Tag: Blockchain.com

Trustpilot is issuing a brutal verdict on crypto exchanges: Binance 1.4, Kraken 1.6, Bitstamp 1.7, Gemini 1.4, Blockchain.com 2.1—dominated by frozen-account horror stories and support dead ends. Only Coinbase and Bitpanda (3.9, Great) and Bybit (3.4, Average) escape “scam-level.” Fintechs like Revolut (4.6, Excellent) and Wise (4.3) show how far crypto’s CX still lags.

FinTelegram has warned about the Blockchain.com fund recovery scam several times recently. In this case, the unsuspecting victims receive emails from Blockchain Access UK Ltd, which the FCA regulates. Customers are typically told in this email that a balance has been discovered on a Blockchain.com wallet. For the balance to be released, victims must transfer their personal information, IDs, and money to cover the costs incurred. The FCA has now also issued a warning.

For more than a year now, we have observed various fund recovery scams that claim in emails to consumers that a Bitcoin (BTC) balance has been discovered in a Blockchain.com account that would be in their name. For the payout of the BTC balance, the consumers would only have to transfer a few hundred (sometimes a few thousand) euros or dollars to cover the recovery costs. Please do not fall for these scammers.

We have been informed that scammers pretending to be Blockchain.com support agents are sending out emails informing the receiver that they have Bitcoins on a frozen account. However, the account was frozen and disabled from the system for the reason of not showing any activity for a period of time of more than two years. The account would remain frozen until the owner provides proof of identity (POI) and proof of address (POA) by uploading documents. Do not fall for these scammers!

The well-known crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, or FTX seem to have a problem with their customers. On Trustpilot, most of the top crypto exchanges have scam ratings with customers complaining about unfounded blocked accounts and problems with customer service. Exceptions are CEX.io, Oobit, or BitPanda, which stand out like a lighthouse on Trustpilot. With 4.7-stars and 4.1-stars respectively, CEX.io and BitPanda apparently perform incredibly better than their international competitors.

Our readers have brought to our attention that currently, scammers are posing as fake support staff from the crypto exchange Blockchain.com (www.blockchain.com) offering to unlock allegedly frozen Bitcoin assets. Of course, this is all complete bullshit. The scammers are appearing as clones of the FCA-regulated Blockchain Access UK Ltd. The FCA has already published a warning against these Blockchain.com clones on its website. Please do not fall for it. You can find the text of the email currently sent out below.

FinTelegram has been warning about the Blockchain.com crypto exchange for some time. The company delays payouts and seems to be under financial stress. It was already known that Blockchain.com lost a lot of money in the collapse of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). CoinDesk reports today on the true extent that is frightening. Blockchain.com apparently lost $250 million. We recommend again that all Blockchain.com customers immediately withdraw their funds or stop depositing new funds.

We continue to warn against the crypto exchange Blockchain.com. Co-founded by US citizen Peter Smith (@onemorepeter), the crypto exchange has apparently lost a lot of money recently. In early May 2022, the 18-billion Terra-Luna scheme exploded and triggered the collapse of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (A3C) shortly after. Blockchain.com was also invested in #3AC and lost a lot of money in the process. Since then, complaints have been mounting on Trustpilot about payouts not being made. Clients start to call for lawsuits and criminal investigations.

Following the Chapter 15 bankruptcy filing of collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), one of its lenders, the public-listed crypto broker Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York. According to a court filing, Voyager has claims of more than $650 million against 3AC. Voyager has approximately $1.3 billion of crypto assets and over $350 million in cash held at a For Benefit of Customers (FBO) account at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. The estimated number of creditors exceeds 100,000. 

Blockchain.com was among the creditors who pushed for the liquidation of collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). We have reported several times that Blockchain.com delays withdrawals of its customers with bullshit excuses. Perhaps the cause is a liquidity problem due to the losses suffered with 3AC? Blockchain.com said that 3AC may have defrauded the crypto industry. They intend to hold them accountable. What about Blockchain.com accountability? Whose funds have been invested? The company has not yet disclosed details to its clients!

The Celsius Network and Three Arrow Capital debacle perfectly demonstrated that the crypto market has a fundamental regulatory issue. In March 2022, the UK FCA warned that it could not efficiently regulate the crypto giant Binance Group, which operates a wide variety of legal entities in different jurisdictions. The same is arguably true for the Blockchain.com Group. The company claims to have 37 million verified users with $1T+ transactions, which accounts for one-third of all Bitcoin. Largely without supervision because the company is not licensed but just registered.

The Florida-based Peter Smith founded Blockchain.com in 2012. He still is the CEO of the company, which claims to be responsible for about 28% of all BTC transactions since 2012. In spring 2021, the company raised $420 million and received a valuation of $5.2 billion. In April 2021, Smith announced the "first-ever" digital asset partnership with an NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys. But times have changed. The crypto & fintech market collapsed. Many hyped companies are faced with lethal liquidity troubles. Blockchain.com may be one of them given their payout issues.