I intend to cash out some bitcoin (not an immodest sum) within the next 10 days. I'm struggling to find an exchange that is actually functional anymore! Even the ones i'm with are not answering when I try to change the address on my account (which i need to do before I cash out any coin ..for tax purposes).
What are the most competitive exchanges which are largely functional right now in terms of registering with them and getting verified with them? Do they also have functional and timely support?
If you are just trying to cash out a small sum of bitcoins with convenience and peace of mind as your utmost priority, then i would invite you to look into localbitcoins as a potential suitor. They are not really an exchange but rather an trading/advertising platform, but they can be used and considered as an exchange as well.
I have never had any problems with transacting on localbitcoins. Even if you get scammed you can recover your funds using their escrow system.
Obviously if you're cashing out a big amount, you're not going to use localbitcoins as your first choice because of the high spreads. But if your amounts are under 1 BTC then there is no problems at all. You'll get close to the amount you'll get on big exchanges like bitstamp.