Consumer complaint received 2025-08-15 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
What happened : On XX/XX/year>, I purchased {$1.00} XXXX  of XXXX ( XXXX ) through Venmo ( PayPal, Inc. ). The XXXX  was immediately debited from my linked XXXX XXXX XXXX  account, and Venmo sent me an email confirmation showing the transaction as Complete ( Exhibit A ). The receipt ( Exhibit B ) shows XXXX XXXX purchased at a price of {$120000.00} per XXXX with no fees. 

As of XX/XX/year>, the XXXX is still not available for use. My Venmo Crypto balance display ( Exhibit C ) shows {$4.00} total, but when attempting to send XXXX, my available balance is only {$3.00} ( Exhibit D ). The missing amount directly corresponds to the XX/XX/XXXX XXXX purchase which Venmo has failed to credit to my available balance. 

Venmo has never disclosed any hold, compliance review, or technical issue related to this purchase. The transaction is marked Complete but the purchased asset is withheld without explanation. This is not a delay caused by blockchain settlement times, it is Venmo withholding my property while showing a false Complete status. 

Customer service failures : On XX/XX/year>, I contacted Venmo via the in-app Venmo Assistant to report the missing XXXX and XXXX separate issue where my Venmo Credit account was blocked from spending despite available funds. The automated bot ( Exhibit XXXX ) replied with irrelevant scripted messages and admitted it could not address my issue. I was then transferred to Customer Support but received no follow-up, no resolution, and no explanation. Multiple days have passed without action while Venmo continues to hold my funds.

Violations of law : 1. Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( EFTA ), 15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq., Regulation E Failure to complete an authorized transaction in a timely manner.

2. Truth in Lending Act ( TILA ), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., Regulation Z Failure to disclose limitations or restrictions on credit use.

3. Equal Credit Opportunity Act ( ECOA ), 15 U.S.C. 1691 ( d ) Adverse action on a credit account without the required written notice.

4. Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices ( UDAAP ), 12 U.S.C. 5531 Withholding purchased assets without disclosure, displaying a false completion status, and refusing to provide meaningful support access.

Requested resolution : Immediate release of the purchased XXXX  into my available balance. 
Removal of any undisclosed holds or restrictions on my Venmo XXXX account. 
A full written explanation for why the XXXX purchase is marked Complete yet is unavailable for use, including whether it was subject to a compliance or risk hold. 
Assurance that Venmo will provide direct access to human representatives for regulated financial product issues rather than trapping consumers in automated scripts.

Compensation for damages and inconvenience caused by Venmos multi-day withholding of my asset. 

Attachments : Exhibit A : Venmo email confirmation of XXXX purchase, XX/XX/year> Exhibit B : Detailed XXXX transaction receipt showing Complete status Exhibit C : Venmo XXXX XXXX display Exhibit D : Venmo Send screen showing reduced available XXXX balance Exhibit E : Venmo Assistant chat showing irrelevant automated replies and no resolution

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation