Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex, which is one of the oldest ones, announced it would soon disable all legacy accounts, that is accounts which do not comply with the new customer registration process.
The U.S.-based exchange revealed on Dec. 27 that it has recently completed a significant upgrade to its customer identification and verification systems. As a result, Poloniex will soon require legacy accounts to become verified through the latest version of their verification portal and complete know-your-customer (KYC) due diligence.
According to the announcement, the exact date for the deadline will be announced in Q1 2018.
Poloniex stressed that users would be given notice before this requirement goes into effect, although it encourages them to verify their legacy account as soon as possible to avoid any potential interruptions to trade on the exchange.
This is the first page of the verification process for legacy accounts:
This requirement is the latest move by Poloniex to meet regulatory compliance and better ensure its services are not used for criminal activities such as money laundering.
Those who will not complete the verification by the deadline, Poloniex said, will have their accounts disabled, meaning they will no longer be able to deposit, trade, lend or open orders. The only feature to remain functional for legacy users will be withdrawal, which is subject to a maximum limit of $2,000. Margin positions will be offered an eight-week grace period before closure.
Specifically, after the deadline, legacy accounts will be placed in a state where:
- Trading and lending will be disabled;
- Open orders will be closed;
- Loans will have auto-renew switched off;
- Margin positions will be given an 8 week wind-down period where they can only be diminished or closed. After the 8 week wind-down period, they will be closed;
- Deposit addresses will be revoked. Any deposits sent to a revoked address will not be recoverable until the account is fully verified;
- Withdrawals will remain enabled at the daily withdrawal limits prior to the deadline.
When the user completes verification, full functionality will be restored, and the daily withdrawal limit will be increased to USD 25K equivalent.
The exchange did not disclose how many legacy accounts are to be affected by the new rule