Blockchain Exchange holding my funds (1.25 BTC) hostage for 45 days already

[GekkeBelg]

On April 21st Blockchain Exchange blocked my access to my account and support emailed me the following:

Due to your recent trading activity, we require some further information. Could you please provide the following:
 
Confirm your occupation
Purpose of use of service
Explanation and proof of source of funds (for the last 3 months) in the form of a bank statements (PDF format) including the BTC transaction of 0.76077644 BTC into Blockchain.com services on 27-March-2023, in the form of crypto exchange statements or similar. Please explain where you originally purchased or received the funds relating to this transaction and provide supporting evidence.
Please explain and provide supporting evidence for crypto funds deposited to your account regarding where (third party platforms) you originally purchased or received these (full transaction reports reflecting deposits, purchases/winnings, and withdrawals for the months of March and April 2023. If gambling platforms were also used then also share full transaction reports from them showing deposits, winnings, and withdrawals together with the betting histories.
Proof of source of wealth, in the form of payslips, bank statements showing your salary, bank/saving account statements etc

Since I had only been using my Exchange for about a month, never mady any trades and only used it for transferring and receiving some BTC (only about 5 or 6 transaction in total), I felt this was way too much work. So I answered their questions, gave them screenshots of the transfers and told them where the funds originated from.
I said I didn't want to provide a source of wealth because I thought it was irrelevant since I never deposited any Fiat onto my account and never bought or sold or traded any crypto.

So they said, okay fine, we will review your account and get back to you. And this "review" has already been taking 45 days now.....every week I email them for an update and they keep on saying it's in process and I need to wait. I feel like this is having no end.....how on earth can a "review" (whatever that may be) take so long when an account has no trades and only 5 or 6 transactions? And the weirdest of this all is that they started their email with "due to your recent trading activity".....well, there is NO trading activity at all on my account!

Does anybody have any experience with such a review? How long did it take for you? And do you have any advice for me who to contact to speed this up?

[1715264028]

1715264028

[OmegaStarScream]

But did you provide anything related to the source of the crypto you deposited?:

Please explain and provide supporting evidence for crypto funds deposited to your account regarding where (third party platforms) you originally purchased or received these (full transaction reports reflecting deposits, purchases/winnings, and withdrawals for the months of March and April 2023. If gambling platforms were also used then also share full transaction reports from them showing deposits, winnings, and withdrawals together with the betting histories.[/b]

Did you use a mixer? a gambling site? received them from someone you don't know? etc.

There's sadly nothing much you can do to accelerate this process or to make them unblock your account. You have to comply.

As for the future, make sure to use non-custodial wallets especially if you're not planning to do any trading... there's no point in using an exchange in that case.

[Oshosondy]

Is this blockchain.com exchange?

Sorry for the inconveniences.

Only there customer care can help you.

But did you know that you caused this to yourself? You are not exchanging to any coin, why did you transfer your coins to the exchange part which is different from the wallet?

Use a noncustodial wallet for saving your coins. You can use Electrum for that, or a hardware wallet for large amount.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

Does anybody have any experience with such a review? How long did it take for you? And do you have any advice for me who to contact to speed this up?

0.76077644 BTC is a lot of money. In today's price it's $20,370 for a custodial service it's a lot of money for that the authority ask questions to them.

My best guess is the BTC you received has something to do with gambling or mixers. Whoever sent you those funds they used a mixer or send from a gambling site. I am not entirely sure but I read somewhere they have the terms that you can not deposit from gambling or mixers.

Try to contact with the person who sent you the BTC, use AML tools to check AML score. These days they are making it difficult so that regular people do not get encouraged to use crypto. Whatever is your case, I am sorry that it seems you are in trouble. Hopefully you will be able to access your coin soon.

[Potato Chips]

Yeah their support has an extra poor reputation in the community, good luck. My guess is they will probably release your money eventually long as you comply but who knows what kind of nightmare do you have to go through for it.

About your last sentence, I can only suggest making noise in popular crypto spaces such as crypto subreddits and twitter. I think you can even hire some twitter accounts with decent following to retweet your story.

[andulolika]

I can't believe shit got this bad.

[GekkeBelg]

Yes, I used it to send and receive money from gambling websites (never used any mixers though). But there is nothing in their terms which forbids this. The reason why I deposited those funds into their exchange is because at some point I was planning to sell some, but the matter of fact is that I have zero trades on my account as of yet.

[PX-Z]

That is too much shitty requirements. I understand you need to give these things since you deposited a lot of money triggers their greedy minds i mean their system. But 45 days?
I guess you need to do something already, tell them that you will report this to authorities for taking hostage your money and considered as thief. I know blockchain.com for their shitty site but it looks like they have shitty system as well.

[GekkeBelg]

That is too much shitty requirements. I understand you need to give these things since you deposited a lot of money triggers their greedy minds i mean their system. But 45 days?
I guess you need to do something already, tell them that you will report this to authorities for taking hostage your money and considered as thief. I know blockchain.com for their shitty site but it looks like they have shitty system as well.

I have done that already several times, but they keep responding in the same generic way.

Does anybody know where Blockchain Exchange holds their license in the EU? I am from Germany. I want to complain to their licensor here.

[hosseinimr93]

Yes, I used it to send and receive money from gambling websites (never used any mixers though). But there is nothing in their terms which forbids this.

That's explicitly stated on Blockchain.com User Agreement. It seems that you missed that.

15.2 When accessing or using the Services, you agree that you are solely responsible for your conduct while accessing and using our Services. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree that you shall not:

(b) use the Services to pay for, support or otherwise engage in any illegal activities, including, but not limited to illegal gambling, fraud, money laundering, or terrorist activities;

The gambling website you withdrew fund from has been probably considered as an illegal gambling operator by blockchain.com exchange.

[PX-Z]

I have done that already several times, but they keep responding in the same generic way.

Does anybody know where Blockchain Exchange holds their license in the EU? I am from Germany. I want to complain to their licensor here.

That's really unfortunate.

You can check and read these links^[1][2]. It is also noted that they only accept legal request from these countries Lithuania, Ireland, or the British Virgin Islands. Good luck mate.

[1] https://www.blockchain.com/legal/licenses
[2] https://exchange.blockchain.com/legal/law

[GekkeBelg]

Yes, I used it to send and receive money from gambling websites (never used any mixers though). But there is nothing in their terms which forbids this.

That's explicitly stated on Blockchain.com User Agreement. It seems that you missed that.

15.2 When accessing or using the Services, you agree that you are solely responsible for your conduct while accessing and using our Services. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree that you shall not:

(b) use the Services to pay for, support or otherwise engage in any illegal activities, including, but not limited to illegal gambling, fraud, money laundering, or terrorist activities;

The gambling website you withdrew fund from has been probably considered as an illegal gambling operator by blockchain.com exchange.

I read that they prohibit illegal gambling. But I only play with licensed legal gambling companies. All of them licensed in Curacao. It's not up to Blockchain to judge on their own that suddenly those companies are considered illegal. But we are now already assuming this is the problem. I already showed them screenshots of my gambling transactions and they never said something was wrong with that. All they said is "okay we are going to review your account".

[LoyceV]

The reason why I deposited those funds into their exchange is because at some point I was planning to sell some

This is exactly why so many people have been warning against this for so long! "Not your keys, not your coins". Keep your coins in your own wallet, and when you want to sell some, only send that amount. Apparently this can't be repeated often enough

And do you have any advice for me who to contact to speed this up?

There's blockchainwallet, but they're not very active. I have the guy's email address, but last contact was more than 2 years ago.

[rat03gopoh]

how on earth can a "review" (whatever that may be) take so long when an account has no trades and only 5 or 6 transactions?

I dunno, maybe they want to find your point of fault by investigating all the tx before yours (even the ones you didn't do). I don't understand what the team was thinking so tackling an issue to be dramatic, 45 days is a bullshit handler they have to frustrate users.

[jrrsparkles]

Yes, I used it to send and receive money from gambling websites (never used any mixers though). But there is nothing in their terms which forbids this.

That's explicitly stated on Blockchain.com User Agreement. It seems that you missed that.

15.2 When accessing or using the Services, you agree that you are solely responsible for your conduct while accessing and using our Services. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree that you shall not:

(b) use the Services to pay for, support or otherwise engage in any illegal activities, including, but not limited to illegal gambling, fraud, money laundering, or terrorist activities;

The gambling website you withdrew fund from has been probably considered as an illegal gambling operator by blockchain.com exchange.

I read that they prohibit illegal gambling. But I only play with licensed legal gambling companies. All of them licensed in Curacao. It's not up to Blockchain to judge on their own that suddenly those companies are considered illegal. But we are now already assuming this is the problem. I already showed them screenshots of my gambling transactions and they never said something was wrong with that. All they said is "okay we are going to review your account".

You may not like to hear the truth but it can take few week more or even months and that's how their shitty customer support service known for.

Generally if this happens they just terminate the account immediately and let you to withdraw the funds but here they are holding it and mentioned review so all you can do is just wait and wait until someone actually resolve the issue.

Never ever use custodial wallets anymore.

[hosseinimr93]

Never ever use custodial wallets anymore.

Take note that blockchain.com isn't a custodial wallet. Their wallet is non-custodial and gives users access to their private keys. Of course, I would never recommend anyone to use it.
OP's fund is now in blockchain.com exchange, not their wallet.

[joniboini]

And do you have any advice for me who to contact to speed this up?

I second the suggestion to make noise on social media, especially contacting social media influencers/content creators. If your story can help them make content they'll definitely use it to their advantage. I believe you're not the only one who got similar troubles so you can probably ask others to make posts about it. Not sure who to contact for this kind of thing though. Anyway, if history tells us something, when a company faces a possibility of a PR nightmare their support suddenly become so much faster.

[khaled0111]

Take note that blockchain.com isn't a custodial wallet. Their wallet is non-custodial and gives users access to their private keys. Of course, I would never recommend anyone to use it.
OP's fund is now in blockchain.com exchange, not their wallet.

If I'm not mistaken then blockchain's exchange is a custodial service unlike their wallet's service, right! In this case OP will not be able to withdraw/move his funds without their approval!
OP, all you have to/can do right now is to comply with their requirements. Since you have deposited from licensed gambling services, then you need to provide proofs of deposits, bets history, withdrawals.. to/from the gambling platforms. If it's a licensed one then I suppose you'll be fine and you'll be able to withdraw your coins with no issues.

[tabas]

I can't believe when they've got the tagline of "Be your own bank" and then asking these questions from someone that has deposited a lot on them. Well, maybe they're just complying to what has been placed on them upon building this exchange as regulators what have told them to follow.
@OP as said by the majority in here, no one can help you out with this pending transaction of yours. So clear all of those what they're asking and wait until they verify all of those requirements and answers you've provided them. I know it's a pain in the ass but that's how this will go, until you're able to withdraw your money from them, never use them again and anything that's related to their service including their own web wallet.

[BitMaxz]

Blockchain is also known have poor support I heard someone before that their BTC was stuck on Blockchain exchange it takes 5 months before he got his BTC back but even if they give the BTC back the price of BTC is already dropped so much.
My guess is they are going to do the same to you before they give you access or solve your case and can withdraw the BTC.

That is why I don't hold BTC in some exchanges it is not good for holding BTC there unless you are actively trading a small amount and then diversify them to reduce the risk.

[yhiaali3]

Unfortunately the complaints on Blockchain.com have been increasing day by day lately, I don't want to blame you for putting all that money in a web wallet or a central exchange because that doesn't work anymore.

But in general you have to wait this is the only option you have, they are holding your money now and you can't do anything if they ban you. This is why we always say that people should not put their money in centralized exchanges or just put trading money and hold the rest in a noncustodial wallet.

[Z-tight]

Centralized exchanges can confiscate your funds if they decide to, it is even in their terms of service that sadly nobody reads. This is a very frustrating position that op find themselves, but nothing can be done about it, they have confiscated your money like we have said they can do so many times on this forum.

Op, if you manage to get your money out of there, use p2p exchanges like Bisq for trading, but if you want to trade on centralized exchanges, be careful with the amount of money you deposit at once or the source of it, BTC is censorship resistant and permissionless and all of these doesn't matter if you are trading on-chain, but once you are dealing with centralized exchanges, they control your money and it matters to them.

[GekkeBelg]

Good news: after 2 months and 8 days of waiting, Blockchain Exchange finally sent me the funds. I will never use Blockchain again, let that be sure!

This was their comment:

Due to a breach of our terms and conditions, your account has been suspended. The funds have been refunded to the crypto address you have provided and the account holds no custodial funds.
 
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

[tabas]

Good news: after 2 months and 8 days of waiting, Blockchain Exchange finally sent me the funds. I will never use Blockchain again, let that be sure!

This was their comment:

Due to a breach of our terms and conditions, your account has been suspended. The funds have been refunded to the crypto address you have provided and the account holds no custodial funds.
 
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Good riddance.
I've tried to use it before but good thing that I've got difficulty on using them so that's a blessing as disguise for me. And since everything has been refunded to you and you're happy even though it took 2 months for you to have that refund, this thread has served its purpose so it's best for this topic to get locked.

[LoyceV]

This was their comment:

we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection.

That's a lousy excuse.

[RickDeckard]

This was their comment:

we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection.

That's a lousy excuse.

Let this be another example where CEX's can do whatever they want with their users funds. OP may have not comply with the CEX's terms, but at least they could have given him a reasonable justification for withholding his funds for more than 1 month. CEX's can't stop surprising me.

[khaled0111]

..

Don't know what term you violated or if you have violated one at all but the good thing is that they let you withdraw your money, although they suspended your account.
OP, you made the right call by deciding to never use their services. I hope more members read this thread to understand why they need to be cautious when using centralized exchanges and why they need to store their coins on their own wallets.

[DaveF]

This was their comment:

we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection.

That's a lousy excuse.

It's probably a legal thing.
If they come out and say that they don't trust the LoyceV casino or the DaveF exchange or whatever, that puts them in the position of having to defend their view and the potential liability of whoever coming after them for defamation or some such crap. Easier to just say we can't tell you.

Also, if they made a mistake and the funds did not come from where they thought they did then they don't have to justify it.

But, it's blockchain.com and they have never been user friendly.

-Dave

[LoyceV]

Also, if they made a mistake and the funds did not come from where they thought they did then they don't have to justify it.

That's why I called it a lousy excuse. If they made a mistake, the honest thing would be to admit it, apologize for it, and learn from it.

[NotATether]

This was their comment:

we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection.

That's a lousy excuse.

It's probably a legal thing.
If they come out and say that they don't trust the LoyceV casino or the DaveF exchange or whatever, that puts them in the position of having to defend their view and the potential liability of whoever coming after them for defamation or some such crap. Easier to just say we can't tell you.

But they can just say in their FAQ: "The LoyceV casino and the DaveF exchange are on our list of banned platforms." Why the secrecy?

If Blockchain.com comes out and says the NotATether mixer will not be accepted for transaction sending and receiving, I can't force them to reverse their decision.

(Yes, old reply, but Blockchain is not going away anytime soon.)

[DaveF]

But they can just say in their FAQ: "The LoyceV casino and the DaveF exchange are on our list of banned platforms." Why the secrecy?

If Blockchain.com comes out and says the NotATether mixer will not be accepted for transaction sending and receiving, I can't force them to reverse their decision.

(Yes, old reply, but Blockchain is not going away anytime soon.)

Doing it this way allows them to do whatever they want without having to deal with changing any of those pesky ToS and allowing people to opt out / leave.

This way they can just flag stuff internally and not worry about other things.

Something...something....oh yeah...NOT YOUR KEYS NOT YOUR COINS.

-Dave

[shield132]

Does anyone know what will happen if I deposit coins on blockchain.com wallet and then I receive a message that my funds are locked? Does this deposited money goes in their pocket or are they obligated to donate confiscated coins to government?

By the way, this is for anyone who is going to use blockchain.com wallet. I created BC wallet in 2016 or 2017 and one of my wallet become problematic immediately. When I was logging-in, I would receive email to confirm my login but when I would click on confirmation, it was writing it's successful in green colors but wallet still couldn't load and then there was an error message. I don't know why that could happen but since that day, I think their system doesn't work well technically and it's very dangerous to even use them.

[LoyceV]

Does anyone know what will happen if I deposit coins on blockchain.com wallet and then I receive a message that my funds are locked?

A wallet gives you access to your own private keys. That means a wallet can't lock your funds (other than doing it yourself, like clicking "Lock unspent" in Bitcoin Core). So if blockchain.com can lock your funds, it's not a "wallet". It's a custodial (or exchange). Know the difference, and use a real wallet so you don't have to worry about this.

[hosseinimr93]

Does anyone know what will happen if I deposit coins on blockchain.com wallet and then I receive a message that my funds are locked?

OP's issue is with blockchain.com exchange, not their wallet.
If you have fund in blockchain.com wallet and you can't spend it for any reason, you can import your seed phrase in other wallets and spend your fund.

Due to obvious reasons, I don't like blockchain.com wallet and I would recommend anyone to avoid their service, but their wallet is non-custodial and as mentioned by LoyceV, it gives you access to your private keys.

[Woodie]

In the world of fiat thought PayPal were bad , but even if they hit you with suspicious  transaction checks atleast they give user back your funds and deny you further access just to have a win win situation.

But with our crypto exchanges, it's a whole different story as this always turns out to be some kind of hijack and hide behind their terms and conditions to justify their action's...but as a user whose caught up in this ,best option is to give them what they want and once your account is in the clear withdraw and never go back to such jokers!!!

Just hope this is some "shotgun KYC" or "ToS-scam" as eXch calls it

[CRAIC]

Good news: after 2 months and 8 days of waiting, Blockchain Exchange finally sent me the funds. I will never use Blockchain again, let that be sure!

This was their comment:

Due to a breach of our terms and conditions, your account has been suspended. The funds have been refunded to the crypto address you have provided and the account holds no custodial funds.
 
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide any details about individual applications or specific reasons for rejection. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

thank you for sharing the news with the public

otherwise I thought that this platform was completely scam