Gemini does not close accounts as far as I know because of 'taint'. They have closed accounts for many other reasons, some of which are semi-legit and others that are 100% BS and many of them arbitrary but I have never seen a reliable report about them closing for taint.
Fail any form of KYC --> Closed
Don't give them info they request --> Closed
Something changes in your life and you don't tell them --> Closed
Log in from a restricted location even with an account from another part of the world --> Closed
What looks to be moving money without a reason to their security even if you are not --> Closed
And so on.
Not defending them, but there are 1000s of the above type reports, no reports that I trust of 'they did not like my BTC'
-Dave
Topic: [Blacklist] of unreliable, 'taint proclaiming' Bitcoin services / exchanges - page 11. (Read 2639 times)
June 05, 2022, 11:31:12 AM
June 05, 2022, 09:41:18 AM
After many discussions in Announcing Wasabi Wallet 2.0 and elsewhere, I came to the conclusion that we need a community-curated summarized list of untrustworthy services that I call 'taint-proclaiming services'.
These services ignore one of Bitcoin's fundamental values of being fungible, usable and acceptable everywhere and anywhere. They each come up with their own arbitrary set of taint rules by which they allow themselves not only to deny your Bitcoins, but also to steal them from you and / or directly share your data with government agencies. Some people may not be aware of this, some may accept it for the convenience of the service in question, and others may prefer to stop using these services.
I'd like to encourage everyone who had such an experience or a reliable news article about something like this happening, to share it and I'll add it to the list.
I remember there are many more such cases, but can't find web articles about them right now, so I'd appreciate any additions.
If anyone is wondering: why is this even important?; make sure to read through this post and think it through.
[1] 'this is a severe threat to Bitcoin'
[2] 'Nobody would reject a dollar bill because it has previously been used in a crime'
These services ignore one of Bitcoin's fundamental values of being fungible, usable and acceptable everywhere and anywhere. They each come up with their own arbitrary set of taint rules by which they allow themselves not only to deny your Bitcoins, but also to steal them from you and / or directly share your data with government agencies. Some people may not be aware of this, some may accept it for the convenience of the service in question, and others may prefer to stop using these services.
I'd like to encourage everyone who had such an experience or a reliable news article about something like this happening, to share it and I'll add it to the list.
| | | Paxos Exchange | | | Rejects mixed funds | | | Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/another-crypto-exchange-discourages-the-use-of-bitcoin-mixing-services/ | | |
| | | Binance Exchange | | | Rejects mixed funds (Wasabi) | | | Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/as-fatf-regulations-galvanize-crypto-mixing-applications-are-targeted/ | | |
| | | Coinbase Exchange | | | Closes accounts that deposit mixed funds | | | [need source] | | |
| | | Wasabi 2.0 Mixer | | | Blacklists UTXOs by working with Chainalysis | | | Source: https://blog.wasabiwallet.io/zksnacks-blacklisting-update/ | | |
| | | BestChange.com | | | Supports 'clean and dirty Bitcoins' | | | Source: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.60225919 | | |
| | | Gemini Exchange | | | No funds from gambling; 'Attempts to conceal the origin are not allowed' | | | Source: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/what-do-centralized-exchanges-consider-as-taint-5398316 | | |
| | | Betcoin Casino | | | 'Strict Anti-Coin Mixing Policy' ( 8.8 ) | | | Source: https://www.betcoin.ag/support/betcoinag-terms-service | | |
| | | Playbetr Casino | | | 'Strict Anti-Coin Mixing Policy' ( 8.13 ) | | | Source: https://www.playbetr.com/terms | | |
| | | Openchange instant exchange | | | Mixed funds labeled as 'stolen' | | | Source: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/scam-exchange-openchange-openchangecash-partially-solved-5404704 | | |
| | | [banned mixer] Mixer | | | 'Coins with dark history are never let in.' | | | Source: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.62501094 | | |
I remember there are many more such cases, but can't find web articles about them right now, so I'd appreciate any additions.
PSA: Keep in mind, any centralized exchange may at any point in time start closing and freezing accounts, rejecting UTXOs and sharing your information. This is merely a blacklist, not a whitelist; exchanges not on this list aren't guaranteed to be 'safe and reliable'.
If anyone is wondering: why is this even important?; make sure to read through this post and think it through.
[1] 'this is a severe threat to Bitcoin'
[2] 'Nobody would reject a dollar bill because it has previously been used in a crime'
I've seen several posts lately from people willing to treat Bitcoin as non-fungible because they believe some coins are "tainted".
I'd say this is a severe threat to Bitcoin, and I wouldn't be surprised if governments use this because they can't stop Bitcoin in any other way. If people believe Bitcoin is "tainted", they won't accept it anymore. "We" should really inform people not to fall for this.
Nobody would reject a dollar bill because it has previously been used in a crime, despite the fact that 85 to 90% contains traces of cocaine. Claiming Bitcoin isn't fungible is just plain stupid.
Here's a few examples:
Lmao you have no glue what are you talking about. Please stop spam in my tread if you don’t know anything about chainanalys, thx
This site explains very well what it's all about:
I'd say this is a severe threat to Bitcoin, and I wouldn't be surprised if governments use this because they can't stop Bitcoin in any other way. If people believe Bitcoin is "tainted", they won't accept it anymore. "We" should really inform people not to fall for this.
Nobody would reject a dollar bill because it has previously been used in a crime, despite the fact that 85 to 90% contains traces of cocaine. Claiming Bitcoin isn't fungible is just plain stupid.
Here's a few examples:
Today netex24 exchanger sent me tainted btc.
What's that? Are you saying Bitcoin isn't fungible?service which i wanted to top up blocked my account.
The solution is simple: don't use services that tell you your Bitcoin is different than another Bitcoin.I don’t tell that i will return btc. We can trace it. We can mark it.
Bitcoin is fungible. Stop trying to convince people it's not, and stop using services that treat Bitcoin as if it's not fungible.This site explains very well what it's all about:
Coin validation proposed to offer as a service to trace coins and try to give you a rating about how the history of the coin from your point of view and to offer that as a service to businesses. I think this could be quite dangerous because it goes back to that 17th century court case where now you could receive a coin that is perfectly valid at the time that you receive it, but a few weeks later a crime is uncovered and now your coin is tainted. So if this coin validation service is advicing many of the merchants where you would want to spend your coin at, it's tainted and now the merchant would refuse to accept your coin. That's a strange experience for you; you're holding a coin that you might have to sell at a discount to get rid of it. The aggregate effect of this might create a run on the bitcoin price. So it reopens this long-set legal principle that currency or currency units are all equal.
I can't stress enough how important this is!Jump to: