I can't claim to know if what happened to me is because I live in the USA, which I am learning quickly is one of the worst countries to try to enjoy Cryptoworld. I hope so for all your sake, but in case not, you should read what my experience has been like.
I was as excited as anyone that PubOx was starting to work with KUCOIN for withdrawals of our earnings from writing here. I really was! I was excited to start trading, finding gems, and learning to really invest in this space.
I needed to set up an account, so I did. I followed the instructions provided by PublishOx for *irrevocably* committing a withdrawal to KuCoin. On KuCoin itself I gave over the email and phone and all that crap that we need to do in this private, decentralized financial utopia that is Cryptoworld where angels eliminate fees and government oversight and greed, and unicorns with fairy wings eliminate holds on your money and gatekeepers to financial markets and... I can't keep it up anymore. Speaking as an American, the Un-Bank Decentralized dream of Cryptoworld is utter, utter Bull$hit!
I have taken out mortgages, business loans, opened more than 40 credit cards, registered businesses, gotten auto loans, invested for years, all while maintaining a credit score above 810, and never have I run into the sheer number of sneaky, gotcha, maddening hoops to jump through and fees upon fees upon fees upon delays upon waiting forever that I have encountered in my first several months trying to get going in Cryptoworld. Maybe it is just the US of F&$&ng A, but I feel like there are more gatekeepers, less security, less privacy, and more fees and BS just in opening exchange accounts than I could ever have dreamed up in a nightmare of Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan double teaming me over the Fires of Hell. And that is just if you got suckered into the ETH blockchain trollbridge hell. You need to repeat the humiliating groveling all over again to access BNB, TRX, HIVE, EOS, SOL, or any other ecosystem that looks interesting or profitable. Sucks, sucks, sucks.
Anyway, this article/rant is about the fact that I have no idea if I will have an account at KuCoin to receive the withdrawal that PubOx will send no matter what on Monday. This is despite logging on and using KuCoin for close to 3 days! And in spite of deliberately NOT CHOOSING the identity verification hurdle.
No, KuCoin decided in a total surprise attack that I actually needed to send them my government ID. And a freaking photo of me holding my ID as well as a card with today's date and everything else you use to show that kidnappers are treating you well during hostage negotiations.
So I gave in to their demands, spreading my identification over yet another site in this privacy paradise that is Cryptoworld (yeah right). And my reward"
"We will complete the verification within 1 to 3 business days and notify the result to you through SMS and email."
Yeah, so I won't know until possibly after the withdrawal from PubOx has been sent if the cryptokidnappers are satisfied with my groveling. Nice.
This. Was. Out. Of. The. Blue. AFTER I selected against this level of identity verification. AFTER I WAS ALREADY USING THE SITE. And of course AFTER I ALREADY CREATED AN ACCOUNT AND COMMITTED TO SENDING MY CRYPTO THERE!
I want to stress this point. I was DAYS after the fact.
I think this is a BS move and I desperately hope other PubOx users can avoid whatever the hell happened to me. There was no explanation, no warning, no way to avoid this. It just happened. Popped up out of the blue. So, I don't even know how to help you avoid this. PubOx is to blame in my opinion, too, for fomenting a LIMITED TIME ONLY bonus excitement around this. Why? Why was that necessary to hurry people in 2 weeks? Why not first withdrawal anytime before April 15 or something? Anyway, I bought into the fever, trusted KuCoin to work with my privacy selections and now it is a random luck guessing game whether I will get my withdrawal. If it all works, I will stew in my rage and go about my plans to learn how to invest and trade on KuCoin and maybe I'll be a satisfied customer. I hope anyway.
KuCoin might say they have to do the KYC thing, and it is out of their hands, and blah blah BSing blah. How does that absolve them of stating up front that this step would be necessary. What, did they only localize my IP address after 2.5 days of frequent use? They had no idea that Americans might be forced to cough up their identity, so they couldn't mention that or provide any guidance? You might call me naive to think that there would be any other outcome, but I will just say that I have opened accounts multiple times and this is the first time anything like a surprise stonewall has been dropped on me so late in the process. Every other time is has been KYC or not. This is the first time where it's been no KYC...err, surprise, we were kidding, you can't have your money or your account!
My advice - well, I don't know. I wouldn't push for a speedy withdrawal. I guess I would say use KuCoin as much as possible for other tasks and just make sure they won't lay a giant steaming shiny pile of crap on you when you least expect it.
