Localbitcoins, the peer to peer exchange which has been popular among users due to the ability to use it anonymously has announced that it would block accounts that have not complied with its verification process by November 1.
In an email sent to Cryptoinfowatch October 24, the platform stated that:
“After the 1st of November accounts that exceed their Tier transaction and trade volume limits and have not yet provided verification for the required Tier will be suspended from trading and the withdrawal of BTC will be blocked accordingly until the identification requirements are met.”
The release further instructed that users unwilling to comply with the new regulations should withdraw their bitcoins prior to the expiration of the notice.
Localbitcoins had on February 8 announced to its users that it would commence compliance with the new European Commission Anti-Money Laundering Directive as it affects cryptocurrencies.
The exchange also announced that its home country Finland had drafted legislation regarding virtual currencies in accordance with the directive even though European Commission has given a window period until 2020 for compliance.
The company stated that it is its belief that the new measure requiring verification of users would be in the interest of the Bitcoin community and would go a long way in engendering trust. The release stated that:
“It is LocalBitcoins’ mission to bring Bitcoin everywhere and by being a reference in compliance, we also aim to promote trust, legitimacy and maturity in the Bitcoin ecosystem, while paving the way for it to become a more viable and widespread currency and combating criminal use of Bitcoin and its network.”
The company later introduced 4 verification levels depending on the volume traded by individuals and a separate process for corporate entities. This was updated through a new verification process introduced on June, 18 2019.
The way the four tiers work is that:
T1, T2 and T3 accounts will be able to send and receive transactions, create advertisements and complete buy and sell trades. T0 accounts, i.e. users who have only onboarding verification, can complete buy trades but will not have a LocalBitcoins receiving wallet address neither be able to sell BTC and post ads.
The company had earlier stated that it would commence the suspension of accounts that exceeded their transaction limits without verification by October 1. It has now been extended until November 1.
