ok, so it turned out to not be necessary.

in the response to my angry support ticket I received instructions on closing the account and getting my remaining BTC back without the need to verify my identity.

i now understand their policy is that all of their ACCOUNT HOLDERS will be AML/KYC verified.. in order to have an active account, which is fine. their policy is their business.

and if you dont want to verify your identity you must deactivate your account.. so holding the btc "ransom" is really just a way to force people like me, who do not want to share their identity, to close their accounts.. which i can see now is a pretty effective way to have account holders become motivated to sort themselves out

so i get my .3btc .. which I fully expect to be worth about $3000 some time next year.



Here is their last response:

Dear Spotted,

Thank you for sending us your email confirmation. We instructed our system administrator to close your account an repatriate your funds to the provided Bitcoin address.

If you should need any further assistance we remain available at support@bitstamp.net.

Best regards,
Marko Rogan

Thanks for this.. I hadnt seen it .. hadnt even thought of to try to be honest. .. im gonna go try right now!

Ok so I started trading at bitstamp not too long ago. I really like the exchange and I am the sort who never ever intends to withdraw USD ever again. Any money I put into Bitcoin, stays there. Period. For this reason I have never needed to complete KYC bullshit. Bitcoin doesn't require KYC. I never had a problem in the past, even at Bitstamp, send Bitcoin from my account wallet to anywhere I want. I stopped trading about a month ago or so and sent most of my Bitcoin to a savings address. All except for .3btc which I forgot all about until I logged into my Bitstamp account yesterday and saw my remaining balance. Sweet! Thats like finding $100 in your pocket you forgot you had! So I go to send it to my savings address and BOOM Bitstamp refuses to let me access my Bitcoin until I have completed their KYC bullshit.

WTF

I am the account holder and those are the Bitcoin I deposited into my account in good faith that Bitstamp would not block me from accessing my own funds.

I didn't need to do KYC to create or fund my account and trade, why in the hell should I verify my identity to you for any reason short of a USD withdrawal request??

Does anybody have any idea what the fuck they are thinking?

I regard this as theft, pure and simple. They are holding my Bitcoins for ransom. I can prove that I am the owner of the account. With Bitcion what else is there to know? Give me my fucking Bitcoin! I can even give them the secret API key, that only the holder of the account could possibly know, that I use to develop trading applications. Undeniable proof that those Bitcoins are MINE. An there is no law in the world that gives them the right to hold them from me for any reason.

Is this the normal thing now? WTF is going on with these whack ass exchanges?

First Bitfloor ... now Bitstamp

This is the first time with Bitcoin that a service I trusted is trying to keep my money and it's infuriating.

I will never store Bitcoin in a hosted wallet ever again. FUCKING BANKS their mentality is already starting to win over our new world of money. Figures

Bitcoin are a true currency because you can spend them. I've made purchases with bitcoin, thus I have used bitcoin as currency. I believe you mean that you prefer a true "fiat" currency. All I care to say about the difference between the two is that fiat currencies are a thing of the past and crypto currencies are the way of the future. To say the Bitfloor fiasco is an example of why not to trust Bitcoin is like saying that choking is a good example of why not to breathe. Something about babies and bath water.

Bitfloor! Yeah I've heard of that place..  I hear the guy who runs it is like the Willy Wonka of bitcoin. His name is something like Rumple Shtylskin.

...but since I already do all my buy/selling at CampBX.. gonna just keep doin that

and Bitinstant .. once it's back up

i have my money time to buy bitcoins 

Ok, so I finally got a call from Kathy. After more than a week of trying, that's all I ever wanted, just to talk to someone at the bank who can actually do things.

Kathy set me up with Bank-to-bank transfers between my IAFCU account and my checking account at my other bank.

So, finally, I was able to log into my IAFCU account and initiate a transfer of funds into my regular bank!!

However, based on how everything else related to this goddam Bitfloor refund has gone, I will not assume it will process properly and I fully expect to have to open a new issue in just a few days.

Got an email from Kathy, says she is going to call me after 4pm.

Holy shit I cannot wait until this money is bitcoin again so I can actually have control of it. Dollars are a dirty joke

clearly you possess a great insight into me, my emotions and my thoughts. maybe you can tell me why i masturbate constantly?

Yes, I know how debit cards work and, like I said, I've already submitted a request TWICE to have a new one sent. No response.


Not hyperbole, precision.

3 weeks ago I had an account that I could log into (at bitfloor.com) that showed me a balance of funds owed to me that I had no access to and could not get any help with or information about.

Today I have an account that I can log into (at IAFCU.org) that shows me a balance of funds owed to me that I have no access to and can not get any help with or information about.

In my world we call that the same fucking place.

As far as credibility goes, the longer this continues the less credibility  IAFCU will have in my book. A bank that refuses to communicate with their customers is every bit as "incredible" as a Bitcoin exchange who refuses to communicate with its customers.


I can probably use the card to charge things but I have absolutely no intention of spending this money (as I never did when it was stuck at Bitfloor). It is all being reinvested... or WILL BE if I ever get it back.

Just thought I'd share my nightmare experience dealing with IAFCU so far.

So I got my money refunded into my IAFCU account like many others. I actually thought that the worst was over at that point and was elated.

IAFCU sent me a debit card and NO PIN. No big deal, right? Just call them up and request a new card/PIN.

Called and called and called, no answer from the branch.

Called the call center and submitted my new card/PIN request with them. I was promised that someone from the branch would call me ASAP to confirm.

No call, no email, nothing.

I gave it a day or two, then called and called and called the branch.. no answer.

Called the call center again, all they can tell me is that nobody at the branch has responded to the request.

So at this point I decided I would try the Check Withdrawal method in the online banking system to send myself a check for the entire balance of my account, just under $4000.

Upon submitting that request, the web site informs me that that amount exceeds their limit!! (Even though if you read the help section on Check Withdrawals, their own example shows a $5000 withdrawal request)

So once again I call the branch.. and I call and call and call... NO ANSWER.. EVER

So I call the call center again and THEY submit my check withdrawal request manually, but now it's up to the branch to actually process it. WHICH THEY STILL HAVE NOT

I called again today. No answer from the branch (as I write I am using my phones auto-redial to try and break through but I suspect nobody is answering calls anyways).

I called the call center again, they can confirm that both of my requests are still in the system, both have not been responded to by the branch and they also confirmed that I am not the only person who is infuriated by an inability to get in touch with anyone from the branch.

I just finally remembered that I have Kathy Piscitelli's (a branch manager) email address so I just emailed her with this whole story about an hour ago. Waiting on a response.

This is like a really bad dream. I was so fucking close to having my money back.. and now it's as inaccessible to me as it ever was.

Right back in the same fucking place I was 3 weeks ago. I have no idea if I'll ever get my money back.

Hope everybody else is having a better experience than I am.

He sure does


He sure did (however, mine was returned)

Absolutely! I am much more committed to Bitcoin after such an up close and personal reminder of just how intractable and restrictive and oppressive our banking system has become in our modern fascist reality. I've steadily invested throughout this whole ordeal and now I intend to invest this refund back into Bitcoin. I really do have the sense that, by turning this immoveable lump of USD back into Bitcoin, it is instantly being liberated and is free to start moving about the world freely and without friction again. I love Bitcoin.

HAPPY DAY!! I RECEIVED MY REFUND!! 

I don't get it.. what sort of red flag would it raise to transfer funds between two accounts? That is one of the more common functions of a bank/credit union, I would imagine.

Its on their FAQ page: https://iafcu.org/faq

"WHAT IS OUR ROUTING & TRANSIT NUMBER?

021283961"

glad to hear this update. very much looking forward to seeing a balance appear in my iafcu account. they still haven't processed my check deposit yet though, so i plan to call them today.

i feel like the light at the end of this tunnel is approaching, but i cant see it because we were left in the dark so long that i guess i went blind.

and I also don't mind the $5 fee. they seem to be a respectable business providing what I consider to be a valuable service for me. any losses, financial or otherwise, associated to this entire fiasco come as a result of my own decision to patronize a business owned and operated by an idiot who ended up not caring much about me.

i forgive myself for the decision, i forgive IAFCU for requiring a fee to process my refund, and i even forgive Roman for being an inconsiderate moron.

just please somebody wake me up when this is all over!

..and 4/20 is national smokers holiday

Every year on 4/20 at 4:20 everybody in each time zone lights up together. We've been celebrating the occasion since I was in middle school.. back in the 90's

havent any of you ever seen personal ads, or ads for group hangouts, or roommate want ads that state "420 friendly" ?




here's something you can try .. go to Google images.. and type "420"

you'll see im not crazy! 

Honestly, Im just really glad I could take all our minds off of Roman Shtylman for at least a couple posts 

Seriously? Do you live in the US? It blows my mind to think that people who grew up in this country would never have heard the whole 4:20 thing (it's actually a time of day/activity).. especially if you smoke.

I always assumed it would be known in european countries too though.

My neck of the woods spans almost the whole US to be honest. I've lived in Massachusettes, Texas, California, Maryland, Colorado and Florida.

So weird.. now I'm all paranoid haha