And here is the problem. If you are a normal, 9-5, go home to the wife and kids guy, then you will probably fit the guidelines/expectations perfectly.
If you are (like me and many others), an expat in Asia, using bank accounts in very Third World countries, you are shit out of luck. Can I get verified at Coinbase, Bitstamp or other major exchange? Not likely. I get forced to BTC-e because I don't fit the normal profile.
If I could get a KYC support person to listen to my story, and make some allowance for it, it would be easy. Unfortunately, that would take 30 minutes which they don't want to give. The questions usually go like this:
Why don't you have a US bank account? Why do you have an account in Cambodia and Vietnam?
-- Because I haven't lived in the US in 8 years. I split time between those countries.
I need a utility bill and a copy of your passport.
-- Here is the passport. I don't have a utility bill in my name. It is normal here that utility bills stay in the landlord's name. Since mail is never actually delivered, I pick them up at the utility office anyway. What can i give you instead? A copy of my lease, notarized? A letter from the local police? Name it.
Sorry, sir. Our rules state that a utility bill is required. We will not be able to allow you to transfer your money back to your account from the exchange. Fuck off, money laundering scum.
Expected profiles and expected behavior suck.
I know what you mean. I live in third world country too. This KYC policy seems to mean that soon enough btc will no longer be anonymous, fine by me, if they are not requesting for utility bill to prove my address. I can give them a government ID though.
I am an Asian, normally working as an expat in the Global South (Africa, South Asia, Souteast Asian) and I can tell you that in the past 15 years, KYC efforts from online payment options have been a very difficult process for me.
They do range from the merely inconvenient to what I feel is outright scammy (I refer to old-timer Paypal who would happily take a deposit or payment with zero KYC, then force you to provide all manner of impossible documentations the moment you try to access your funds).
In the age of digital bills, providing a physical sample of address is tedious process. I can't bear to think of the amount of time and money spent trying to convince an online payer/exchanger that I'm not a scary fake guy trying to abscond with 20 USD.
Forget using VPNs or travelling... access your account from another IP and these guys close down on you. They need better algorithms for one, but before that they need to be upfront about KYC. Don't surprise clients.
And yes, a good point about anonymity. What happened to the spirit of crypto?