Coinbase: I can't withdraw my funds via PayPal

[Potato Chips]

5th business day passed, and nothing has changed. And I wait...

Yeah you're likely stuck with waiting <-> follow up routine. Speaking of follow ups, you may also try through their twitter support, see: https://twitter.com/CoinbaseSupport

In the meantime, I notice on Reddit that many complain of account closures without explanation. All this is quite disturbing…

Typical coinbase when it comes to account closures. They either don't tell their users the reason or be super vague about it but they do give time to withdraw. Over the years, they're continuously closing accounts as well but the scope of affected people this time could be bigger than usual hence we could be seeing more people posting about it.

[magnetinik]

Typical coinbase when it comes to account closures. They either don't tell their users the reason or be super vague about it but they do give time to withdraw.

Unfortunately it seems they don't always allow withdrawals, according to various complaints on the forums.
Now, I wonder: can a company that bases its business on honesty and legality legitimately keep a user's money without allowing him to withdraw it? I mean: do they close many accounts because they don't comply with the regulations and then themselves set a very bad example of legality by withholding users' money? Even if a person, voluntarily or involuntarily, violates some point of the TOS, it is right to close the account without notice because the regulation provides for it: it is the user's responsibility to read it carefully and apply it. But it doesn't seem right at all for the account to be closed with money deposited. And that's what I fear.

[Potato Chips]

Typical coinbase when it comes to account closures. They either don't tell their users the reason or be super vague about it but they do give time to withdraw.

Unfortunately it seems they don't always allow withdrawals, according to various complaints on the forums.

Are they simple account closures or there was some sort of investigation on coinbase end like an intrusive KYC for instance.

Just to be clear, I was talking about the former where no further question is asked. Latter is when a user had something to clear on coinbase's end hence is not necessarily about CB closing their service to them/their account.

Some instances I could find thru quick search
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5447410 (also see post #17)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5458063

Now, I wonder: can a company that bases its business on honesty and legality legitimately keep a user's money without allowing him to withdraw it? I mean: do they close many accounts because they don't comply with the regulations and then themselves set a very bad example of legality by withholding users' money? Even if a person, voluntarily or involuntarily, violates some point of the TOS, it is right to close the account without notice because the regulation provides for it: it is the user's responsibility to read it carefully and apply it. But it doesn't seem right at all for the account to be closed with money deposited. And that's what I fear.

I get you and I feel the same. If it were up to me, no exchange should be allowed to keep a user's fund unless supported with a solid evidence e.g. court order which of course have to be properly communicated with the other party. The sad reality is when CEXs do something questionable, best we can do is post about it since lawyer-ing up is a luxury for most people.

[magnetinik]

Thank you.

7 business days have passed since they started reviewing my account, and nothing has changed. Withdrawals to PayPal are always inhibited. I wrote to the support replying to the last email sent to me. I do not give up. I want my money and I will fight for it. I told them if they have to close my account they can but not before allowing me to cash out my money. Also because keeping an account like this, where I can't do practically anything, doesn't make any sense.

[m2017]

Typical coinbase when it comes to account closures. They either don't tell their users the reason or be super vague about it but they do give time to withdraw.

Unfortunately it seems they don't always allow withdrawals, according to various complaints on the forums.
Now, I wonder: can a company that bases its business on honesty and legality legitimately keep a user's money without allowing him to withdraw it? I mean: do they close many accounts because they don't comply with the regulations and then themselves set a very bad example of legality by withholding users' money? Even if a person, voluntarily or involuntarily, violates some point of the TOS, it is right to close the account without notice because the regulation provides for it: it is the user's responsibility to read it carefully and apply it. But it doesn't seem right at all for the account to be closed with money deposited. And that's what I fear.

Any company that you voluntarily give your money to, whether traditional or cryptocurrencies, can do whatever they want with it. They may return the money to you, or they may not return it, hiding behind the rules and agreements. You are in a similar situation of being dependent on them and going through these bureaucratic barriers to get YOUR money.  I don't think this is right. The only way to emerge victorious from this situation was not to have to deal with the exchange at all.

Thank you.

7 business days have passed since they started reviewing my account, and nothing has changed. Withdrawals to PayPal are always inhibited. I wrote to the support replying to the last email sent to me. I do not give up. I want my money and I will fight for it. I told them if they have to close my account they can but not before allowing me to cash out my money. Also because keeping an account like this, where I can't do practically anything, doesn't make any sense.

You can fight them, but the result is completely independent of you and your actions. They want - and they will not return anything to you. It is naive to demand to cash out your account. You are not in a stable position and completely at their mercy (your money).

We'll see how it all ends. Keep us updated.

[DaveF]

Do you have ANY judgements / liens against you?

Since you are not US based I don't know if this pertains to you, but since someone I know just dealt with this in the US.
More or less he moved and missed a bill that went into collections and the collections people got a judgement against him.

Since he is in NY and we have VERY strict rules about what you can and cannot do the payroll department told the creditor to go away they would not do anything about it, and the same with the NY banks. Coinbase saw it and locked withdraws on a 6 figure account for under $2500. But it took him a lot of time and effort to figure out why because they could not figure out what automated system locked the account. Got to love automation. But it was an annoying couple of weeks for him (And me since I had to hear the complaints)

-Dave

[magnetinik]

Do you have ANY judgements / liens against you?

Absolutely not.

Meanwhile I received another email telling me what kind of infraction I committed. I won't go into specifics, but I'm simply invited not to commit it again, because my account could be suspended. In fact, the account is now unusable because I still can't buy, send and withdraw. Yesterday I deposited some cryptocurrencies and everything went well. I can also sell them. When that email arrived (in Italian) I thought the problem was finally solved. So I went to withdraw but the feature was always blocked. I wrote to support and was told to wait another 6 calendar days, and only after that, in the absence of a response from them, could I contact them again. In fact, times here are getting longer and longer. In theory they understood (and I understood) why my account is blocked, but in practice nothing changes.

[magnetinik]

HI. I am pleased to inform you that the problem has been resolved yesterday. All functions have been restored, including withdrawals to PayPal. Thank you all for reading and giving advice. It wasn't easy to wait but the patience paid off in the end. Thanks again and have a good day.