At CoinJar, we are committed to providing a secure and compliant platform for you. Adhering to regulatory standards is crucial in the cryptocurrency space to ensure the safety of all CoinJar customers, trust in cryptocurrency, and the overall integrity of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Why does CoinJar need to do this?

CoinJar UK Limited is registered by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Cryptoasset Exchange Provider and Custodian Wallet Provider in the United Kingdom under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, as amended (Firm Reference No. 928767).

As part of this registration, CoinJar adheres to the relevant regulatory requirements to ensure the safety, security, and compliance of our products and services, namely the strict obligations under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. These regulations are commonly referred to as the MLRs.

CoinJar's adherence to the MLRs is crucial for preventing illegal activities such as money laundering, terrorism financing and fraud, and it helps protect CoinJar customers.

While the MLRs can be broad and we can't list all the obligations here (but you can view them on the FCA's website), generally speaking CoinJar must: 

• perform identity verification of customers (Know Your Customer or KYC)
• request further information on the purpose of accounts and nature of transactions, including recipients or senders and reason for transactions (Customer Due Diligence or CDD / Ongoing Customer Due Diligence or OCDD)
• request more in-depth verification for higher-risk customers ECDD (Enhanced Customer Due Diligence or ECDD)
• continuously observe transactions for unusual or suspicious activity (Transaction and Account Monitoring)

We provide information in our Terms of Service outlining where we may ask for additional information.

Why doesn't my bank request this much information?

The risks faced by banks and cryptocurrency exchanges differ significantly. As an example, banks employ stringent tracking for transactions, attaching identities and account numbers to each transfer. Conversely, the inherent anonymity and immediate, global transfer capabilities of cryptocurrencies present unique challenges in tracking and recovering illicitly transferred funds.

To address this, we sometimes ask for more information than a bank would - and it's why we engage in comprehensive due diligence from the point of your account being created. This helps us ensure robust preventative measures against misuse, and enhances the overall security of CoinJar. Our approach is pivotal in adapting to the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency and the associated risks, aiming to safeguard assets before any potential misappropriation occurs.

What happens when CoinJar asks me to provide more information?

When CoinJar requests additional information from you, it's to help to keep you safe from the risks of financial crime, and ensure we adhere to the MLRs.

This process, which is essential for verifying your identity and evaluating potential risks, involves you providing further personal details or documentation. In some cases, these requests for additional information can include but are not limited to:

• the nature and purpose of your account and transactions
• the ultimate destination of your funds
• intended recipients or senders of transactions
• additional Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation such as drivers licences or passports, or ID selfies, to verify the beneficial owner's identity

Where we ask for evidence documents, we may ask for documents including but not limited to:

• recent bank statements
• payslips
• account statements from other cryptocurrency exchanges
• evidence showing your source of funds or wealth

In other cases, we may ask if someone has helped you set up your account, and we may ask you to confirm if you understand that cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible.

By helping us with these requests, you play a part in fostering a secure, trustworthy environment and upholding the cryptocurrency ecosystem's integrity. These proactive measures help protect your assets and reinforces the safeguards against unauthorised transactions on CoinJar.

How do I know a request for more information is legitimate?

You should always verify a request for information is legitimate. You can read more on our Knowledge Base article below:

How do I know a request for more information is legitimate?

How is my information stored?

CoinJar's Privacy Policy outlines how this information is stored securely.

Why have restrictions been applied to my account?

From time to time, we are obligated to apply restrictions to your account for a variety of reasons. These restrictions can be automatically applied by our systems or manually applied by CoinJar's Security Team.

For security reasons, we're unable to go into the criteria that may result in an account restriction being applied, however we will advise you what type of restriction you have on your account where possible so you can appropriately make use of your account.

Applying restrictions is part of our commitment to continuously adhere to relevant regulations in the regions we operate in. Our primary concern is the safety and security of your account, as well as that of CoinJar. In some cases, we're not able to provide further information on the reason our systems have applied restrictions, and in some cases we're not able to remove the restrictions on your account. 

If you feel restrictions have been incorrectly applied or should be removed, please contact support@coinjar.com so we can review the restrictions.