New verification system activated
On april 21st the Dutch Senate voted in favour of new regulations regarding the Dutch implementation of the European Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5). These new regulations are expected to go into effect within several days and from that moment Bitcoin companies will have to adhere to the new rules.
Because of this we have adjusted our systems and starting today our new verification process will go live.
The new regulations determine that Bitcoin companies are required to perform identity verification, client investigation and monitor transactions for suspicious activity.
That means that from now on all new and existing Bitonic customers will have go through a new verification procedure before we are able to service them. Verification can be done in two ways: through our Verification App Android / iOS or through the website.
The fastest and easiest way to verify is by using our Verification App. The Verification App streamlines the process and is able to authenticate identity documents quickly through NFC technology, which means the process only takes a few minutes. Verification through our website is also possible, but in that case your identity document has to be verified manually which can take up to 24 hours (but usually happens faster).
Both our Verification App and the verification procedure on our website will take you through all the necessary steps. Verification for business accounts is currently only possible through our exchange BL3P.
Privacy
Many people have privacy concerns regarding the required collection and storage of customer data by Bitcoin companies. Bitonic understands and shares these concerns. As the oldest Bitcoin company in the Netherlands we understand that your financial privacy is essential to you. Because of this we maintain high security standards and we will protect your privacy and rights to the utmost best of our ability.
In order to provide optimal protection for customer data we have developed our own verification software and we do not rely on software made by third parties. Information is stored on servers in the Netherlands which are maintained by ourselves. We have also developed a special Verification App which uses NFC technology, so that people who prefer not to upload a photocopy of their identity document can opt to authenticate it instead by using the built-in NFC chip.
Bitonic has since it's inception always been a proponent of privacy. Privacy is essential to security. For our internal communications we exclusively use PGP, we develop in-house where possible, rely on third parties as little as possible and whereever possible we use open source software. We have been a sponsor of Bits of Freedom since 2014.