the coin was intended to give control of personal finances back to the person, not another method of control by the controllers, they did not even create this instrument.  The irony here and the reality is that the methods these exchanges are using is absurd because accusations fly out hijacking the account and demanding you give you personal info to those who are wanting to steal at the same time from you.  The thoughts that really stick out to me is this:

What do these exchanges do with the funds they effectively steal from unsuspecting customers unaware of these scams?  If they are doing it for law enforcement/regulation purposes why do they not show that these funds have been transferred to the relevant authorities for investigation and subsequently released if no wrong doing is found?  When did any country, judge, judicial system or population put forth a vote or decree granting them government agent powers for this?  There is no trial, no judge, no jury, nothing they just take your funds.  If I did that to anyone and then claimed they must prove to me where the source of funds, etc. etc.. as a non-government agent I would expect to be charged with theft.

These exchanges doing this are not government agents of any type with no authority to do this, and claiming authority under suspicion of activities is exactly what Orwell strongly warns us about.  For an easy explanation of this "It is increasingly used in academic literature to describe and criticise the tendency in criminal justice systems to focus on crimes not yet committed. Pre-crime intervenes to punish, disrupt, incapacitate or restrict those deemed to embody future crime threats. The term pre-crime embodies a temporal paradox, suggesting both that a crime has not occurred and that the crime that has not occurred is a foregone conclusion."  source "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-crime"

If you believe this behavior is defensible then you should not be shocked when it happens to you because it can for any reason based on this premise and the actions being taken with this premise in mind.

[nutildah]

4.) But even after I did go through full KYC they are not releasing my funds.

That's not right at all... You should be allowed to withdraw your funds to the address you sent them from, at the very minimum. What I recommend is to post a comment describing your situation in their main thread and see if the KuCoin Exchange account replies to you. They may be able to help you out quite a bit as they were just online today. If that doesn't work, reply back here and I will help you to open a formal scam accusation against them, which might stimulate them into action.

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

Not a valid excuse to hold somebody's funds without any sort of way to get them back. Exchanges are only decent mixers if they are completely anonymous, like a DEX, and even then there's ways to see who got what, where its been, and where its going. Exchanges that ask for KYC are the exact opposite of mixers.

And of course there's a way to trace where the funds are going, its called blockchain analytics.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

I do get that in withdrawing funds on KuCoin, it doesnt really need KYC verification but the thing is, as you reached for the support yourself you may as well get the things done since they know what they are doing exactly. If its KYC documents they needed then provide it or else it may look that it is involve in some fraudulent activities. If they detected that then that is the valid and only reason why they want you to submit KYC. Especially if it involves a huge amount of money having problems. Even in banks and other institutions, they are looking for verifications just like this one.

I cannot agree that they know what they are doing exactly, the behavior is extremely amateurish due to the nature of execution.  The policies being inconsistent is another highly amateur move as it shows lack of intellectual due diligence.

In banks and other institutions you are required to give ID documents before a pence drops in to any account, as I pointed out in their own policies they stated this as well however they contradict this by allowing deposits and in addition allowing the trading that occurred, therefore violating their own written policies.  Would this not qualify as suspicious so they now need to give me their ID documents?  So this is obviously not a professional move because it is either one way or the other, not in the middle unless you are running a scam.  Besides there is not a "huge amount of money" the fact still remains that it was only 9 deposits and 4 withdrawals.  Even looking at that amount you can immediately tell that I was focused on trading not withdrawing.  Considering you and others keep saying "large amounts" I do not know if you are ignoring the screenshots, work for them and are trying to justify their behavior or are incapable of viewing the screenshots and understanding what you see.

Compliance of this nature for convenience reminds me succinctly of this quote

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin

Considering the core principles of all cryptocurrencies I would be doing myself a disservice as well as the community, I am not about to go against core principles of these financial instruments creator(s) that is disrespectful, disingenuous and patently wrong.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

4.) But even after I did go through full KYC they are not releasing my funds.

That's not right at all... You should be allowed to withdraw your funds to the address you sent them from, at the very minimum. What I recommend is to post a comment describing your situation in their main thread and see if the KuCoin Exchange account replies to you. They may be able to help you out quite a bit as they were just online today. If that doesn't work, reply back here and I will help you to open a formal scam accusation against them, which might stimulate them into action.

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

Not a valid excuse to hold somebody's funds without any sort of way to get them back. Exchanges are only decent mixers if they are completely anonymous, like a DEX, and even then there's ways to see who got what, where its been, and where its going. Exchanges that ask for KYC are the exact opposite of mixers.

And of course there's a way to trace where the funds are going, its called blockchain analytics.

I did what was suggested by "nutlidah" as shown here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269.msg55090441#msg55090441 you can see they ignored it completely and continued on with another advertisement, no PM either, not that I am surprised because they blocked me from livechat I believe due to their inability to communicate properly.

I believe that the 11th email I recently got in which they claimed certain things would happen is a direct result of posting here because 10 emails prior they only repeated the claims of the inconsistent policies, again if possible attempt to produce some documentation because in the long run exposing these types of behaviors is essential to the community.

Considering that we are probably the first to encounter this it is possible there are others because all the policies regarding this behavior have been modified in Aug. 2020 and now there are people having issues, I do not think this a coincidence.

[nutildah]

I did what was suggested by "nutlidah" as shown here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269.msg55090441#msg55090441 you can see they ignored it completely and continued on with another advertisement, no PM either, not that I am surprised because they blocked me from livechat I believe due to their inability to communicate properly.

You could be right about their inability to communicate properly, but you kind of started off on the wrong foot with them. You were immediately accusatory and didn't ask for help, only pointed to this accusation.

I know it feels like they have you bent over a barrel but your only option currently is to submit the KYC documents. If I ran an exchange, I wouldn't hold funds over surprise KYC issues, I would let the user withdraw them back to their original address (I know with XMR that's a bit more difficult to prove). But, I'm not an exchange, so you kind of have to do what they say.

If you get to the stage of kaefergeneral where they took your KYC and your coins, then let me know here and I will help you to open a flag against them. That will put up a warning message that is visible to everyone who can see their thread. If company/project cares enough about their reputation on the forum, they will find your accusations worth responding to, potentially helping you to resolve the issue.

As of right now, however, there is more evidence in kaefergeneral's case to warrant a flag or a red tag as they actually underwent the KYC and still haven't received their coins. I will tag the KuCoin Exchange account and point them to this thread to see if they will respond. Gonna give them a couple days to respond to my comment in their thread before tagging them.

[M-BTC]

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

Not a valid excuse to hold somebody's funds without any sort of way to get them back. Exchanges are only decent mixers if they are completely anonymous, like a DEX, and even then there's ways to see who got what, where its been, and where its going. Exchanges that ask for KYC are the exact opposite of mixers.

And of course there's a way to trace where the funds are going, its called blockchain analytics.

It is a valid excuse to hold the funds (according to AML/CFT policies). Chain analysis can't link deposits and withdrawals on exchanges without contacting the exchanges and having them provide the information. This is why similar actions (depositing and withdrawing without making trades) are flagged and will result in having to provide KYC information, as it is a money laundering indication. Exchanges have no other option than to follow the AML/CFT regimes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving my personal opinion here but this is how these policies work. Regulations will only get worse from here. I wouldn't be surprised if they already reported OP's transaction(s) to local authorities (if they know what country he's from).

[M-BTC]

It is a valid excuse to hold the funds (according to AML/CFT policies). Chain analysis can't link deposits and withdrawals on exchanges without contacting the exchanges and having them provide the information. This is why similar actions (depositing and withdrawing without making trades) are flagged and will result in having to provide KYC information, as it is a money laundering indication. Exchanges have no other option than to follow the AML/CFT regimes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving my personal opinion here but this is how these policies work. Regulations will only get worse from here. I wouldn't be surprised if they already reported OP's transaction(s) to local authorities (if they know what country he's from).

But that's my whole point here. I did provide them with my KYC information.
I also explained who I am and where the funds were coming from.

KuCoin has everything they need to verify the legitimacy of my claims and funds.
The data they are asking me to provide on the other hand contributes nothing to this.

Neither my phone number, my residential address, TAX number, Employer information nor annual income has anything to do with the funds they froze.
Giving them this information would not change, that they need to be contacted to get the information about where the funds went.
And if they should ever be contacted the KYC information they have is by far enough to verify my identity.
So all giving them this information does is opening myself up to a lot of possible attacks as I can not ensure they are kept safe.
Nor have I even been provided a way to submit this data securely if I wanted to.

I simply do not trust KuCoin to keep my data safe. Asking me to submit all this in plaintext in an email just proves my case.
If they clearly stated I would require to KYC before making transactions I would probably have done so.
But this is not a risk I am willing to take. And from the looks of it that is EXACTLY what they are banking on here.

All I'm asking of them at this point is to just refund my tokens to the wallet I sent them from.

Perhaps they are contacting your local authorities to report their 'suspicions' and holding your funds until they hear back from them. If the authorities are satisfied with the information you provided KuCoin can release your funds:

(c) KuCoin will, where possible, return any Funds stored in your KuCoin Account not otherwise owed to KuCoin and/or will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide you with a period of 90 days to transfer affected Digital Tokens from your KuCoin Account, unless prohibited by applicable laws or regulations or by order of law enforcement or governmental authority,

Their privacy policy is also very clear on why they can/will collect personal data:

(l)carrying out due diligence or other screening activities (including background checks) in accordance with legal or regulatory obligations (whether Seychelles or foreign country) applicable to us or our affiliates/associated companies, the requirements or guidelines of governmental authorities (whether Seychelles or foreign country) which we determine are applicable to us or our affiliates/associated companies, and/or our risk management procedures that may be required by law (whether Seychelles or foreign country) or that may have been put in place by us or our affiliates/associated companies;

(m)to prevent or investigate any fraud, unlawful activity or omission or misconduct, whether or not there is any suspicion of the aforementioned; dealing with conflict of interests; or dealing with and/or investigating complaints;

(n)complying with or as required by any applicable law, court order, order of a regulatory body, governmental or regulatory requirements, of any jurisdiction applicable to us or our affiliates/associated companies, including meeting the requirements to make disclosure under the requirements of any law binding on us or our affiliates/associated companies, and/or for the purposes of any guidelines issued by regulatory or other authorities (whether of Seychelles or elsewhere), with which we or our affiliates/associated companies are expected to comply;

(o)complying with or as required by any request or direction of any governmental authority (whether Seychelles or foreign country) which we are expected to comply with; or responding to requests for information from public agencies, ministries, statutory boards or other similar authorities (whether Seychelles or foreign country). For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we may/will disclose your personal data to such parties upon their request or direction;

Not sure where I read it but I think that, according to AMLD5, exchanges are no longer allowed to inform users in case of an investigation/inquiry.

[nutildah]

Depositing and withdrawing funds, without making trades, is a huge AML red flag. Exchanges are basically huge mixers. If you deposit funds into an exchange and withdraw those funds there is no way to trace where the funds are going.

Not a valid excuse to hold somebody's funds without any sort of way to get them back. Exchanges are only decent mixers if they are completely anonymous, like a DEX, and even then there's ways to see who got what, where its been, and where its going. Exchanges that ask for KYC are the exact opposite of mixers.

And of course there's a way to trace where the funds are going, its called blockchain analytics.

It is a valid excuse to hold the funds (according to AML/CFT policies). Chain analysis can't link deposits and withdrawals on exchanges without contacting the exchanges and having them provide the information. This is why similar actions (depositing and withdrawing without making trades) are flagged and will result in having to provide KYC information, as it is a money laundering indication. Exchanges have no other option than to follow the AML/CFT regimes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving my personal opinion here but this is how these policies work. Regulations will only get worse from here. I wouldn't be surprised if they already reported OP's transaction(s) to local authorities (if they know what country he's from).

A "money laundering indication" is not the same thing as money laundering. You do understand that right? What would they report him for what exactly?

[bitcoinjesus2020]

I did what was suggested by "nutlidah" as shown here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269.msg55090441#msg55090441 you can see they ignored it completely and continued on with another advertisement, no PM either, not that I am surprised because they blocked me from livechat I believe due to their inability to communicate properly.

You could be right about their inability to communicate properly, but you kind of started off on the wrong foot with them. You were immediately accusatory and didn't ask for help, only pointed to this accusation.

I know it feels like they have you bent over a barrel but your only option currently is to submit the KYC documents. If I ran an exchange, I wouldn't hold funds over surprise KYC issues, I would let the user withdraw them back to their original address (I know with XMR that's a bit more difficult to prove). But, I'm not an exchange, so you kind of have to do what they say.

If you get to the stage of kaefergeneral where they took your KYC and your coins, then let me know here and I will help you to open a flag against them. That will put up a warning message that is visible to everyone who can see their thread. If company/project cares enough about their reputation on the forum, they will find your accusations worth responding to, potentially helping you to resolve the issue.

As of right now, however, there is more evidence in kaefergeneral's case to warrant a flag or a red tag as they actually underwent the KYC and still haven't received their coins. I will tag the KuCoin Exchange account and point them to this thread to see if they will respond. Gonna give them a couple days to respond to my comment in their thread before tagging them.

Agreed, and thank you for your involvement in both our situations as I thought what would happen if I complied is exactly what kaefergeneral is encountering which is frightening on different levels. Compounded with you really do not know who it is on the receiving end of your documentations when you complied and nothing happens plus the extra absurdities.

[bitcoinjesus2020]

But sending a shit ton of private information, unencrypted across the globe to be permanently stored by some shady company goes against about everything I believe in.
I simply don't see what applicable laws or regulations I should have violated. Even after asking multiple times, they did not provide me with a reason or regulation I may have violated, other than that they want me to submit this data.
As the whole process took place on a Friday evening an order by law enforcement or governmental authority is highly unlikely.

I do get, how creating a new account depositing funds and then trying to withdraw them again might trigger red flags. Thus why I was willing to comply with KYC.
But the privacy invasion beyond this is and in this form is simply out of place.

This is exactly what I was worried would happen to me, literally to the letter.  The interesting thing is that they also did this to me on a Friday, as Aug. 28th 2020 is that same day.  Which is why I became accusatory because I to knew the likelihood of a government authority involved in this was almost nil.  Our situations are very similar except I could not as you stated the reason above do it because it goes against everything I believe in as well.  Plus I have witnessed colleagues have bad things happen with their identities when this exact pattern emerged.  I cannot tell you how nervous this makes me but, I literally felt my heart going 1000 miles an hour as this brought back all the horror stories.

[Twinkledoe]

Yea I did some digging on my end and as far as I can tell I neither violated Hong Kong (where Kucoin is based) nor my local AML thresholds that would warrant reporting my transactions to authorities.
So I doubt that is what happened. For reference, the CDD threshold by HK AML regulations is $8000 for wire transfers.
The guidelines can be verified here.

If they can make a proper case that warrants enhanced due diligence, and I do have to admit, that they could in my case, they are allowed or even required to demand Identification.
But, as far as I can tell neither HK nor European AML regulations require the data KuCoin is demanding.
HK AML Identification state only:

• full name
• date of birth
• nationality
• unique identification number (passport / ID)

My 'local' AML in addition also always requires a residential address.

Can we post this thread to the kucoin thread so they can address this matter accordingly? They are still active here in the forum so maybe we can have direct from them.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269

[bitcoinjesus2020]

Can we post this thread to the kucoin thread so they can address this matter accordingly? They are still active here in the forum so maybe we can have direct from them.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269

It got posted and the reply is less than reassuring.  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5163269.msg55114854#msg55114854

Extremely disappointing they are being like this.