The bitsz.io Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Policy (hereinafter referred to as the “AML Policy”), as well as the Know Your Customer policy (hereinafter referred to as the “KYC Policy”), are designed to prevent and reduce the potential risks of bitsz.io being involved in any unlawful activity. International regulations and supervisory authorities, as well as the “Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD),” require bitsz.io to implement effective internal procedures and mechanisms aimed at preventing money laundering, terrorist financing, drug and human trafficking, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, corruption, and bribery, as well as to take appropriate measures in the event of any suspicious actions or activity on the part of Users. As an exchange service provider dealing with virtual/cryptocurrency assets, the exchange service is obligated to review all suspicious transactions involving virtual/cryptocurrency assets. As part of such review, the service must, among other things, identify the user (KYC) and establish the origin of the virtual/cryptocurrency asset. In addition, during the review period, the virtual/cryptocurrency asset must be held on balance.
By creating an order on the website, the Client confirms consent to the possibility of being subject to an AML/KYC review.
1.1. The AML/KYC review procedure in relation to clients and transactions is carried out by the AML officer of bitsz.io, as well as by our liquidity provider, namely the cryptocurrency exchange.
1.2. As part of the AML/KYC review procedure, the Client consents to the processing and storage of personal data, and, where necessary, to the transfer of such data to the liquidity provider, namely the AML officer of the cryptocurrency exchange.
1.3. The AML/KYC procedure includes the following set of measures:
- Ongoing monitoring of transactions processed through bitsz.io
- Appointment of a responsible person (Money Laundering Reporting Officer)
- Risk-based approach
- Customer due diligence
- Enhancement of the professional skills and knowledge of bitsz.io employees
- Enhanced Due Diligence review
- Cooperation with government authorities in cases established by law
- Accounting, recordkeeping, and document management
1.4. The AML/KYC procedure may include several stages depending on the liquidity provider’s requests and the risk level of the cryptocurrency, including:
- KYC steps
- Source of Funds explanation
- EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence)
1.5. By using the Service, the User represents and warrants that they are not a citizen, resident or tax resident of the EU/EEA, are not located in the EU/EEA, are not incorporated or established in and do not act from the EU/EEA, and do not act in the interest of or on behalf of such persons. These representations are deemed to be repeated each time the Service is used.
1.6. As part of its risk-based compliance framework, the Company applies jurisdictional restrictions and does not onboard, accept or process transactions for users located in, resident in, incorporated in, established in or acting from the EU/EEA. The Company may use IP geolocation, blockchain analytics, customer declarations, device information, payment information, KYC data and support communications to detect restricted jurisdiction exposure. Where EU/EEA exposure is detected after a transaction has been initiated, the Company may suspend the transaction, request additional information, cancel the exchange, return funds where legally permissible, or retain/block funds where required by AML/CFT, sanctions, court order, law enforcement request or internal risk controls.
1.7. The Company may, at any time and without giving reasons, refuse access, suspend or block access, refuse to execute a transaction, and terminate the relationship with the User where indicators of a connection to the EU/EEA are detected (including by IP address, geolocation, payment attributes or verification data). The use of VPNs, proxy servers, anonymisers or any other means of circumventing territorial restrictions is prohibited and constitutes an independent ground for blocking and termination.
1.8. We process IP address, device information, approximate geolocation, transaction data, wallet addresses, blockchain analytics results and customer declarations for compliance, fraud prevention, sanctions screening, AML/CFT controls and enforcement of jurisdictional restrictions.
2. If, based on the results of the AML analysis of cryptocurrency assets, a risk higher than 40% is identified, or any of the following labels are obtained:
- DARK SERVICE (related to the dark side of the internet)
- SCAM (fraudulent activity)
- STOLEN (theft or stolen data)
- MIXING (MIXER) (mixing of funds to conceal their origin)
- SEXTORTION (extortion based on compromising information)
- RANSOMWARE (extortion involving malicious ransomware software)
- HACK (hacking)
- PHISHING (phishing)
- TERRORISM FINANCING (terrorist financing)
- FRAUD (fraud)
- BLACKLIST (listed on blacklists)
- STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION (still under investigation)
- CYBERCRIME ORGANIZATION (organization related to cybercrime)
- NARCOTICS (narcotics)
- CHILD ABUSE (child abuse)
- HUMAN TRAFFICKING (human trafficking)
- SANCTIONS (sanctions)
- GAMBLING (casino, betting)
As well as other high-risk assets, the Client’s transaction may be frozen for an indefinite period until full identity verification (KYC) is completed.
2.1. Upon receipt of an official request from our liquidity provider, namely the cryptocurrency exchange, the Client’s transaction may be frozen for an indefinite period until full identity verification (KYC) is completed.
2.1.2. Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) procedures may be initiated by the liquidity provider or responsible persons in the event of relevant requests, high-risk cryptocurrency, or obvious falsification of documents and data requested during the Source of Funds or KYC stages.
2.2. Upon receipt of a request from the competent authorities, the Client’s transaction may be frozen for an indefinite period until complete identity verification (KYC) is completed.
2.3. AML analysis of cryptocurrency assets and validation of risks related to incoming transactions are carried out using the following blockchain analytics providers: TRM Ecosystem, Elliptic, AMLbot.
2.4. If any suspicious activity is identified by the AML officer of bitsz.io, the Client’s transaction may be frozen for an indefinite period until the AML review is fully completed.
3. Documents required for KYC verification:
The collection, transfer, and protection of personal data in accordance with the company’s privacy policy during the AML review are ensured through AMLBot Forms https://amlbot.com/kyc Safe3 UAB Registration code: 306141950 Address: Vilnius, J. Jasinskio g. 16B, LT-03163
During the KYC stage, the following may be requested:
- Email address
- Photo of an identity document
- Selfie – liveness
If necessary, the service has the right to request any additional documents not specified in this section. All submitted images (scans, photos, screenshots) must be in jpeg or png format.
3.1. The review period for documents submitted for KYC verification is determined individually for each incident, but may not exceed 30 days in cases where there is no freeze or blocking of assets by the liquidity provider.
3.2. The return of blocked assets is possible only upon successful completion of the AML review.
3.3. User assets that do not pass the AML review are not subject to exchange or refund.
3.4. Based on the results of a positive AML review, the client may be offered a refund with a 5% fee withheld, but not exceeding the amount above the liquidity provider/blockchain fee required to ensure the outgoing transfer.
3.5. A refund after completion of the review is possible only to the address from which the cryptocurrency was originally sent. The refund processing period after completion of the AML review is 7 business days.
3.6. Based on the results of a positive AML review, the client may be offered the option to resume the exchange at the average (market) rate using the details previously specified by the client in the application. The timeframe for such an exchange is 36 hours from the moment the client gives consent to this operation.
3.6.1. An exchange at the market rate following a positive AML review is created only using the previously specified details. New details cannot be used, and in such cases the refund is processed in accordance with clause 3.5.
4. Please note that our service reserves the right to charge an additional commission fee of up to 5%, but not more than the equivalent of $100 USD, for transactions that display signs of high risk, such as:
- DARK SERVICE (related to the dark side of the internet)
- SCAM (fraudulent activity)
- STOLEN (theft or stolen data)
- MIXING (MIXER) (mixing of funds to conceal their origin)
- SEXTORTION (extortion based on compromising information)
- RANSOMWARE (extortion involving malicious ransomware software)
- HACK (hacking)
- PHISHING (phishing)
- TERRORISM FINANCING (terrorist financing)
- FRAUD (fraud)
- BLACKLIST (listed on blacklists)
- STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION (still under investigation)
- CYBERCRIME ORGANIZATION (organization related to cybercrime)
- NARCOTICS (narcotics)
- CHILD ABUSE (child abuse)
- HUMAN TRAFFICKING (human trafficking)
- SANCTIONS (sanctions)
- GAMBLING (casino, betting)
This additional commission fee is applied to compensate for additional analysis and risk mitigation measures required to process high-risk transactions.
4.1. Preliminary AML screening and risk assessment are available to all platform users and are provided in the form of a consultation between company employees through the technical support service and the client.
4.1.1. Preliminary AML screening and risk assessment constitute a free service during which an operator analyzes the address provided by the client using internal resources and communicates a decision, as well as information on whether such asset is considered risky for our platform or not.
4.1.2. The Company does not provide users with detailed reports, statements, textual, or graphical verification results.
5. The return of assets is impossible if a request has been received regarding such assets from competent authorities or if seizure/blocking has been imposed by other authorities of any jurisdiction (in such case, the blocked asset may be treated as material evidence). The return of assets is also impossible if the liquidity provider decides to retain the funds.
5.1. The return of assets for transactions involving erroneous transfers, as well as transactions related to AML reviews and blocks, is impossible without completion of full KYC verification.
6. The return of assets is impossible if the Client fails to provide, within 30 calendar days, the information requested by the AML Officer of bitsz.io via email.
7. Blocking is also applied when assets are sent from the following exchanges or services: Ommex, Kapitalist, NOBITEX, Garantex, Tornado Cash, Hydra, Blender.io, Lazarus Group, Genesis Market, ChipMixer, Shinbad.io, Commex, Wasabi Wallet, as well as from any Iranian platforms and other platforms from prohibited/sanctioned countries, and in connection with operations involving DarkMarket resources.
8. The liquidity provider, as the initiator of the blocking, has the right to refuse the release of frozen funds after completion of the AML review in the cases described in clauses 2, 2.3, and 7.
9. The Client has the right to contact the technical support service via Live Chat in order to find out about the probability of blocking before creating an exchange.