Users claim HitBTC hiding scam behind the KYC compliance

Difficulty in the withdrawal of Bitcoin

It has become difficult for the users of HitBTC to withdraw Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency exchange is forcing the users to complete KYC procedures for withdrawals. The users are now doubtful about the exchange’s objectives behind these stringent procedures. The users are doubtful about the solvency status of the cryptocurrency exchange.

User Reactions

The user reactions on Reddit and Twitter showcase the disappointment towards HitBTC. There are users saying that they use HitBTC as they didn’t want to do KYC. And now the former is asking for the same. The blockchain transactions are in demand due to the feature of secrecy, strict privacy policy and customer data protection it provides, but HitBTC’s move is contradictory to this. The users are also claiming that the HitBTC is not holding sufficient funds to settle the customer demand and hence using the KYC procedure as a fence to cover the scam.

There are instances where the cryptocurrency exchange has frozen the funds of the users. HitBTC has frozen a user’s $12,000 even after he completed the verification process. The company sent the following message-

“The source of funds report has to describe all the actions you have performed with these funds before sending them to HitBTC, e.g. purchasing them, exchanging, transferring from one address to another. Kindly present the chain of such events in chronological order. Please attach screenshots, which will confirm each step”

Even the high profile users were not spared from the trouble of KYC for withdrawal of Bitcoin. The investors using the cryptocurrency platform are in distrust. The blockchain developer, Luke Jr tweeted,

“⚠️?Looks like @hitbtc have decided to go full scammer, and are stealing balances of users (including me).?⚠️
Probably a good idea to get anything you have there off, and take care not to use it.
(And as always, keep as little on exchanges as possible!)”

He further stated,

“They’re locking accounts and making unreasonable demands for private information, which many people can’t provide even if they wanted to. And when you don’t/can’t comply, they just keep your bitcoins instead of closing your account and sending them to you.”

Terms of Service

According to HitBTC, users agree with the company to present the KYC documents as and when required when they sign up for the services. Based on the tweets of the users, these KYC norms were not included in the Terms of Service of HitBTC’s sign-in process until recently. The Terms of Service are always updated by the cryptocurrency exchange. Similarly, the Terms of Service were changed later but the users were not notified about the change.

HitBTC

HitBTC is the cryptocurrency exchange managed by Hong Kong-based Hit Solutions limited. It operates in Europe. The company has a user base in over 90 countries. It supports trading of more than 530 cryptocurrencies. The oldest and the most advanced online asset trading platform is currently facing a lot of criticism from the users as the stock of complaints is piling up.

Suhasini Durve

Worked as Assistant Professor of Economics in a reputed college in Mumbai, I am now working as a BA & Content Writer for a leading IT Firm.

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