The popularity of cryptocurrency exchanges in recent years caused the appearance of the number of schemes which enable to launder money received with help of illegal measures. That’s why the governments of some countries as well as owners of crypto exchanges aware regarding the protection themselves against money laundering. As the result,
the specific regulations regarding AML/KYC procedure was developed in order to secure the cryptocurrency sphere from fraud. This process has its advantages and disadvantages for cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite the protection, the KYC/AML procedure also goes against the important principle of the crypto world such as privacy.
KYC procedure is the process of customer identity verification. As usual cryptocurrency exchanges verify their customers in order to protect themselves from illegally obtained funds. Such a process is called AML - Anti Money Laundering. Money laundering is the legalization of funds obtained by criminal means which includes actions that conceal the source of funds in order to give them a legal character.
The fight against money laundering in cryptocurrency sphere consists of a set of measures aimed at preventing the use of the particular project or institution for legalizing money obtained by criminal means or financing terrorism. The development and implementation of these measures and instruments are carried out by international and national institutions, the banking and business community.The AML procedure requires the number of expenses which can take a bite the owners of cryptocurrency exchanges. Also, the KYC procedure can stop transactions for up to 50 days or even freeze of the financial accounts. The KYC procedure breaks the anonymity of cryptocurrency as the main principle of this sphere. Nevertheless regulation has undeniable advantages in the world of traditional finance.
Creating some obstacle, it protects customers from fraudulent actions of banks and financial institutions and even provides them with mechanisms for compensation for damage.
Binance, for example, allows withdrawing 2 BTC per 24h for a non-verified account and 100 BTC per 24h for users who passed KYC.
https://support.binance.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000864371-Verification-on-BinanceBittrex has several levels of accounts. The withdrawal limit depends on the type of the user’s account. Bittrex emphasizes the necessity of compliance to “the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. economic sanctions laws, and other legal and regulatory requirements”. The withdrawal limits for different accounts are:
- New/Unverified Accounts: 0 BTC withdrawal limit.
- ID Verified Accounts (without 2FA): withdrawal limit is 1 (or equivalent) BTC per day.
- ID Verified Accounts (with 2FA enabled): withdrawal limit is 100 (or equivalent) BTC per day with two-factor enabled.
https://bittrex.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/231701788Bitfinex requires verification for those who want to deposit or withdraw fiat money. Also, it is stated the KYC procedure enable “to speed up the deposit process”. Bitfinex doesn’t set any withdrawal limits.
https://support.bitfinex.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003355893-Account-Verification-IndividualsMore and more jurisdictions around the world require licenses or regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the report Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Regulation 2019 3-4% of Europe’s crime in 2017 were committed with the help of cryptocurrency and this percentage is tending to increase rapidly.
https://www.lenzstaehelin.com/uploads/tx_netvlsldb/GLI-BLCH1_Lenz_Staehelin.pdfThe most effective way to regulate the cryptocurrency exchange transactions is to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. Every cryptocurrency exchange has its own rules on the registration process. The more exchanges require the stricter rules for account verification. As usual, the verified accounts have bonuses for trading operations, but there is a tendency that the user can’t even start trading if he doesn’t pass the verification. The effectiveness of the KYC/AML procedure depends on service providers mostly. The accounts are frozen for some period of time if there is any suspicious activities noticed.
European Union, The United States, South Korea have developed the KYC/AML rules for cryptocurrency sphere and made them an integral part of crypto regulation processes. After the beginning of the persecution of Bitcoin in China, many players moved their capital to South Korea. Until the beginning of February, they acted on the principle of self-regulation, but after the introduction of the new rules, they were controlled by financial authorities.
From January 30, 2018, all Korean banks are required to exercise increased vigilance when working with cryptocurrency exchanges. European Parliament passed rules concerning KYC/AML procedure. The innovations adopted in April 2018 entailed a series of changes in the work of cryptocurrency exchanges.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180411IPR01527/anti-money-laundering-meps-vote-to-shed-light-on-the-true-owners-of-companies
As a result, LocalBitcoins obliged to go through the mandatory registration of traders working with large capital, and opening a large number of positions. In May KuCoin platform also made changes. All users of the exchange are required to complete the authorization of KYC, indicating their passport details, gender, nationality, place of residence and so on.
The United States states that cryptocurrency trading or trading on stock exchanges falls under the definition of “money service businesses” and therefore is subject to the same measures to AML/KYC procedure as other financial institutions.
https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/amlsourcetool.htm
Bittrex, for example, established strict rules for withdrawal with respect to unverified users. Unverified accounts have a 0 BTC withdrawal limit, thereby forcing serious traders to go through full registration.
In 2018 Mistertango provided a survey. They asked 25 cryptocurrency exchanges with a daily turnover of 100 million dollars about the necessity of the regulation of cryptocurrency exchange transactions. As the result,
88% of cryptocurrency exchanges want regulation in their operations.https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/07/31/survey-finds-that-88-of-crypto-exchanges-are-crying-out-for-regulation/To sum up, we think that more and more reliable cryptocurrency exchanges require the strict AML/KYC procedure for their customers. The reason is that it is the most efficient way to protect themselves against illegal actions as well as protect their users from unpredictable circumstances that can lead to accounts frozen and even to the close of the cryptocurrency exchange. This fact goes against anonymous and decentralization but corresponds to current conditions in the market.