A Tennessean woman says her bank has abruptly frozen tens of thousands of dollars in her account – even after she took additional steps to prove her identity and verify the source of her funds. Torrie Jackson says she and her husband received more than $68,000 in back taxes from the IRS earlier this year, […]
The post Bank Abruptly Freezes $48,000 in Customer’s Account, Denying Access to Funds and Refusing to Verify Identity: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Members of the Council of the European Union have agreed on sweeping new measures for the freezing and confiscation of so-called “unexplained assets.” The Council has signed off on a proposal that was submitted late last year to change its policies on wealth confiscation since the existing framework “needed to be updated.” As stated by […]
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JPMorgan is “persistently” discriminating against its own clients and closing bank accounts without warning, according to Republican attorneys general from 19 states. The law enforcement officials, led by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, sent a letter to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stating that the banking giant’s practices go against the company’s own policies on equality. The […]
The post JPMorgan Is Abruptly Freezing Customers’ Bank Accounts and Discriminating Against Clients Without Warning: Law Enforcement Officials in 19 States appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Celsius users with funds held in its custody program have finally begun to withdraw funds, but users report delays due to a backlog of requests.
Some Celsius customers have reported being able to withdraw funds from the bankrupt crypto firm for the first time, some 263 days after the lender froze withdrawals in the lead-up to its bankruptcy filing.
According to numerous social media posts, as of Mar. 2, certain customers who held funds in Celsius’ Custody accounts have been overjoyed that they were finally able to withdraw their funds from the lender.
Glad to be one of the few to get their money back in almost one piece. Hoping everyone else will receive theirs in due time
— richieroyce.eth (@Richie_Royce) March 2, 2023
Customers report they received an email a few weeks ago listing those who were eligible to remove their funds, before receiving another on Mar. 2 noting withdrawals could be processed.
While some users who whitelisted wallets ahead of their withdrawal attempt received their funds within minutes, others pointed to large delays.
A backlog of withdrawal attempts seems to have built up, however, with some claiming that withdrawal requests are being converted into support tickets which could take some days to process, as a result of “too many requests and not enough staff.”
On Jan. 31, Celsius published details on who was eligible to withdraw, with customers who had only ever held funds in custody accounts able to currently withdraw 94% of their original funds.
The custody accounts were only available to United States residents. The withdrawals are restricted to these customers much to the disappointment of customers with funds in other accounts offered by Celsius.
Related: Wrapped Bitcoin supply drops to negative after 11,500 wBTC burn linked to Celsius
Custody account holders may yet be able to get back the other 6%, pending future court hearings.
Customers who had transferred funds from the earn or borrow programs to a custody account are apparently able to withdraw 72.5% of their funds at this point in time, up to a maximum of $7,575.
The lender had first announced they would be freezing withdrawals on Jun. 13, 2022, citing “extreme market conditions,” before filing for bankruptcy on Jul. 13.
Kraken said it froze account access to certain funds “we suspect to be associated with ‘fraud, negligence or misconduct’ related to FTX.”
United-States-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has frozen the accounts associated with “FTX Group, Alameda Research, and their executives,” on its exchange after engaging with authorities.
In a Twitter post on Nov. 13, Kraken said the accounts were frozen “to protect their creditors” and added it “maintains full reserves” and other users' funds aren’t affected, likely seeking to stamp out fears from users that the exchange might face liquidity issues due to the fund freeze.
Kraken has spoken with law enforcement regarding a handful of accounts owned by the bankrupt FTX Group, Alameda Research and their executives. Those accounts have been frozen to protect their creditors.
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) November 13, 2022
Other Kraken clients are not affected. Kraken maintains full reserves.
A Kraken spokesperson told Cointelegraph that it had “actively monitored recent developments with the FTX estate” and “are in contact with law enforcement” saying it froze account access to certain funds “we suspect to be associated with ‘fraud, negligence or misconduct’ related to FTX.”
“We will resolve each account on a case-by-case basis and may seek guidance from the Bankruptcy Court or trustee as appropriate,” the spokesperson added.
Kraken’s account freeze comes after crypto exchange FTX announced on Nov. 11 that FTX Group consisting of roughly 130 companies including its sister trading firm Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. with its founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigning as CEO.
It also follows a suspected hack on FTX that involved a Kraken account, Kraken’s chief security officer Nick Percoco said on Nov.12 that they are aware of the account owner's identity and later gave an update that FTX would make a statement regarding the situation “and them utilizing funds from their verified [Kraken] account to complete this transaction.”
Related: FTX collapse: The crypto industry’s Lehman Brothers moment
Regulators appear to be coming down hard on FTX and their executives amid the recent turmoil.
FTX is headquartered in The Bahamas and the country’s securities regulator on Nov. 10 froze the assets of FTX Digital Markets — the exchanges’ Bahamian subsidiary — and its “related parties."
The Bahamian securities regulator on Nov. 12 denied instructing FTX to prioritize withdrawals of Bahamas-based users after the exchange stated on Nov. 11 that it was instructed by the country’s regulators to facilitate Bahamian withdrawals.
While FTX is now under investigation by the Royal Bahamas Police Force for possible criminal misconduct according to a Nov. 13 report.
