Starting next month, Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore will be enhancing its know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for users who intend to deposit funds or engage in trading on its platform.
Commencing on September 1, new customers will be required to undergo level 1 KYC verification, which encompasses submitting an identification document such as a passport and completing facial authentication. For existing customers, the deadline to complete this process is October 1. Following this date, they will have the ability to solely perform actions like withdrawals, order cancellations, or position closures, as stated by Bitget in its recent announcement on Monday.
Critics have targeted crypto exchanges for what they see as insufficient KYC checks, with regulatory bodies asserting that these inadequacies contribute to fraudulent activities, money laundering, and support for terrorist financing.
Consequently, certain exchanges have been strengthening their KYC requirements in recent times. In June, Kucoin, a major competitor, implemented a comparable program.
Bitget reports a global user base of 20 million individuals and records a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $320 billion, as indicated by CoinGecko's data. Kucoin, on the other hand, boasted 27 million users by the end of 2022. In contrast, the largest two exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, each have surpassed the milestone of 100 million users.
