Topic: Do you know what is hiding behind Centralized exchanges User Agreement? (Read 254 times)

Are these stipulations in the user agreement of centralized exchanges even hiding? I don't think so. This is very much open. This is essentially what centralized in centralized exchanges mean.

Is there anybody who is clueless about this? Is there anybody in the crypto space who hasn't heard of a single complaint relating to centralized exchanges? Is there anybody who isn't familiar with locked accounts or frozen funds or suspension of access or whatever?

Everybody should be aware that the moment one makes a deposit to a centralized exchange, it is possible that the fund is good as gone. That's why centralized exchanges, or any centralized platform for that matter, are always a risk.

Honestly, I just skim this lol. I think people who have been using CEXes for a long time likely know what to expect. Further, large chunk of these user agreements are more or less the same across most centralized exchanges.

Some main points I could think of:

1. must not be under 18
2. not from any prohibited countries
3. most don't allow multiple accounts and letting other people use your account
4. most aren't fond of funds coming from gambling and mixers
5. you're responsible for the safety of your account
6. they can at anytime request further information from you
7. they can share your data including with third parties
8. if they deemed so, they can suspend/terminate your account
9. there will be clauses where the exchange would assume no liability on some circumstances that may or not be fair to you
10. they can at any time change the agreement without prior notice. Further usage of the platform most of the time is taken as agreement.

I don't choose my exchanges using their terms and users agreement, in short I don't like reading users agreement, if the exchange has good reputation and people don't complain about withdrawal issue then I am fine with a such exchange, users agreement is time wasting because the exchange is working like I wanted it to work.

And who even reads these user agreements on exchanges? Be honest, almost no one. Just like almost no one reads user agreements when installing software. Nobody cares.

As for the choice of exchanges from this list, coinbase does not have the best regulation, they themselves have already realized that it is time to run away from American jurisdiction, as this harms business. Who's next for us? Kraken and Bitfinex. Well, I would not recommend beginners to start their acquaintance with these exchanges. For this, it is better to go to KuCoin or OKX or ByBit. There is no KYC, there are a lot of services, there are modern coins, there are all types of trading, demo modes and much more.

I read a similar post a while ago on this forum and since then I vowed to always read the terms of service of every app or site I sign up to. I must admit I have not been able to leave up to that promise. Most times I just get lazy because the write-up is always too lengthy. But when it comes to any site where my money is involved, I always read through the user agreement. I know with time I won't feel lazy to read through them before signing up.

If they get scammed by your trade partners or fell into legal issues with money laundering from your trade partners in Peer-to-Peer trades, they will only support you if you have official request documents from police offices or banks. That is impossible for people who are living in countries which have yet accept cryptocurrency or Bitcoin.

Because cryptocurrency trades are not legally accepted in their nations, they are unable to inform police or bank that they did those trades by cryptocurrency and get scammed or received those money from a criminal who used stolen money for the trade.

At the end, users will have to shut their mouth and bear the loss by themselves.

There is everything wrong with it, but at least for the people who still use exchanges as their "crypto bank", one very crucial reason why people use Bitcoin other than fiat is because they want to control their funds, and they do not want a third party to have an arbitrary control over it, thus if that be the case why should someone give over that control to a centralized service and not hold it themselves, knowing fully well that this cex exchange can take an arbitrary decision about your funds at absolutely anytime.

Having said that, it is the exchange that decides arbitrarily if you have violated any terms, conditions or laws, thus they can seize (steal) your funds for whatever flimsy reason and tell you that you have broken one law or the other; or they lock your funds up and ask you to expose more of your privacy to them through KYC, there is everything wrong with how these exchanges operate, they basically just make money at the expense of their users.

This is not only applicable to exchanges, it also applies to other websites and even gambling sites. Many people do not have the patience to read through the terms and conditions.
I don't even know if the project owners tactically made it so long so that it will be unreadable by many.
I cannot remember when last I read the T&C of a company from beginning to the end before signing up.

I think the title might be a little misleading because User Agreements or Terms and Services are always available for any exchange or other platform but only users don't read them properly. So basically, the texts that are presented in this thread are not "hiding behind" CEXes User Agreement, but they are a part of it.

That being said, I didn't find anything wrong with any of the paragraphs taken and presented here by OP. All of them are saying one thing, if you violate the terms and conditions or break a law or anything similar, then they have all the right to take necessary action. What's wrong with that? I didn't see anywhere where it said that they have the right to seize your account or funds for no reason at all, but it only says that without your consent but only if you break a rule or violate the terms, which isn't something really surprising.

This is not surprising, since most people decide to read the user agreement only when they have already had a problem on the exchange. Obviously, they believe that since others are trading on this exchange, it means that there are normal conditions for a trader and, accordingly, they can also join this exchange.

Yes, we are here. 3 days ago we launched our profile marketplace that can be used as a decentralized OTC exchange service. You can register here https://app.zen.land/ and send the link to your clients (e.g. https://zen.land/@DOTA2_Skins )

Later today we will be making the official announcement on BitcoinTalk.

CEXes don't follow Web3 principles - it's just easier for people to use it. We do hope that one day it will change.

We need to understand this fact about centralized exchanges that they can never be or turn to a decentralized one no matter how because they are already a third party exchange, in case you come across some of them offering you a wallet in a decentralized mode don't fall for it and be careful, centralized exchange will always be and nothing can make them not regardless of what they are presenting to offer and they share same risk in common.

I don't always read long agreements, but if it's short it's either I read it at that moment or I come back later for it when I'm less busy. While for those exchanges above I have an account in two of them which are Binance and Kucoin. Although I admit I haven't read through the user agreement, but the fact that they are centralized exchanges already gives you the ideas that they can control and do whatever they want with your account and also with whatever funds is in it. So funding it with a little amount is the best way to go about it, so that if eventually any thing unexpected should happen you won't have much to loss.

DEXs also seek to comply with regulations when required.
In the past Uniswap imposed some geo-bans (I don't know if they are currently still in effect). This means the ban can be re-activated and extended at any time if regulations require it to do so and this is certainly not fair. They have also delisted some tokens upon request.

With such scary terms from these big name's of the crypto exchange industry, am hoping there will come a time when decentralized exchanges will take centre stage again to avoid these unfair term's !
And unfortunately nobody can challenge them with these predatory terms that help give them unfair advantage over individuals small coin holdings...and sad news is they are going nowhere for now as they have the liquidity to support most coins for trading purposes.

I wouldn't use the platform if they could seize my funds with an actual reason. I would never want my Bitcoin to be in the custody of a third party.
But for the majority these terms are not hidden, they might no read the entire terms of service but many of them are fully aware that the exchanges control their funds and they trust them with it.

Wow. Excellent post. I'm shocked but also not shocked at all.

This is exactly why I never let any third-party control my private keys. Only self-custody matters but at least these companies can make it possible for you to buy bitcoin and withdraw it to your own wallet.

I strongly doubt that anyone will even choose an exchanger based on some kind of user agreement. This is not important for many people and they value exchanges for other qualities. For example, KYC, commissions, supported networks, p2p, additional options, variety of tokens, and a bunch of other factors, and user agreements are read by few users and they are interested in the last place. I have never seen a crypto user who said that he chose an exchange because he liked the user agreement more than others.

I don't read with all agreement term of service from some exchange market exactly with Binance, I were surprised with hidden term of service or user agreement about our account suddenly banned permanent and freeze our assets there. I read in social media about how many people face trouble and their assets freeze suddenly after huge amount withdrawing in Binance.

But don't afraid for trading and saving assets in several exchange market although they have hidden user agreement, due not any rule break seems not problem with our account and keep running well when withdrawing or deposit assets. Have some user when getting freeze their account can access back to normal and they can trade, deposit and withdraw their fund.

I just checked the thread and read some interesting replies. Some people agreed they did not read the User Agreement, just like me.
I created this thread for everyone who did not read the User Agreement when they signed up. It's impossible to read a few thousand words written for global users. Some part was written for some specific users. That's why users think I am not from there, so reading this has no benefit. In this thread, I quoted the most crucial part of the User Agreement, where Exchanges said they have the right to freeze your account at any time without explaining.

I wish people at least read this part of the user agreement, so they know that their funds are at risk. Everyone thinks it won't happen to me until it happens to them. About double answers, I don't mind when people keep answering the same thing even though the same answers have already been posted by someone else (This is a perfect example). The issue was solved when it had five replies. People still posted another six replies even though they knew the problem was solved. Sometimes I find myself doing the same (Sometimes do not read all the posts). In this case, I will ignore those posts.

True Indeed. But we think it's not going to happen to us until it happens. People won't use such centralized exchanges if they get NON-KYC Alternatives. Take me as an example; I saw an Escrow service website and they were looking for suggestions from this forum. Its name was Zenland or something similar. I liked their system. I wish we have a non-KYC Platform where we can trade with locals.

When you realize the fact that once you send the money on centralized exchange its practically not yours anymore and they can do whatever they want it for whatever reason, you start acting accordingly meaning not using it for storing and only for its initial purpose (read: exchange).

For that reason, I never have more than a couple of hundreds of dollars on an exchange because I know that every time I send it, it may be the last time I saw them.

I even do not think there is any source needed about any exchanges because it is clear that they are centralized and far worse to the extent that the exchanges do not give users seed phrase, private key or anything related that can be used for coin recovery, the exchanges have the private key, that only means that any coin sent to your account in those exchanges are not yours on blockchain and you have no full control over your own coins.

Another thing is that some exchanges have been haked in the past and some were not able to refund users their coins.

Exchanges are now requiring for KYC which can also lead to breach and which is often used for phishing attempt.

I will add another topic that was also created recently. I think in order not to get double answers, it will be useful for you, OP, to read the opinions of the people who answered in this thread.

How many people read crypto exchange terms and condition this day?

Hi Guys,

Due to significant factors discussed in this thread. I believe it needs a separate thread to aware the community about "What is hiding behind Centralized Exchanges User Agreement". Literally, I had no idea what was written on their User Agreement page until today. It's almost impossible to read all terms and conditions when we sign up on every website. But, regarding exchanges, casinos or where we will spend our money. It is worth reading before you sign up. I am pretty much sure 95% of users of these exchanges don't know what is written on their user agreement page. Because they are too long articles and we miss the critical part where they reported that they could seize user funds for any reason without any explanation. Would you deal with such platforms when they say they can seize your funds for any reason without giving you an explanation?

Here I gathered up the Top five centralized exchanges^[1] Important part of the User Agreement.

1. Binance;


2. Kraken;


3. Coinbase;


4. KuCoin;


5. BitFinex;


For more detailed information. I recommend you visit the sources below.
Sources:

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1. https://coinmarketcap.com/rankings/exchanges/
2. https://www.binance.com/en/terms
3. https://www.kraken.com/legal
4. https://www.coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement/united_states
5. https://www.kucoin.com/news/en-terms-of-use
6. https://www.bitfinex.com/legal/exchange/terms