EXCLUSIVE – Cryptocurrency exchange, Poloniex is imposing a verification process on all its account holders, but is also providing a great incentive for them to do so.
The U.S.-based exchange said earlier this week that it would require all account holders (new and existing ones) to verify their identities through a know-your-customer (KYC) due diligence process linked on their site.
If an account holder does not do so by the deadline, their accounts will be suspended, meaning they won’t be able to trade cryptocurrency on the exchange and their existing deposits will be frozen.
But when the account is verified, the user automatically gets an increased withdrawal limit of $25,000. The current withdrawal limit is $2,000.
Poloniex’s move rings familiar with concerns raised by the South Korea, which just yesterday released a set of regulations, banning anonymous accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges.
And it’s not just South Korea; many other governments including India, China, Russia and the U.S. have voiced concerns over the phenomenon.
These concerns became particularly strong within in the past few weeks, ever since the best-known cryptocurrency – Bitcoin reached its all-time high of more than $19K.
Since then, it’s been downhill for the altcoin. Last week a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit got hacked, and the price of bitcoin has been tumbling since.
Today, the digital currency is trading well below the $19K mark, hovering around $14,405 as of 10 AM ET today, according to CoinBase.
For Poleniex’s verification process, the deadline for identification verification will be released within the first quarter of 2018.
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