Great Time to Sign up For a BitShares LTM Life Time Membership, Before KYC Becomes "Keep Your Crypto"!
It's rather mind-boggling to me that so many of those joining the decentralized crypto "movement", seem just fine leaving all their assets with any number of centralized exchanges. And while people seem so willing to escape from "regulated" centralized brokers and exchanges, they seem to forget that at least, lest there is a SHTF-type moment, you'll probably have some degree of recourse if something goes wrong with the firm.
However, in crypto-land, practically every centralized crypto exchange operates as little more than run-of-the-mill "fly-by-night" forex bucket shops that more savvy traders avoid like the plague. And with each passing day, I hear more scary stories emanating the centralized crypto exchanges...
😁 (protect your crypto in the "BitShares Bubble"!) 😁
Centralized Crypto "Roach Motels"...
The following article makes the point quite clearly...
For instance exchanges like Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken, and many others require a good amount of verification to revert bitcoins to fiat or vice versa. And just because you are approved it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to throw US$100,000 worth of BTC down on an exchange and expect to have the funds sent to your bank account without issue. The exchange may cancel the process even after the sale has been made. Furthermore, on the bank side, your financial institution may also stop you from cashing out large sums or freeze your account.
Link: Dancing With the Devil: ‘Cashing Out’ Cryptos Into Fiat Not So Easy
While the following screenshot has yet to be verified for its authenticity, that so many believe it could be real clarifies the "sign of the times" of what you can expect when dealing with centralized crypto exchanges (there is speculation it may be a phishing attempt, and BitStamp has yet to comment)...
You Can Cash Out Anytime but You Can Never Leave
Customers of Slovenia’s Bitstamp exchange are being forced to jump through hoops to meet an unprecedented level of compliance. A widely circulated image, purporting to reveal Bitstamp’s enhanced KYC procedure, has been attracting a lot of attention. The document requests screenshots of other cryptocurrency exchange profiles, bank account statements showing fiat deposits to third party exchanges, and signed messages from the BTC and ETH addresses the customer intends to use.
In order to fully satisfy our additional KYC procedure, we kindly ask you to submit any financial documentation which can confirm the origin of your sent funds, such as savings account statement, salary pay slip, tax revenue statement, investment portfolio, property sale contract, inheritance or similar. Thank you for your cooperation.
To which the user reasonably replies: “All my money is taxed and legal, but I don’t look forward spending HOURS of my time getting my financial documents from the banks, copies of my pay checks from my employer and everything they asked for. It will literally take hours over several days do get what they asked for. What happens if I don’t give them the documentation?”
Link: Bitstamp Is Asking Users Who Want to Withdraw a Lot of Questions
So what's the alternative?! The decentralized BitShares Exchange!
With the recent re-adjustment in BitShares fees, there's never been a better time to sign up for a reduced-fee LTM (Life Time Membership). Not only do you get 80% of your trade and transaction fees rebated back to you, but you can also sign up other users under you, and you can benefit from rebates on their transactions as well!
I thought I was so clever when I managed to snag my LTM membership for under $80 when BTS sunk to around 4 or 5 cents (USD) each a few months back. However, under the revised BitShares fee schedule, a LTM membership is now 110 BTS, which means that with BTS recently back around 60 cents each, you could've snagged your BitShares LTM for as little as...
As I've described in past posts, BitShares, despite its various issues, is still leaps and bounds ahead of other centralized exchanges in terms of reliability, accessibility, security, and the comfort of knowing that not only will you be able to withdraw your funds when you want to, but that they won't disappear with all your crypto when you need it most!
Even worse, from a tax perspective, governments could care less if your crypto is "stuck" or "lost". If you've generated "taxable gains", they'll expect to collect on it regardless. For a bit better perspective on this aspect of the U.S. tax code, check out this post: Was your Bitcoin stolen? Potential Tax Benefits for your Loss!, and this one too:
Mt. Gox, the popular cryptocurrency exchange that became defunct, caused millions of dollars of losses for investors. However, the fact that the “lost” bitcoins were, in some cases, recovered means that investors may not have been able to claim their missing coins as losses at all. The reason for this is that the IRS likely considered there to be a “reasonable chance” of recovery of the coins.
Link: Bitcoin Tax Guide: Lost Or Stolen Bitcoins
And interestingly, some of the biggest issues that face BitShares are its centralized components! For example, if you're using tokens on BitShares that are managed by a centralized entity such as OpenLedger, you'll have to rely on their support team and their solvency when the time comes to withdraw your OpenLedger-related tokens.
Furthermore, while it does not currently seem to be an issue, down the road there may be concerns whether transfers will continue to be "allowed" for users within unverified jurisdictions. For example, if someone holds OpenLedger-hosted OPEN.EOS tokens on the BitShares platform, and OpenLedger chooses to enforce the policy that "U.S. citizens may not participate in the EOS offering", holders of OPEN.EOS would be obligated to prove they are not U.S. citizens before OpenLedger would consider releasing their tokens.
As I described in another post on BitShares (I highly recommend you read this too if you haven't already)...
HOWEVER, there's been a rather questionable "growing trend" evolving around "KYC" (Know Your Customer) rules and regulations, in reverse! As soon as you're ready to withdraw some of those funds, "KYC" becomes the perfect excuse as to why some centralized exchanges simply don't have enough information to allow you to retrieve your money. Hmmm... sound a bit like a roach motel?!
And even better, how can they be sure you're not really an American... think about that one!
Link: BitShares Tips and SBD Tricks You've Gotta Know! (update and part2)
Finally...
As I described in my previous post on BitShares, if you haven't already, and given the recent huge drop in fees (a Life Time Membership cost nearly USD $1000 before the fee adjustment, versus around $70 today!)... NOW is an even better time check out the BitShares platform as an additional tool and resource for working with your STEEM, SBD, and other crypto "operations".
If you need a bit of additional help getting started on BitShares, feel free to reach out to me either here or on discord. You can also join the WhaleShares Community and BTS/BeyondBitCoin discord groups, where you'll meet many more friendly and knowledgeable users of both the STEEMIT and BitShares ecosystem.
If you don't yet have a free BitShares account, for the best deal sign up now via the following link:
I also recommend you sign up for one of @akrid's terrific WhaleShares/BitShares Live Tutorials, where you'll be given a short walk-through of the BitShares platform, along with some free tokens and crypto to help get you started!
Link: Whaleshares live tutorial + 22 whaleshares for attending! Check our calendar to sign up
And don't forget to keep pumping out those quality posts with 50/50 post rewards (which you can now set for your comments as well) in order to keep taking advantage of the continuing high price of SBD! 😁
Excellent article. I'm a huge BitShares fan and have been buying steadily since its launch.
thank you @kus-knee! :)
Also, I'd be remiss not to add a reference to your very unfortunate "cautionary tale" post...
Link: The Old Dog Explains: My Biggest Block Chain Blunder or How I Lost More Than $82,000!
Always remember to double, triple, quadruple-check that all your transfer entry fields are correct, as there is generally no recourse in crypto-land.
That account is still sitting there.
You can see it in all of its glory at Bitshares name: cu 200,000 Bitshares!!!!!!
I'd gladly take back half from the honest soiuld who forwards it to me leaving 100,000 as a juicy reward!!!
Lots of useful information, thanks for that.
I'm still struggling a bit with the fact that openledger hasn't had the gateway for fiat withdrawal open for many weeks now. And the OCASH debit card is completely silent.
So my guess is they can't find any workaround for KYC and AML, but I really hope I'm wrong.
Bitshares is by far my favourite exchange and being able to go straight back and forth between fiat would be the ultimate freedom, especially when bitshares has the expected lunar rise!
I agree its still a huge barrier for non crypto people to enter this BTS galaxy... on my side i hope that both BitSpark with its Zephyr token and Arise bank will be able to offer us some FIAT bridges from the Bitshares DEX...
as for arise bank, well, those are some pretty tall claims they're making. perhaps they have an army of lobbyists on call, ready and waiting for them in Washington, in order to achieve what they seek to accomplish...
but that's actually kind of the point, the reason they can't do that is being FIAT exchangers become jurisdictional, and more easily subject to the various banking "laws of the land". So, unless you're literally meeting up with someone on a street corner to exchange fiat <--> crypto, you'll pretty much be out of luck in that regard. And, of course, you know the names "powers that be" have reserved for those who would engage in such dubious personal exchanges... 🤐
I see peer-to-peer transfers of crypto for cash with Bitshares as the ultimate protection against the problems with centralized exchanges that you describe in your post .
Lots of great information! Thanks for writing about Bitshares!
You're always sharing great tips with the community @alexpmorris! Thank you!
thank you @michellectv, and I'm glad you found the information helpful! :D
anytime ; )
Dude, just a somewhat apropos comment - friend of a friend made bank apparently with BTC, buying in at couple of hundred dollars. Turned true believer and put in life savings. Now is just about a millionaire.
Guy won't cash out because he is a true believer. I disagree personally, but that's not what bothers me.
Most of that BTC, and the diversified altcoins he's invested in, is being held on two or three centralizd exchanges! It's like storing a million dollars for posterity on a pile of flash paper.
Sorry, this post reminded me and I just thought it was ridiculous behavior. Of course, I'm just jelly of em too :)
well, especially when the centralized exchanges are involved, until he can get them all out, well... it ain't over 'til it's over.
He'd really be much safer at least directly holding them in a wallet, especially if he's not planning on cashing out. Perhaps you can direct him to this article to help "wake him up" and "shake him up" a bit, before it's too late! 😱
I wish I could - I don't really the person - it's been recounted to me only - but if I find my way to informing them I certainly will.
Thanks for this advice. Do you know why the lifetime membership was drastically lowered other than likely just encouraging adoption? Seems like a drastic change in strategy to reduce the cost so steeply. No complaints, but that doesn't happen so often.
they're supposed to vote to periodically readjust the price to account for price fluctuations in BTS. For example, LTM should cost around USD $100 worth of BTS.
For years, BTS was under a penny, so it wasn't really an issue, though there were times when a LTM could cost half of much, or twice as much, before such price adjustments took place. And with the more recent large price moves in crypto, that "lag" has become even more noticeable.
There has been talk (and possibly proposals as well) that fees should be automatically fixed to the BTS equivalent in BitUSD, but so far that has yet to materialize.
Makes sense. Thank you.
And now LTM costs $36 yeah!
yup, better grab it up before it cuts in half again! :D as I often say, no matter how clever you think you are, something will inevitably happen to still make you feel silly and foolish... lol
Seems like it's really the perfect time to sign up for bitshares LTM. When I first started playing around with cryptos, I thought they won't be taxable. Yeah, like the governments would allow that to pass around for free...
I have been waiting for this for some time. Thanks Alex
thanks, i've enjoyed my experience with bitshares so far
Great advice on the 50/50 post rewards! Thanks