Bitstamp withdrawal delays, failure to execute withdrawals, Bitstamp failing?

[bullioner]

I have been trying to withdraw a balance of around 1.2M GBP from Bitstamp for the last month. 

It has repeatedly failed.  They keep sending me in circles and fobbing me off.  I have raised several support tickets, and on Friday I raised a complaint via their complaints email address.  In my last support enquiry, I told them that I would have to treat the funds as stolen, if they tried to fob me off again.  But, they tried to fob me off, with some supporttard telling me to clear cookies and cache (classic fobbing-off technique), and closing the ticket.  So I do now have to treat the funds as stolen.

Although their domicile has always been unclear to me (elements apparently in UK, EU, US, and customer relationship apparently being moved between "entities"), it has always seemed to have a UK presence.  Therefore, I intend to raise a complaint with the FCA, and with the Serious Fraud Office in London.

My suspicion is that this is similar to when other exchanges in the past have started failing to execute withdrawals: that their client money account(s) do not match their client balances, or put more simply, that they have stolen client money.

The exact pattern has been: I enter my GBP bank account details as per the form, with IBAN etc.  I submit the withdrawal request.  I get an email saying it failed, and for GBP I must enter account number in IBAN / account number field, and sort code in SWIFT/BIC field.  I then try to do this, but their form won't accept it.  When I enter the six digits without dashes, form validation fails in one way.  When I enter it with dashes, it fails in a similar but slightly different way.  I then raise the issue with them, they fob me off / incorrectly tell me it's fixed, and I go through the cycle again.

I am going to assemble an exact timeline, screenshots, ticket text, etc, ready for submitting the complaints, and will update this thread with more details in due course.

[1714905519]

1714905519

[1714905519]

1714905519

[1714905519]

1714905519

[1714905519]

1714905519

[1714905519]

1714905519

[BitMaxz]

You might have open orders which is why withdrawals are failing? Check this image below


Source: https://www.bitstamp.net/faq/i-have-enough-funds-on-account-why-cant-i-withdraw/

There have been many reports before about Bitstamp stuck withdrawal or not being able to withdraw so I think you are not the only one experienced this.

If you don't have open orders then try to contact them check the following link below for the Bitstamp contact list and also read that thread the TS also has a similar case.

- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5467681.msg62887192#msg62887192

[Z-tight]

Sorry about what is happening, but this is not new with centralized exchanges.

I have been trying to withdraw a balance of around 1.2M GBP from Bitstamp for the last month.  

£1.2m is such a large amount to store in a centralized exchange, where you don't control the keys and the exchange can confiscate your funds at anytime.

Although their domicile has always been unclear to me (elements apparently in UK, EU, US, and customer relationship apparently being moved between "entities"), it has always seemed to have a UK presence.  Therefore, I intend to raise a complaint with the FCA, and with the Serious Fraud Office in London.

From what i found online, their business headquarters is in Luxembourg City.

[rat03gopoh]

But, they tried to fob me off, with some supporttard telling me to clear cookies and cache (classic fobbing-off technique), and closing the ticket.  So I do now have to treat the funds as stolen.

Support provides solutions such as a technical error, just hope this isn't their attempt to buy time which in the end considers it to be a problem with the source of funds or an account security risk.
What if you exchange some of your GBP for bitcoin and then try to withdraw it?

[logfiles]

Try buying some of the BTC using the GBP, move it out of Bitstamp to some other exchange that works in your country, and you have already registered with it and try to withdraw to your bank account. Do In small amounts first to see if it works
This could save you from the unending drama that Bistamp is trying to throw at you.

[sunsilk]

Most exchanges will get some trigger if a user tries to withdraw with a huge amount. They won't have any problems if someone deposits millions in fiat or in crypto.

But if someone tries to withdraw and that's with the amount you set then it's very likely that won't allow you to do that in a single batch. IMHO, most exchanges have this kind of attitude towards huge withdrawals.

I agree with the suggestion of the folks above that do it in small amounts and in many batches.

[Z-tight]

Most exchanges will get some trigger if a user tries to withdraw with a huge amount. They won't have any problems if someone deposits millions in fiat or in crypto.

Surely they wouldn't have any problem with people depositing their money into their exchange, and even if they do, they would first of all process the incoming deposit and then confiscate it, and then proceed to make request for additional kyc info or source of funds from the customer. Op has not been online since they made this post, but i think they would return to give us info on where he is now with this case, with what op said the last time, the exchange are yet to confiscate the funds, but the withdrawal fails constantly, i hope op comes back with positive news in their next post.

[sunsilk]

Most exchanges will get some trigger if a user tries to withdraw with a huge amount. They won't have any problems if someone deposits millions in fiat or in crypto.

Surely they wouldn't have any problem with people depositing their money into their exchange, and even if they do, they would first of all process the incoming deposit and then confiscate it, and then proceed to make request for additional kyc info or source of funds from the customer. Op has not been online since they made this post, but i think they would return to give us info on where he is now with this case, with what op said the last time, the exchange are yet to confiscate the funds, but the withdrawal fails constantly, i hope op comes back with positive news in their next post.

It's interesting to see where this will end but most of us have got leads on how this is going to end as long as given the requirements and they're all complied.

With such amounts, I am sure that there's like a special handler on this one from bitstamp and the same goes for the other exchanges where they put some in depth investigation, verification and everything before releasing the funds.

[Rikafip]

But if someone tries to withdraw and that's with the amount you set then it's very likely that won't allow you to do that in a single batch. IMHO, most exchanges have this kind of attitude towards huge withdrawals.

Its one thing to ask for some kind of verificiation in case of such a huge withdrawal, but entirely different what is happening to OP and it makes it very suspicious.

Bitstamp is an old and relitvely reputable exchange and didn't expect them doing things like this. Then again, you simply can't trust centralized exchanges no matter how reputable they are, and especially not with those kind of amounts.

[Darker45]

I guess a withdrawal amount as huge as this and done in a single transaction only will be processed manually. It isn't an ordinary transaction, after all. Not to mention that it is a fiat transaction to a bank.

You might want to try other options like withdrawing in small amounts or withdrawing in crypto rather than fiat. It might be easier that way. If it still doesn't proceed, then I guess the problem isn't in the withdrawal but in your account itself.

Since this is a huge transaction, you might want to actually talk to somebody from Bitstamp rather than just wait for a response to your email or ticket. Here are their contact numbers as indicated on their site: +44 20 3868 9628 (UK), +1 800 712 5702 (US) or +352 20 88 10 96 (other countries).

[Rikafip]

I guess a withdrawal amount as huge as this and done in a single transaction only will be processed manually. It isn't an ordinary transaction, after all. Not to mention that it is a fiat transaction to a bank.

If size of the transaction is the problem, wouldn't customer support mention that to OP, instead keeping him in the dark and giving them some silly solutions like "delete your cookies" etc?

I hope that I am wrong, but this smells like a potential selective scam and centralized exchanges are known to do that.

[sunsilk]

But if someone tries to withdraw and that's with the amount you set then it's very likely that won't allow you to do that in a single batch. IMHO, most exchanges have this kind of attitude towards huge withdrawals.

Its one thing to ask for some kind of verificiation in case of such a huge withdrawal, but entirely different what is happening to OP and it makes it very suspicious.

Bitstamp is an old and relitvely reputable exchange and didn't expect them doing things like this. Then again, you simply can't trust centralized exchanges no matter how reputable they are, and especially not with those kind of amounts.

Yeah, no matter how old and reputed an exchange is.

When it's about with such matters and includes bigger withdrawals, they can change their treatment and might cause you headache if we're the one experiencing it.

That's the reason why we don't want to withdraw such huge amounts in just one withdrawals because the most thing we hear from doing so is that we'll just get something like this. And if exchanges like Bitstamp or any other wants to remove this thought from the community, they should do better and provide better assistance and experience when someone withdraws big.

[Darker45]

I guess a withdrawal amount as huge as this and done in a single transaction only will be processed manually. It isn't an ordinary transaction, after all. Not to mention that it is a fiat transaction to a bank.

If size of the transaction is the problem, wouldn't customer support mention that to OP, instead keeping him in the dark and giving them some silly solutions like "delete your cookies" etc?

I hope that I am wrong, but this smells like a potential selective scam and centralized exchanges are known to do that.

It's not uncommon for customer support of any centralized exchange for that matter to give clueless answers. It's not uncommon for these ignorant staff outsourced from the farthest corners of the world to fob off clients with concerns and complaints. They simply don't care.

Although there's not a single centralized exchange without scam accusations, I think Bitstamp can't be categorized with the likes of YoBit. It's more or less trusted, has been in operation since 2011. The longest running crypto exchange for that matter. Although they may scam certain amounts from users, I don't think stealing more than $1.5 million from a single account is part of it. That's something that can significantly tarnish their name and bring them to the courts even.

[Rikafip]

That's the reason why we don't want to withdraw such huge amounts in just one withdrawals because the most thing we hear from doing so is that we'll just get something like this. And if exchanges like Bitstamp or any other wants to remove this thought from the community, they should do better and provide better assistance and experience when someone withdraws big.

I doubt that OP didn't try to withdrew smaller amount, and he probably got the same result. I would like to hear though whether he tried to convert fiat to bitcoin and then send it that way to other exchange, as some people suggested.

Although there's not a single centralized exchange without scam accusations, I think Bitstamp can't be categorized with the likes of YoBit.

I totally agree. I know some people that are using Bitstamp from the very early days and they never had any issues whatsoever so I am really surprised that OP has such issues. Then again, we have no idea what's going on behind and maybe he is not telling us the whole story.

[sunsilk]

That's the reason why we don't want to withdraw such huge amounts in just one withdrawals because the most thing we hear from doing so is that we'll just get something like this. And if exchanges like Bitstamp or any other wants to remove this thought from the community, they should do better and provide better assistance and experience when someone withdraws big.

I doubt that OP didn't try to withdrew smaller amount, and he probably got the same result. I would like to hear though whether he tried to convert fiat to bitcoin and then send it that way to other exchange, as some people suggested.

He mentioned that he did it repeatedly so yes, he might already have requested for a withdrawal in smaller amounts and didn't pushed through.

But let's wait on how it went first before proceeding to the attempt of withdrawing that 1.2M GBP.

Maybe there is more with this kind of accounts and let's hear it again from him if the support already replied and addressed this concern of his but I doubt that bitstamp rep will disclose reasons for such delays. So, waiting for some updates from OP.

[Z-tight]

Maybe there is more with this kind of accounts and let's hear it again from him if the support already replied and addressed this concern of his but I doubt that bitstamp rep will disclose reasons for such delays. So, waiting for some updates from OP.

Op has not been online since the day they made this thread complaining about withdrawal on Bitstamp, maybe some suggestions from here worked out, or the exchange's support provided real 'support' this time and resolved the issue. Bitstamp is an old exchange and people expect a lot from them when it comes to handling issues like this, so hopefully op's issue might have been solved and they have gone back to being inactive on the forum.

[sunsilk]

Maybe there is more with this kind of accounts and let's hear it again from him if the support already replied and addressed this concern of his but I doubt that bitstamp rep will disclose reasons for such delays. So, waiting for some updates from OP.

Op has not been online since the day they made this thread complaining about withdrawal on Bitstamp, maybe some suggestions from here worked out, or the exchange's support provided real 'support' this time and resolved the issue. Bitstamp is an old exchange and people expect a lot from them when it comes to handling issues like this, so hopefully op's issue might have been solved and they have gone back to being inactive on the forum.

It's been a week since his last logged in. We don't what actually happen but if it's for good then I hope that he's got what he need for this withdrawal attempt.

But most likely, this is still a developing story since big sums of money is involved. Otherwise, he's not obliged at all to give some updates if he's done with it.

Because that's what we usually see from these stories and complains when they're done and good to go, they don't come back.

[examplens]

It's been a week since his last logged in. We don't what actually happen but if it's for good then I hope that he's got what he need for this withdrawal attempt.

But most likely, this is still a developing story since big sums of money is involved. Otherwise, he's not obliged at all to give some updates if he's done with it.

Because that's what we usually see from these stories and complains when they're done and good to go, they don't come back.

To me, the story about the locked 1.2M GBP on CEX seems quite unrealistic. The only possible scenario is that Bitcoins or some other currency were deposited many (7+) years ago and that everything gained such a value in the meantime.
If this is the case, it is very likely that the user forgot about that account and the funds from it (otherwise he would have tried to withdraw it earlier) and did not access it for a long time. If so, then maybe there is an explanation for why Bitstamp slows down withdrawal and wants to do all the checks to make sure that it is the original owner.