A thread in Beginners & Help has much more serious discussion than this thread in “Serious Discussion”:
Why KYC is extremely dangerous – and useless
This is where the issue begins. One of the best ways to protect yourself from identity theft is to understand the false assumptions of KYC. Some crypto services require its users to undergo a so-called “KYC” nowadays. KYC means “know your customer” and forces users to send personal documents to a company or organization. This is already becoming a problematic issue that some companies are very strict and will not allow you to use their services, even if you just want to purchase crypto worth only a few hundred dollars.
The official purpose of KYC should be to prevent money laundering (known as AML, anti-money laundering) and terrorist financing. Strict KYC and AML were mainly introduced by the US after 9/11 and many countries are guided by the SEC in setting KYC as a requirement. AML existed before but only for institutions and big amounts of money. Average customers were affected only after restrictions introduced by the SEC.
At first glance, KYC sounds good for shutting down criminal activities. Unfortunately, this looks very different in reality. KYC in crypto doesn’t necessarily help to stop money laundering or reduce criminal activity; nor does it help to prevent terrorist financing. On the contrary - KYC endangers our privacy and encourages criminal activities (via KYC scams, identity theft and other means).
[—long, thoughtful post—]
Read the whole thing! (If you are serious, that is.)