Uphold is a Scam!!

[RootSilent]

So lurking a while to understand the best platform to trade XRP in the USA was, I stumbled upon a thread where Uphold was recommended...

Unfortunately, it's a scam!

After doing all the KYC requirements I transfer my money in (before the pump day)... and I haven't been able to access it for over 60 hours. What other single exchange in the world has this issue after verifying your identity? They flagged a deposit and asked for my employers name and address (which I provided in minutes after them asking) and am still waiting for a response from their customer 'support'. They didn't have these 'requirements' anywhere on their website and even when I immediately provided the info they ignore me. Even worse, looking at their reddit I am only one of many people experiencing these issues.

Even worse, this isn't even new; they've been doing this for years according to what I've been reading... I should have done my research but given the SEC lawsuit and their response I honestly trusted them.

I know I'm coming off as ranty but I'm seriously considering a class action lawsuit. The sheer amount of people who have their money held hostage right now (ignoring the downtime of their servers) is staggering. I'm putting this here to see what other people think?

Please let me know. If you want to see what trash they are, please check out the recent posts on their reddit. A disgusting scam from the looks of it.  

[mrhat75]

It is unfortunate that the SEC have pissed on American holders.  I'd expect nothing less from a government agency at this point.

[Wolfparty]

I've used Uphold since 2019 with no qualms. I even had a friend sign up a few hours before the whole top fell out earlier.

I'm guessing you deposited over 10k? If so they have to comply with Anti-Money Laundering rules and Title 31. They are required to do their due diligence. Otherwise they get heavily fined and possible jail time depending on the severity of any rules being skirted/broken. That and the hold may be due to not being settled on the back end yet. Traditional rails are still slow and banks work bank hours. That is my guess.

It is of my personal opinion that Uphold is not out to screw anybody over. Being one of the few US avenues left to get XRP I'm sure they are doing their best, but most likely a bit overrun.

I hope it all gets worked out for you.

[Trentsteel]

Never had a problem with deposit/ withdrawals 

Goddamn server issues and app going off line at peak trading on XRP yesterday and Saturday  cost me thousands 🥲

[RobertHarpool]

To me, the number 1 misused word in the last decade is 'scam' ... followed closely by 'hoax' (which will hopefully now be in decline.) 

Uphold is not a 'scam.' I don't like them. I don't intend to do business with them. I can list all kinds of reasons why. But they're not a 'scam'

(Perhaps I taught English too long ... but words have meanings. If u just start changing the meaning of words to whatever you want then bacon umbrella! Snorkel spam jelly dinosaur dinosaur dinosaur dinosaur)

[NightJanitor]

@RootSilent

I don't believe Uphold is a scam;  I believe they were slammed (by a tremendous number of new users, at a time of great interest).

I do, however, believe that people who encounter such situations and then go around screaming "scam!" are "impatient," at best...

Impatience like that can be costly... perhaps better to remain true to your name and remain Silent and get ready for the next time?

Everyone with any experience in... well, anything... knows that credentialing in can sometimes take a moment;  best to plan ahead.

[B088IN]

Agreed, I also have Uphold and it works, although recently due to traffic it fell over at crucial times which is annoying. They have since done an upgrade but we will have to wait until the next large rush to see if it is resilient to high network traffic. 
So in answer, no, Uphold is not a scam, it may just not be right for you and your requirements. Hopefully once the SEC case sorts itself out, more options may be available to the US customer base, although that may be too late as I’m guessing there may be a rush to exchanges if news is good. Time will tell

Edited February 3, 2021 by B088IN

[RootSilent]

On 2/2/2021 at 5:01 AM, NightJanitor said:

@RootSilent

I don't believe Uphold is a scam;  I believe they were slammed (by a tremendous number of new users, at a time of great interest).

I do, however, believe that people who encounter such situations and then go around screaming "scam!" are "impatient," at best...

Impatience like that can be costly... perhaps better to remain true to your name and remain Silent and get ready for the next time?

Everyone with any experience in... well, anything... knows that credentialing in can sometimes take a moment;  best to plan ahead.

Alright... a bit calmer now. I can concede the use of 'scam' might not be appropriate here but at the very least they are a horrible exchange if only due to lack of transparency, customer service and professionalism. It's shady taking your money, not letting you use it and not talking to you before, during and after an anticipated time of increased volatility. The server issues, on the other hand, I totally expected.

Here are my issues a little more organized:

1. Non-transparent requirements which they tell you only after you deposit your money. These should be bundled in their initial KYC requirements, especially if there are consequences to not having that information.

2. Holding on to that money and providing no means to reverse the transaction. Presumably, the coins are coming from the owner's wallet, they should be able to send them back if there's an issue. 

3. If they refuse to the above, they should at least let you trade on their platform with the credited deposit, similar to coinbase with bank funding.

4. Their customer support is horrible. There is absolutely no way to communicate with someone other than their ticketing system and waiting several days for them to even get back to you. That is just plain unacceptable, I've never dealt with a business where I couldn't talk to somebody to let me know what the hell is going on.

5. All said, they shouldn't accept the flagged transaction, knowing any the above is true. If they're truly bogged down they should just block it outright with the proper email: "Sorry, We could not complete your transaction as it was flagged due to the following reasons xyz. Feel free to create a ticket here and we will reach out as soon as we are available. Please expect a delay as our servers and our staff are dealing with a large influx of new users. Thank you"

^That's how easy that'd be. I'd be a little peeved but I'd just send my money to my Gatehub account. Wish I did that in the first place.. I'd have double my current stack of xrp 😢

 

In any case, thank you for your feedback. 

[Valhalla_Guy]

On 2/2/2021 at 3:34 AM, RobertHarpool said:

(Perhaps I taught English too long ... but words have meanings. If u just start changing the meaning of words to whatever you want then bacon umbrella! Snorkel spam jelly dinosaur dinosaur dinosaur dinosaur)

Although I agree with your statement, I am curious how a wise man with your convictions defines the words “marriage” or perhaps “male” and “female?”  For more laughs take a try defining the word “normal”

I ask because most teachers I’ve met only speak babble when asked the same.

[RobertHarpool]

11 hours ago, RootSilent said:

Alright... a bit calmer now. I can concede the use of 'scam' might not be appropriate here but at the very least they are a horrible exchange if only due to lack of transparency, customer service and professionalism. It's shady taking your money, not letting you use it and not talking to you before, during and after an anticipated time of increased volatility. The server issues, on the other hand, I totally expected.

Here are my issues a little more organized:

1. Non-transparent requirements which they tell you only after you deposit your money. These should be bundled in their initial KYC requirements, especially if there are consequences to not having that information.

2. Holding on to that money and providing no means to reverse the transaction. Presumably, the coins are coming from the owner's wallet, they should be able to send them back if there's an issue. 

3. If they refuse to the above, they should at least let you trade on their platform with the credited deposit, similar to coinbase with bank funding.

4. Their customer support is horrible. There is absolutely no way to communicate with someone other than their ticketing system and waiting several days for them to even get back to you. That is just plain unacceptable, I've never dealt with a business where I couldn't talk to somebody to let me know what the hell is going on.

5. All said, they shouldn't accept the flagged transaction, knowing any the above is true. If they're truly bogged down they should just block it outright with the proper email: "Sorry, We could not complete your transaction as it was flagged due to the following reasons xyz. Feel free to create a ticket here and we will reach out as soon as we are available. Please expect a delay as our servers and our staff are dealing with a large influx of new users. Thank you"

^That's how easy that'd be. I'd be a little peeved but I'd just send my money to my Gatehub account. Wish I did that in the first place.. I'd have double my current stack of xrp 😢

 

In any case, thank you for your feedback. 

Agreed. 

But, ... you left out the HORRIBLE user interface. Absolutely nothing intuitive about it. 

And, circling back to the word "scam" ... there's Uphold's partnership with an actual scam company, Cred. Uphold had cross-pollinated their board with Cred. So, when Cred declared bankruptcy in Nov takings hundreds of millions in people's crypto with them, Uphold already knew Cred was running a ponzi ... desperately trying to pull in new crypto depositors to pay off previous ones...But Uphold kept knowingly serving as Cred's barker throughout the summer and fall of 2020. 

Few would have ever lost money with Cred if it weren't for Uphold. 

Unforgivable. 

(Discussion thread in this forum somewhere if you'd like to know more.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oysterman]

On 2/2/2021 at 1:20 AM, Wolfparty said:

I've used Uphold since 2019 with no qualms. I even had a friend sign up a few hours before the whole top fell out earlier.

I'm guessing you deposited over 10k? If so they have to comply with Anti-Money Laundering rules and Title 31. They are required to do their due diligence. Otherwise they get heavily fined and possible jail time depending on the severity of any rules being skirted/broken. That and the hold may be due to not being settled on the back end yet. Traditional rails are still slow and banks work bank hours. That is my guess.

It is of my personal opinion that Uphold is not out to screw anybody over. Being one of the few US avenues left to get XRP I'm sure they are doing their best, but most likely a bit overrun.

I hope it all gets worked out for you.

Ah, yes but I had trouble with Uphold as well this week.  Had to get the CEO to get it squared away.  I filed an SEC compllaint about this BS of 'processing' delays.

The other day I transferred well over $10k to Kraken and the XRP were ready to trade in 5 minutes. No KYC bullshit. That is already done.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Oysterman

[stickynoodle69]

Not a scam.  Sounds like you deposited a large amount.  Happened to me too on Blockfi. I knew theyd freeze and review my transaction request, but what sucks is it happened friday so I had to wait over the weekend while prices tanked.

[Oysterman]

On 2/2/2021 at 5:01 AM, NightJanitor said:

@RootSilent

I don't believe Uphold is a scam;  I believe they were slammed (by a tremendous number of new users, at a time of great interest).

I do, however, believe that people who encounter such situations and then go around screaming "scam!" are "impatient," at best...

Impatience like that can be costly... perhaps better to remain true to your name and remain Silent and get ready for the next time?

Everyone with any experience in... well, anything... knows that credentialing in can sometimes take a moment;  best to plan ahead.

That's fine - but you don't do your KYC and due diligence after a transaction has been made.  Keeping people's XRP in limbo for days on end is total bullshit. No excuse.

[NightJanitor]

10 minutes ago, Oysterman said:

That's fine - but you don't do your KYC and due diligence after a transaction has been made.  Keeping people's XRP in limbo for days on end is total bullshit. No excuse.

I think that's the direction they're going - cater to the LCD (who have ADD) and thusly make everyone wait.

[Daniel8]

I was getting ready to wire a deposit to Uphold, but after reading this I am having second thoughts.  I am under the impression that I can only buy $500 worth of XRP at a time anyways so it is really no different to put the USD into whatever other crypto and then swap out for XRP on one of the Swap sites like SimpleSwap.IO.

If that is the route that I go, I know I have to pay double the trading fees, but which exchange is the best to use for this?