January 19, 2021 | AtoZ Markets – The oldest European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has introduced additional verification for clients from the Netherlands wishing to withdraw funds to third-party wallets. This was reported by a Twitter user under the pseudonym Bitcoin Marcus.
Yes, this is real. People in the Netherlands now have to KYC their withdraw addresses. pic.twitter.com/S2H5Gszh9X
— Bitcoin Marcus ☣️?⚡️ (@plan_marcus) January 17, 2021
Bitstamp Dutch Users Must Perform KYC
According to a statement from the exchange, Dutch traders must provide photographs to prove that the user is indeed the owner of the address. This is required to whitelist the address before allowing withdrawals.
Bitstamp said the whitelisting is a common security feature that was already available on the exchange. However, since January 15th, it has become mandatory for all customers from the Netherlands. This means that withdrawing cryptocurrencies from Bitstamp directly to third parties is no longer available in the Netherlands. First, the user must withdraw the cryptocurrency from Bitstamp to their own wallet, and only then can they send funds to a third party.
The exchange has introduced new rules in line with the anti-money laundering regulations that were drafted by the Dutch regulators in November 2019. These rules require that Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) check to see if users are on the Netherlands or Europe sanctions list before serving their customers. In addition, VASPs must monitor all inbound and outbound transactions.
Twitter users criticized the exchange's attempts to comply with Dutch law. They suggested that Bitstamp's next move would be to hold people accountable for all subsequent transactions from whitelisted addresses. A few months ago, Bitonic also implemented additional user verification due to the requirements of the Netherlands Central Bank, which began regulating cryptocurrency firms from January 10, 2020.
Recall that in the spring, the Dutch Ministry of Finance planned to introduce fees for cryptocurrency firms in order to comply with the Fifth Directive of the European Union against money laundering (AMLD5). However, these fees significantly exceeded the AMLD5 requirements.
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