If you have signed up to use our platform (bitbuy.ca) to buy digital assets, you may wonder why we ask for a government-issued ID, a photo of yourself holding your government-issued ID, and a billing statement confirming your name and living address. This verification procedure is in compliance with an international standard process called KYC ‘Know Your Customer’, in which banks and other businesses are required by law to identify and verify their clients.
‘Know Your Customer’ was first introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 2002 in order to prevent fraud, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism. Over the years, the ‘Know Your Customer’ process has become the international standard for preventing illegal financial activities.
In order to keep our platform free from fraud and money laundering, the team at bitbuy.ca carefully follows the KYC process (as must all other exchanges/brokerages in Canada). By gathering the aforementioned information for each of bitbuy.ca‘s customers, we can be confident that no one using our services poses a risk to our platform, and thus to other customers, by engaging in fraudulent financial activities.
Bitbuy.ca takes the KYC process very seriously. Therefore, we ask that you take the following precautions before sending the required documents:
For first-hand accounts of customers using our platform and going through the KYC verification process, please check out these testimonials. For more information, please visit bitbuy.ca/faq.
According to Chetan Phull of Smart Block Law Professional Corporation, additional KYC regulations for cryptocurrency businesses in Canada should be expected. Read his blog post, “Crypto-KYC in Canada”.
