Why KYC is a good sign

KYC can help distinguish a trustworthy project from scammers

EVEN Foundation
EVEN Platform
3 min readMay 6, 2019

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Initially, cryptocurrencies are anonymous. How did it happen that today most cryptocurrency projects require KYC? Here is a brief explanation of why both we and you need it.

Why crypto projects need KYC

Most of genuine crypto related projects are operated by companies. They are legal entities registered by the government which pays wages, rent offices, sign documents with contractors. To perform any of these actions and to avoid fines and legal penalties, companies have to follow rules and laws.

For instance, EVEN Foundation is registered in the European Union. We have to follow Know Your Customer (KYC) laws and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Unfortunately, currently, we cannot cover Northern America market, as we are not a resident there. So we have to decline KYC applications from this region.

Why users need KYC

The KYC procedure helps you to identify the crypto company with intentions of long terms results. At the same time, there are community projects which do not require any identity confirmation such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. This type of organization has its advantages, but they are not transparent. The beneficiaries of these projects are unknown and their governance is vague. And finally, the uncertain status of such digital assets prevent crypto to become mass adopted as a means of payment.

Think twice if crypto project rushes to get your money but doesn’t care to be KYC compliant.

When you’re looking for non-KYC exchange, remember the story of BTC-e which owners were accused of money laundering. On 28 July 2017, US authorities seized the BTC-e.com domain name and 38% of all customer funds.

KYC process risk on most popular exchanges

According to latest research, 69% of exchanges did not have complete and transparent KYC procedures.

Out of 60 (28%) exchanges for which the KYC Process Risk was evaluated as high, 19% exchanges were also noted as being located within a high-risk jurisdiction.

What are the requirements of EVEN KYC

Currently, we do not sell digital assets. Our community acquires tokens by taking part in referral, airdrop and bounty campaign. But we plan to list tokens on exchanges, so the community will benefit from early participation. On our website user have to upload three photos:

  • Identity confirmation. It is a passport or ID card. Contains photo, date of birth and name in Latin or Cyrillic letters.
  • Residence confirmation. Your address in the passport, utility bill or bank account statement. Contains your name and address in Latin or Cyrillic letters.
  • Selfie. Photo with your face and the open Identity document. Good quality.

The KYC compliance requires many resources and efforts from EVEN team and from users. We have lost a part of our community which does not meet residency or age requirements. We had to put up with it to keep project legal. We hope you understand our motives and stay with EVEN.

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