Consumer complaint received 2024-06-03
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: Winklevoss Exchange LLC (TX)

I use Gemini Exchange to buy cryptocurrency from XXXX. I created an account and purchased a small amount of XXXX in XXXX. Since then, I have not used the account again until this year. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made two USD deposits. The first was {$2500.00} and the second was {$1000.00}. I purchased XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX Throughout XXXX and XXXX, I made several purchases of crypto and also withdrew some of it to an external wallet to trade tokens not offered on Gemini. This is completely normal, within the terms of use, and my right as these are my assets. I did not have any issues with these transactions. 

In XXXX, I decided to invest more of my capital ( $ XXXX ) into crypto. I withdrew funds from my employer investment account and made three deposits of $ XXXX to my Gemini account. The first was on XX/XX/XXXX, the second on XX/XX/XXXX, and the last one on XX/XX/XXXX. I purchased more crypto ( XXXX, XXXX and XXXX ) with each of these deposits. I also sold traded my XXXX position for XXXX 
Once I attempted to withdraw the crypto ( after the ACH deposits had settled ) I got an error that I could not complete the withdrawal due to a security hold. The message told me how to contact Customer Service. I submitted a request on XX/XX/XXXX. I got an automated email response with a ticket ID number : XXXX. I received an email from Customer Service later that day stating, " A security hold has been pleased on your account for security purposes. '' They provided some verification steps I would need to take for them to assist me. It included taking and submitting a photo to their secure drop zone that showed : 1. A view of your full face 2. Your ID that was used to register with Gemini. 
XXXX. A handwritten note that states the current date and says [ XXXX ] underneath It also said, " Once this is complete, please reply to this thread and I will escalate your case for expedited service. '' I completed the steps immediately and responded to the thread asking for an escalation. I also asked for an explanation why a hold was placed on my account. I did not receive an answer to that question. 

I did get a response that said : " Thank you for providing this information. 

I am working with my team to resolve your issue regarding your current account restriction. I will be sure to follow up as soon as I have the next steps. 

If you have any questions in the meantime or any additional details you think would be helpful, please feel free to reply to this email. '' I responded back with : " Thanks so much for your help. The sooner the better. As you know, crypto is time sensitive. Ive already been negatively impacted. 

It would also be helpful going forward to know before I complete an action that it will result in an account restriction and what I will need to do to resolve it quickly. '' They then responded by asking me a series of questions on XX/XX/XXXX : " We reviewed your account and have a few questions. Please provide as much detail as possible : XXXX. How did you find out about Gemini? 
XXXX. Has anyone instructed you to open this Gemini account or has any one requested payment through Gemini? 
XXXX. Have you shared your account credentials with anyone? 
XXXX. Why did you open a Gemini account? 

If you have recently attempted to withdraw and/or send funds to an external address, please provide the following information with as much detail as possible : Please be specific in describing the purpose of this withdrawal. For example, if the purpose of this withdrawal was to send funds to a third-party platform, include identifying details such as the name of the platform or website link. 

XXXX. How did you discover the wallet address? 
XXXX. Are you the owner of the wallet address? If you are not the owner, what is your purpose in withdrawing to the wallet address? 
XXXX. Did someone direct you to withdraw to this wallet address? 
XXXX. Do you have any other relevant information on this wallet address? '' I provided all this information to them on the same day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and asked again what action of mine prompted the need for it. 

Since I had not heard from them, I responded again on XX/XX/XXXX asking for an update. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, they responded with this : Thanks for providing that information. Before we can take next steps with your account, we will require the following : confirmation of the actual wallet address to which you'll be withdrawing confirmation of the platform, program, site, app, group, or entity that hosts the wallet / issues the wallet address/es documentation of wallet ownership ( e.g. a screenshot of the wallet dashboard, uploaded via the Gemini XXXX This information and documentation will be required to proceed. 

We appreciate you working with us on this, and look forward to hearing back from you. 

I responded with the requested information XX/XX/XXXX. I also asked again what triggered the restriction to my account, since they still had not provided that information. 

They responded back : We are still in the process of reviewing your account. If our team requires any further information, they will request it in their response. 

Although this process may take some time, please be assured that they are working as quickly as possible to complete the review of your account. 

I replied back that I would be filing a complaint since they refuse to tell me why my account is under review. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they emailed me with this : As a valued member of the Gemini community, we occasionally need documentation from our customers to determine where their investment funds come from. 

Accordingly, can you provide us with documentation that evidences your source of wealth for your Gemini investments? Your source of wealth is the means by which you acquired the funds you are using to transact on the Gemini platform. This can be anything from your salary, your savings, an early investment in cryptocurrency, the sale of a property, an inheritance, a divorce settlement, etc. 

They asked for at least one piece of official, third-party documentation ( bank statement that shows a balance history, pay stub, tax return, etc. ) from different categories. 

Via their secure XXXX XXXX I sent a copy of my bank statement showing the deposit into my checking account from my employer investment account. The amount was {$15000.00}. On that statement you can also see the three, $ XXXX deposits I made to Gemini from those funds. 

I followed up via email to confirm that I had submitted the information as requested. 

I followed up on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX because I did not get a response. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, they responded with this : After reviewing your documentation, Gemini noticed that the volume of activity in your Gemini account is much higher than the income received. 

Can you please provide an explanation for this difference? Do you currently have a second source of income to fund your Gemini account? If so, can you please provide the supporting documentation to the same secure Gemini XXXXXXXX XXXX 
I did not understand what they were asking for, so I responded to get clarification. I had already provided the source of funds when I submitted the bank statement. I did go ahead and reiterate the deposits and transactions to date. 

They replied back on XX/XX/XXXX with this : Thanks for following up and providing additional context! 

Before we can take the next steps with your account, we will require the following : Confirmation of the actual wallet address to which you'll be withdrawing. 
Confirmation of the platform, program, site, app, group, or entity that hosts the wallet / issues the wallet address. 
Documentation of wallet ownership ( e.g. a screenshot of the wallet dashboard linking the wallet address to your name and/or email address, uploaded via the Gemini XXXX ). 
This information and documentation will be required to proceed. 

They previously asked for this information on XX/XX/XXXX, as noted above, and I provided it. I replied and told them this, and asked them to review what was already submitted. 

I did not hear back. 

I followed up again on the XXXX and once more on XX/XX/XXXX. I still have not heard anything back from them regarding my account. 

They never fully explained what prompted the security hold and have not made any real efforts to resolve the issue. 

They do not have a customer service phone number for me to speak with someone. 

I am completely at the mercy of them responding to me via email. 

They are holding my funds hostage. I can not make withdrawals or access my assets in any way. They are unresponsive and unhelpful. 

This is unfair and unacceptable. 

I need help with getting this resolved.