Poloniex cannot change the email address assigned to an account

[trigger1975]

Remark: Not sure if this is the right board for this.  So if this matter fits better into another board, I ask the mods to kindly move it to where it better fits.  Thanks!

I have a Poloniex trading account since 2016.  As I was focusing on trading Forex since 2017, I have not logged into that account since then.

In the meantime, I have lost possession of the email address I have used to create my Poloniex account.  I wanted to re-loggin now to my account so I've reached out to Poloniex Support to change the mail address so I can log in again.  Indeed I was awaiting some sort of owner verification to assure I'm the owner of that account.

But, as it seems to be rocket science for Poloniex to change the email address of an account, I am not able to get back access to it.  They say, it's just not possible to change the address assigned to an account. So I'm losing access to it and therefore losing all my trading history.  I even cannot check by myself if I have left any (small) funds in that account.  I have to trust them saying no funds left.  

Sure it'd be my – and only my – fault if there are funds left. I'm totally accepting my own responsibility.  That's not the point … But as long as the exchange is still in business they shall have some sort of account-recovery with owner verification process to get back access to the owner …

So beware: don't ever lose possession on an email account you might have used for any exchange

[mk4]

Whenever I hear about Poloniex, pretty much 90% of what I hear are bad news.

Just screw that exchange altogether, and just move to Binance or FTX if you need an exchange with a good number of trading pairs.


The Trading Discussion section is probably fine, but this would probably be more fitting in the Service Discussion[1] section. The move option is near the bottom left corner of this page.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=85.0

[tranthidung]

In the meantime, I have lost possession of the email address I have used to create my Poloniex account.  I wanted to re-loggin now to my account so I've reached out to Poloniex Support to change the mail address so I can log in again.  Indeed I was awaiting some sort of owner verification to assure I'm the owner of that account.

You have to secure your email and your account on Poloniex, passwords, 2FA, etc. It is abnormal if exchange allow you to change your email address.

It is suspicious change if you even can not log in your account and initial email.

Exchanges don't take risks and let customers change account information (initial email to new email) after access is lost like you. If any exchange provides recovery by ID verification or address verification, it is good for their customers but you can not blame if they don't provide. I don't investigate account recovery process guide but if their guide does not mention about such procedure, you lose one more point.

I don't protect Poloniex, frankly.

8. SECURITY OF USER INFORMATION
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of any and all account names, User IDs, passwords and any other security feature that you use to access the Services. You are responsible for (i) keeping your email address up to date in your Account profile and (ii) maintaining the confidentiality of your User information and the security of your Account, which includes the enabling of all relevant security features. You agree to notify Polo immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized use of the Services or any other breach of security regarding the Services. Polo will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your Account or your User information.

We shall not bear any liability for any damage or interruptions caused by any computer viruses, spyware, or other malware that may affect your computer or other equipment, or any phishing, spoofing, or other attack. We advise the regular use of a reliable virus and malware screening and prevention software. If you question the authenticity of a communication purporting to be from Polo, you should login to your Account through the Poloniex website (poloniex.com) (the “Site”) or via the App, not by clicking links contained in emails.

We use reasonable efforts to protect your Account, and we need you to do the same. It is important that you always protect not only your password but also the email account associated with your Account and any device used to access your Account. We strongly advise you to enable two-factor authentication: this offers you greater protection from possible attackers attempting to log in to your Account than password alone and in situations where your email and/or password is compromised by a third party data breach.

https://poloniex.com/terms/

Email Address

Due to security precautions, it is not possible to change the email address that was used to create your account at the time of registration.

If you have access to the email you'd like to switch, simply create a new Poloniex account and transfer your funds from the original account to your new account.

https://support.poloniex.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040029833-How-to-Update-Your-Account-Information

[crwth]

Why did you lose your access in the first place? Mostly if you register on an exchange, there's verification on your email, saying that it's yours and you have access. Do you have any way to recover the email account instead?

Whenever I hear about Poloniex, pretty much 90% of what I hear are bad news.

Since Poloniex was one of the earliest exchanges, I expect nothing more than that percentage lol.

[Dave1]

This is an old issue from Poloniex

https://www.reddit.com/r/PoloniexForum/comments/6ecscc/no_response_from_customer_support_on_changing/

I'm not really sure, maybe you can post your problems from that subreddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/PoloniexForum/ and see how it goes.

[Myleschetty]

I google the exchange to be sure what was said about and the impression I have are bad.
 

But the best way for the OP to get back his account is to restore his email account back after all the email was his own and getting it back shouldn't be a problem.

[samcrypto]

This is why email account are very important, so you must protect it at all cost just like your private keys.
Poloniex is still a great exchange and probably just doing what is right, its not possible to recover it if you already lost your email account since there's a "forgot password" on Poloniex platform that allows users to access their account by changing their password thru their registered email.

Maybe this can help, always look for ToS on any exchange site to avoid this kind of mistake. - https://poloniex.com/terms/

I google the exchange to be sure what was said about and the impression I have are bad.

There's a lot of problems with this exchange in the past years, and from being on top now they are on the top 14 position but it doesn't mean that its a total scam, you have to do more research about it and don't believe on google easily, collect more sources.

[mk4]

Since Poloniex was one of the earliest exchanges, I expect nothing more than that percentage lol.

Poloniex was found in 2014, and Coinbase was found even earlier in 2012. While Coinbase sure has their fair share of bad feedback, the levels of bad feedback that I've been seeing about Poloniex is just in a different level lol. And since the acquisition from Justin Sun, I think it's just downhill from there.

[semobo]

It can be done but fir rhe security reasons they are not allowing customers to change their email addresses but most of the exchanges allowing it to do but its our responsibility to keep the passwords safe when you use your KYC documents to register there.

[ryzaadit]

But as long as the exchange is still in business they shall have some sort of account-recovery with owner verification process to get back access to the owner …

Some exchanges can have a recovery option for email lose, some exchanges cannot even you can full filled the requirement to requested change into new email. But the case while some exchange can do that, they will ask you to provide several questions:
- Provided KYC connected to the account.
- Deposit and withdraw history.
- Security question, If they have this option
- Last password
- And other data

Is really a lot work.

[crwth]

Poloniex was found in 2014, and Coinbase was found even earlier in 2012. While Coinbase sure has their fair share of bad feedback, the levels of bad feedback that I've been seeing about Poloniex is just in a different level lol. And since the acquisition from Justin Sun, I think it's just downhill from there.

Well, we all know that Coinbase is definitely at the top of all crypto related stuff and having seen the news about their possible IPO, it would even be more valuable. It's going to be a milestone for the crypto industry for sure. Since the company started as crypto and not just adapting it.

Anyway, I didn't know that Justin Sun acquired it. :O I don't know what to feel. Maybe has something to do with DeFi things?

[trigger1975]

Email Address

Due to security precautions, it is not possible to change the email address that was used to create your account at the time of registration.

If you have access to the email you'd like to switch, simply create a new Poloniex account and transfer your funds from the original account to your new account.

Well, that's the current version of the TOS. The account was created 19-October-2016 at at 21:31 CET.  The TOS at account creation time was this: https://web.archive.org/web/20161008181523/https://poloniex.com/terms/.

There is nothing in there that the Email address assigned to an account cannot be changed.

I totally understand under security aspects that they are denying to change the assigned email address if the owner cannot proof the ownership. But they are not even have a process to do so and explicitly exclude this in their current version of the TOS.  BTW: the quote above wasn't even in written in the TOS version 21-January-2020.

[Mahanton]

Anyway, I didn't know that Justin Sun acquired it. :O I don't know what to feel. Maybe has something to do with DeFi things?

Read up these links.

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/75247/how-trons-justin-sun-plans-to-use-poloniex-to-capitalize-on-the-defi-craze
https://medium.com/@seibelj/on-poloniex-and-working-with-justin-sun-9015041e8dc

I do remember those good old days on Poloniex but now it turns out to be a shit exchange.

[Ryker1]

Well, on my point --that is why I never suggest people put emails that they forget. As you can see, your account is ancient enough. Those days, Poloniex was not really that developed yet. That’s why it really is possible that you will not be able to retrieve it. Not yours and Poloniex’s fault anyway.
On the other hand, Poloniex should already have the option to authenticate accounts so just in case someone can’t remember their log-ins, verification is still possible to access. Perhaps the best way to do this here is to move on. You still have a lot of ways to earn though. Judging your account’s age, you might have grown as a trader already. I will be rooting on you.

[Scripture]

Since Poloniex was one of the earliest exchanges, I expect nothing more than that percentage lol.

Poloniex was found in 2014, and Coinbase was found even earlier in 2012. While Coinbase sure has their fair share of bad feedback, the levels of bad feedback that I've been seeing about Poloniex is just in a different level lol. And since the acquisition from Justin Sun, I think it's just downhill from there.

That's why Poloniex loses the trust of the public, from having no KYC into a KYC exchange platform, from that moment I switched right away.
Some exchange have their own ways to recover your account despite of losing your email, but unfortunately its not available on Poloniex and there's no more way to recover your account aside from remembering your email address and its password.

[tippytoes]

Since Poloniex was one of the earliest exchanges, I expect nothing more than that percentage lol.

Poloniex was found in 2014, and Coinbase was found even earlier in 2012. While Coinbase sure has their fair share of bad feedback, the levels of bad feedback that I've been seeing about Poloniex is just in a different level lol. And since the acquisition from Justin Sun, I think it's just downhill from there.

That's why Poloniex loses the trust of the public, from having no KYC into a KYC exchange platform, from that moment I switched right away.
Some exchange have their own ways to recover your account despite of losing your email, but unfortunately its not available on Poloniex and there's no more way to recover your account aside from remembering your email address and its password.

Wow, long time I have heard about Polo exchange. Used that before when it was still with the old management. When they changed hands, I transferred all my coins and since then, haven't used this exchange. Since it is not the same management, I guess they have different terms and conditions now. And if the OP can't get access on his old account, there's no way of knowing if they are saying the truth that he has no balance anymore. Just another lesson that you really don't have to store your coins in an exchange, no matter how much you have on their platform.

[TravelMug]

Is Polo still relevant today? Lol, I thought almost all of their traders have move out since 2017.

In any case though, never used Polo before because of such negativity around 2017 and that's why I thought they should be gone or at least crypto traders don't use them anymore because there are a lot of exchanges that grow in 2017, like Binance. I'm sorry to hear the OP's case, probably time to move on and take that small lost.

[Ararbermas]

When it comes important files especially wallets and some exchanges and etc,.. always remember to back it up. Not one or two duplicate.. if its possible to have 10x copy just do it, to ensure you can recover all your stuff without hassle..  

So accept the fact mate.. as is they are not responsible since at first, you have the chance to manage all the stuff that can be set up to be secured  your account.. Lesson learn..

[hugeblack]

You are in a weak position because in their terms of use they offer to keep the e-mail and not change it, but I see this is a useless rule.
They want people to forget their coins so that they can sell them in the future.
If you have verified the identity, you may have an opportunity to try to contact the support team with sufficient documentation to be submitted because I think it is difficult to create two accounts for trading on many platforms.

[Johnyz]

You are in a weak position because in their terms of use they offer to keep the e-mail and not change it, but I see this is a useless rule.
They want people to forget their coins so that they can sell them in the future.

They don't want people to forget their email account, and its clearly written on their ToS its just that, their system and platform are not that advance compare to other exchange that allows you to recover your account even if you already lose control on your email account. To OP, this is a total loss already, seems like Poloniex can't help you anymore.

Exchanges must consider this one, because there's a lot of hackers and even emails are being hacked nowadays so its important to have other options to recover your account not just through emails, KYC can be a big help on this.