Bitstamp CEO Nejc Kodri

Bitstamp Ltd. has issued a final warning for its users to get themselves verified, warning that failure to do so will result in their funds being seized and their accounts being terminated.

Bitstamp’s final notice reads:

We kindly ask all unverified account holders with a balance to get verified within 28 days of this announcement.

Failure to do so constitutes a breach of our Agreement and failure to remedy that breach. This will automatically result in the following: all unverified accounts holding a balance will be terminated, access rights will be removed, and the holders of these accounts will no longer be considered Bitstamp customers.

Any remaining balances will be subject to immediate seizure by and forfeiture to regulatory authorities.

Although it’s registered as a company in the UK, Bitstamp is based in Slovenia. Due to this, it’s not covered by Slovenia’s anti money laundering laws or counterterrorist financial tracking obligations.

Nevertheless, Bitstamp has taken it upon itself to comply with these policies. It changed its verification Policy in September 4, 2013, and is now demanding account holders comply if they want to continue using the service, accessing Bitcoins and bank transfers.

More than a year has passed since the change was implemented but many users haven’t yet verified their accounts.

Some users have complained about Bitstamp’s Verification Policy, as it defeats the anonymity offered by Bitcoin itself. Others stated that it could result in Bitstamp losing customers, but in a statement sent to the press, the company said it believes “it makes good sense for us to act in a conservative fashion and to do our best to safeguard the integrity of the system. Each day, each minute, each second, Bitstamp provides an online exchange in which we match buyers and sellers, and through these myriad transactions, help to set the real-time value of bitcoin for use by merchants and customers around the world.”

What will happen to the seized funds? According to Bitstamp’s final notice, the seized funds will be forfeited by regulatory authorities, which apparently means the exchange won’t be filling its own pockets – but more suspicious folk will notice it doesn’t mention who those ‘regulatory authorities’ actually are :)

Apparently, the reason Bitstamp is doing this is so it can “better protect consumers”. One can only assume that Bitstamp has fallen into the “if you’ve got something to hide, you must be up to no good” camp – and consequently doesn’t want anything to do with you.