Need a Recommendation for a Cryptocurrency Exchange for Expats (Us) That Do Not Violate ToS

[Lucas61]

Hello All,

We are all "expats." I think you'll agree that our status often causes us problems when we make transactions and we are "between two countries." I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm talking about and have your stories to tell.

Can anyone recommend an online cryptocurrency exchange where you can be a U.S. citizen (passport identification) but use a Dom. Rep. phone number for 2FA because you reside in the Dom. Rep. AND these facts are not in violation of ToS and you do not have to use a VPN to enter the site?

As two examples, I now find out that I am in violation of Gemini ToS because I am using my Dom. Rep. phone number for 2FA. (This is true even though
when the site vetted me, it DID accept said number). Gemini may very well be keeping my ACH deposits as a consequence. As expats, we often end up in these grey areas where it may seem that we are trying to "game" the system when we have no intention of doing so.

Compare that with binance.com which bills itself as a global exchange. In the process of registering there, I read the ToS and found that I am NOT eligible at this site
because I AM a U.S. citizen.

Any suggestions?

 

[Tamborista]

The Winklevoss brothers are not going to keep your money!
Binance USA works in most US States, except:
Hawaii, Idaho, New York, Texas, and Vermont.

 

[Lucas61]

Regarding Binance USA, I don't understand. I live permanently in the Dom. Rep. and I don't pay taxes or live in
any state of the U.S.

I think I'll google the ToS for Binance USA but I can't see how that could work. I mean even the name, Binance USA, indicates that it's for U.S. citizens living in the United States, at least, that's the implication.

I'll check their ToS now and report back.

 

[Tamborista]

Regarding Binance USA, I don't understand. I live permanently in the Dom. Rep. and I don't pay taxes or live in
any state of the U.S.

I think I'll google the ToS for Binance USA but I can't see how that could work. I mean even the name, Binance USA, indicates that it's for U.S. citizens living in the United States, at least, that's the implication.

I'll check their ToS now and report back.

I highly suggest you go to a Crypto Reddit board and talk to dedicated traders, I bet there are under a dozen on dr1 that own Crypto.
Do you file taxes in USA, if not you need to report your offshore bank accounts.

 

[Lucas61]

I highly suggest you go to a Crypto Reddit board and talk to dedicated traders, I bet there are under a dozen on dr1 that own Crypto.
Do you file taxes in USA, if not you need to report your offshore bank accounts.

I have gone to r/bitcoin and I'm getting fierce pushback from people who are not at all sympathetic. They probably live in the U.S. and have no understanding
of the issues I have as an expat. They all say things to indicate that I shouldn't cry when I'm trying to game the system, thinking that I'm committing some kind of fraud. But another redditor indicated that the Gemini ToS says nothing about a "requirement" for a U.S. phone number. I have now read the Gemini User Agreement of April 2, 2022, under the "Account Access" section. Indeed, no mention is made of a U.S. number, nor can I find anywhere in the Agreement any mention made of the place one claims as domicile. I have reported this to Support as my ticket is still open.

Meanwhile, I don't want to do business with a company where stuff feels "iffy" and indications are made that I am doing something wrong. I just want to tranasact my buisness in an open and legitimate way.

So I'm still looking . . .

Yes, I pay taxes in the U.S. I pay federal but not state taxes but I still have to submit a "NA" non-resident form to the state of California.

 

[Lucas61]

OP: I just read the Terms of Use, January 4, 2022, for binance.us for the sections "Eligibility," "Account Creation," and "Communication." I do seem to meet the
requirments but often there is a "gotcha" lurking somewhere. So I'll now try registering. That should be the quickest and most robust way to find out if I have bona fide eligibility.

For the benefit of others, I'll report back.

 

[Lucas61]

binance.us is blocked in the D.R. The only way you can use it is if you are a U.S. ciitizen living in the U.S. with a U.S. phone number. FOR EXPATS, BINANCE.US IS A NO GO.
1. Nothing that I read in the Terms of Use indicated that I would not be eligible YET:
2. When registering, I was asked for a U.S. phone ONLY for an option to SKIP. So I skipped and went to Security settings.
3. In security settings I successfully set up 2FA between Google Authenticator, the number two 2FA method that Binance uses, and
I set that up with my Dom. Rep. phone number. Binance accepted that 2FA method with my Dom. Rep. phone number.
4. Next I needed to complete Identity Verification. But I can't complete that until I complete Secure My Account. To complete Secure My Account, I must click
"Activate." But wait! "Activate" does not recognize the 2FA that Binance already accepted with Google Authenticator. It only accepts a SECOND 2FA method using
an SMS to a U.S. number ONLY. So I'm at a deadend.

Some have suggested how I can get a U.S. number. (BTW, I already found out from Gemini that my Google Voice U.S. number is not accepted). I'm not going to get a U.S. number. I don't live in the U.S., I don't ever plan to live in the U.S. (again), so I want to find a legitimate site that caters to my needs and my situation as an expat that doesn't require that I bend the rules or find work-arounds. That's how I got in trouble with Gemini and I still don't know if I'll get my ACH deposits back or not . . . waiting to hear for the umteenth time from Support.

Whatever the case, if you (in this case me), want to breathe free without stress, gotta find the right site. You can already see that Binance is playing games. They already accepted my first 2FA with my Dom. Rep. phone number but then reject the same same 2FA that they already accepted . . . Wha???

 

[Lucas61]

etoro.com is also a "no go." Strangely, I was able to set up an account with my Dom. Rep. phone number being accepted for 2FA. Then, while I was browsing the
account I discoved a statement that said, due to regulatory blah, blah, U.S. citizens who do not reside in the U.S. cannot use the service.

If I use the service and I'm in violation and I have a problem and need help from tech support, then they point to the violation to explain why they can't help me.
That's exactly what I want to avoid.

 

[malko]

What has 2FA got to do with anything ? Just use google authenticator ( or even better a Yubikey or something of the sort ).


However if you mean a phone number that allows you to do your KYC, well then you are tough out of luck. The US has decided to protect ( sic ) its citizens blocking them from lots of crypto perks. Land of the free and all that. The only way around that is to be an accredited investor, ie the rich can get richer but God Forbid that poor folks make some money.


Also, in my experience--- but bear in mind I am a european citizen and my tax residency is a EU country, even though i set everything up from the DR ---- that its your tax residency country that matters, and not where you live.


Finally, if you already own crypto, it is a good opportunity to give up on CEXs and solely use DEXs ( Uniswap, Osmosis, etc .... ) .

r/bitcoin is meh, try r/cryptocurrency.

 

[DR_Guy]

I recommend bybit. good exchange very little kyc. I also kyc in the name of my dominican wife. Makes it easier. As for putting money into accounts, the two best ways I have found are Strike and localcryptos.com. Strike takes ACH payments and you can instantly convert to BTC and send anywhere your want. I would send it to a cold wallet first and then to exchange if you are worried about being followed. At local cyrptos you can pay by deposit or transfer to most of the dominican banks and they send btc to your wallet. It is very safe and secure and everything is escrowed. I have sold some of my btc locally using local crypto.

 

[DR_Guy]

GO.
1. Nothing that I read in the Terms of Use indicated that I would not be eligible YET:
2. When registering, I was asked for a U.S. phone ONLY for an option to SKIP. So I skipped and went to Security settings.
3. In security settings I successfully set up 2FA between Google Authenticator, the number two 2FA method that Binance uses, and
I set that up with my Dom. Rep. phone number. Binance accepted that 2FA method with my Dom. Rep. phone number.
4. Next I needed to complete Identity Verification. But I can't complete that until I complete Secure My Account. To complete Secure My Account, I must click
"Activate." But wait! "Activate" does not recognize the 2FA that Binance already accepted with Google Authenticator. It only accepts a SECOND 2FA method using
an SMS to a U.S. number ONLY. So I'm at a deadend.

get an account at pingme.com for US number for sms. Thats what i do.

 

[Lucas61]

What has 2FA got to do with anything ? Just use google authenticator ( or even better a Yubikey or something of the sort ).


However if you mean a phone number that allows you to do your KYC, well then you are tough out of luck. The US has decided to protect ( sic ) its citizens blocking them from lots of crypto perks. Land of the free and all that. The only way around that is to be an accredited investor, ie the rich can get richer but God Forbid that poor folks make some money.


Also, in my experience--- but bear in mind I am a european citizen and my tax residency is a EU country, even though i set everything up from the DR ---- that its your tax residency country that matters, and not where you live.


Finally, if you already own crypto, it is a good opportunity to give up on CEXs and solely use DEXs ( Uniswap, Osmosis, etc .... ) .

r/bitcoin is meh, try r/cryptocurrency.

Appreciate your thoughts, malko. You ask what 2FA has to do with anything, just use Yubikey, etc. The problem is that the sites rigidly control what forms of 2FA I can use. I have no choice. For example at the U.S. Binance site the choices were SMS to U.S. phone only and Google Auth. And both were mandatory.

The problem is my lack of a U.S. phone number. However, etoro.com accepted my Dom. Rep. phone number for 2FA even though I found a statement on the site that said the service is unavailable to U.S. citizens who do not reside in the U.S. The anti-money laundering regulations are "one size fits all" and I get swept in as a potential money launderer due to my situation.

I'm coming to realize that there may be NO website where I can be honest and legitimate. If that's the case, I'll game the system. I could probably game the latter site and hope I don't get caught. Just pull keys off off the site as soon as I buy crypto, so they have no control.

What is CEX versus DEX and why the recommendation favoring DEX??

Thanks for the r/ recommendation.

 

[Lucas61]

I recommend bybit. good exchange very little kyc. I also kyc in the name of my dominican wife. Makes it easier. As for putting money into accounts, the two best ways I have found are Strike and localcryptos.com. Strike takes ACH payments and you can instantly convert to BTC and send anywhere your want. I would send it to a cold wallet first and then to exchange if you are worried about being followed. At local cyrptos you can pay by deposit or transfer to most of the dominican banks and they send btc to your wallet. It is very safe and secure and everything is escrowed. I have sold some of my btc locally using local crypto.

Thanks very much for these recommendations. I will follow up.

 

[Lucas61]

GO.
1. Nothing that I read in the Terms of Use indicated that I would not be eligible YET:
2. When registering, I was asked for a U.S. phone ONLY for an option to SKIP. So I skipped and went to Security settings.
3. In security settings I successfully set up 2FA between Google Authenticator, the number two 2FA method that Binance uses, and
I set that up with my Dom. Rep. phone number. Binance accepted that 2FA method with my Dom. Rep. phone number.
4. Next I needed to complete Identity Verification. But I can't complete that until I complete Secure My Account. To complete Secure My Account, I must click
"Activate." But wait! "Activate" does not recognize the 2FA that Binance already accepted with Google Authenticator. It only accepts a SECOND 2FA method using
an SMS to a U.S. number ONLY. So I'm at a deadend.

get an account at pingme.com for US number for sms. Thats what i do.

I will try that as well. Thanks.

 

[malko]

Appreciate your thoughts, malko. You ask what 2FA has to do with anything, just use Yubikey, etc. The problem is that the sites rigidly control what forms of 2FA I can use. I have no choice. For example at the U.S. Binance site the choices were SMS to U.S. phone only and Google Auth. And both were mandatory.

The problem is my lack of a U.S. phone number. However, etoro.com accepted my Dom. Rep. phone number for 2FA even though I found a statement on the site that said the service is unavailable to U.S. citizens who do not reside in the U.S. The anti-money laundering regulations are "one size fits all" and I get swept in as a potential money launderer due to my situation.

I'm coming to realize that there may be NO website where I can be honest and legitimate. If that's the case, I'll game the system. I could probably game the latter site and hope I don't get caught. Just pull keys off off the site as soon as I buy crypto, so they have no control.

What is CEX versus DEX and why the recommendation favoring DEX??

Thanks for the r/ recommendation.

I wouldn't consider etoro for anything. Unless they changed it recently, they do not sell crypto per see: they sell derivatives of crypto, ie you cant take your assets out of etoro.

A CEX is a centralised exchange like binance, coinbase, Kraken ( my personal recommendation, btw ), etc .. .. anywhere you need to do KYC.
pros : can onset and offset fiat.
cons: everything else. they may or may not actually hold the crypto you buy on their exchange, much like a regular bank.

A DEX is a decentralised exchange, ie no KYC needed.
However you can only exchange crypto for crypto ( no fiat ), through Liquidity Pools, ie user to user
As long as you already own a stack of crypto, this is the best option. Uniswap, Osmosis, etc .. there are many.


As for a US number, as long as its only for verification purposes --which is the only reason i can think of, never ever ever use 2FA SMS for crypto transactions, always use a key linked to a physical device ( as opposed to a SIM card, that can be jacked remotely ), like googleauth or yubikey ---- just use a friend's, family's, etc phone number and they can send you the verification 6 digit number right away, in order for you to set up the account initially.
Even better is just to get a US SIM card for yourself. I use a european plan, cheap 7€\ month, and i get the codes in the DR ( for traditional bankster stuff ).

 

[AlaPlaya]

GO.
1. Nothing that I read in the Terms of Use indicated that I would not be eligible YET:
2. When registering, I was asked for a U.S. phone ONLY for an option to SKIP. So I skipped and went to Security settings.
3. In security settings I successfully set up 2FA between Google Authenticator, the number two 2FA method that Binance uses, and
I set that up with my Dom. Rep. phone number. Binance accepted that 2FA method with my Dom. Rep. phone number.
4. Next I needed to complete Identity Verification. But I can't complete that until I complete Secure My Account. To complete Secure My Account, I must click
"Activate." But wait! "Activate" does not recognize the 2FA that Binance already accepted with Google Authenticator. It only accepts a SECOND 2FA method using
an SMS to a U.S. number ONLY. So I'm at a deadend.

get an account at pingme.com for US number for sms. Thats what i do.

With pingme, their website says "everyone" can read the message. Any idea who "everyone" is?

 

[DR_Guy]

With pingme, their website says "everyone" can read the message. Any idea who "everyone" is?

No idea. I have a number with them so I am sure these sms are private. Its cheap and the VoiceIP call are great with cheap rates.

Ah, me bad its pingme.tel that I use. I never go to the website.

 

[Lucas61]

I wouldn't consider etoro for anything. Unless they changed it recently, they do not sell crypto per see: they sell derivatives of crypto, ie you cant take your assets out of etoro.

A CEX is a centralised exchange like binance, coinbase, Kraken ( my personal recommendation, btw ), etc .. .. anywhere you need to do KYC.
pros : can onset and offset fiat.
cons: everything else. they may or may not actually hold the crypto you buy on their exchange, much like a regular bank.

A DEX is a decentralised exchange, ie no KYC needed.
However you can only exchange crypto for crypto ( no fiat ), through Liquidity Pools, ie user to user
As long as you already own a stack of crypto, this is the best option. Uniswap, Osmosis, etc .. there are many.


As for a US number, as long as its only for verification purposes --which is the only reason i can think of, never ever ever use 2FA SMS for crypto transactions, always use a key linked to a physical device ( as opposed to a SIM card, that can be jacked remotely ), like googleauth or yubikey ---- just use a friend's, family's, etc phone number and they can send you the verification 6 digit number right away, in order for you to set up the account initially.
Even better is just to get a US SIM card for yourself. I use a european plan, cheap 7€\ month, and i get the codes in the DR ( for traditional bankster stuff ).

malko, thanks for the etoro warning. I wouldn't have known and I'm now crossing that site off my list as a possible candidate. I am now vetting kucoin.com I initiated the standard 7-10 day KYC process, uploading various photos of passport, full facial view, etc. There was a quicker method using a QR code and the app but the output (display) on a phone is too unwieldy for me. Interestingly, in the drop down list for nationality, I was able to chooses "other" as my country.
So some flexibility here. We shall see. Any opinion on this site? I also looked at bisq.network a powerful Tor decentralized open source tool. It's a little complicated, so I'm putting that on hold for the time being. Any opinion on that?

Sometimes when I look at the UI for an exchange, I'm a little overwhelmed. Then I have to remember that I only need to executed three transactions: deposit USD < buy ETH or BTC < generate public address from cold wallet and immediately offload private key(s) and coin access. Yes, I will be a CEX user.

I am still working with Gemini support around my 2FA lockout and my ACH assests. Unfortunately, the team is not consistent in training or rules. A major pain:
a. one person accepts the standard passport/face upload with my new Dom. Rep. number. The number is rejected, b. The next person said I need a U.S. number. I offered a California Google Voice number. I was told "not acceptable.", c. The next person says I can use Google Voice, d. The next person says that to change to my Google Voice number for 2FA, besides the face/passport stuff, I need rent and utility receipts with my name and address. What? The first person didn't require any of those things, e. Now I'm with the next person trying to get her to agree to use my Google Voice with the standard upload without then rental agreement, etc. What a mess. I can't wait to get access, if I ever do, and get that money out of there.

Unfortunately for me, I have no one reliable in the U.S. to help be. Some family, but I don't want to drag anyone into this mess, as there's always strings attached.

 

[Lucas61]

Appreciate your thoughts, malko. You ask what 2FA has to do with anything, just use Yubikey, etc. The problem is that the sites rigidly control what forms of 2FA I can use. I have no choice. For example at the U.S. Binance site the choices were SMS to U.S. phone only and Google Auth. And both were mandatory.

The problem is my lack of a U.S. phone number. However, etoro.com accepted my Dom. Rep. phone number for 2FA even though I found a statement on the site that said the service is unavailable to U.S. citizens who do not reside in the U.S. The anti-money laundering regulations are "one size fits all" and I get swept in as a potential money launderer due to my situation.

I'm coming to realize that there may be NO website where I can be honest and legitimate. If that's the case, I'll game the system. I could probably game the latter site and hope I don't get caught. Just pull keys off off the site as soon as I buy crypto, so they have no control.

What is CEX versus DEX and why the recommendation favoring DEX??

Thanks for the r/ recommendation.

OP add-on to malko I hit a brick wall on Kucoin. The only way you can deposit fiat is via wallet.advcash.com This site has their own KYC and it is stricter than that of Kucoin. For example, in Kucoin, you can select the country of your citizenship as "Other." But in the verification process of personal information at Advcash in the citizenship dropdown menu, the United States does not appear. That forces me to state the my citizenship is Dom. Rep. But later I will be asked for my U.S. passport photos. That either means that I will not pass KYC or that if I game the system I could be in trouble down the line. I'll now turn to bisq.network and see if I can pass KYC with correct information . . . . If that doesn't work, there is another option that some members here have hinted at and it might be the best one. My Dominican wife of 12 years could open a completely legitimate account using her information . . . my accounts but I piggyback on her information.

 

[Lucas61]

OP: I am now following up DR_Guy's suggestions; he has various. Meanwhile, I hit a deadend with Gemini support trying to re-gain access to my account. Evevn though I passed KYC on the site, their final conclusion is that I must be physically present in the U.S. to gain access. Even while traveling abroad, they refuse to accept my U.S. number or Authy to re-gain access. I have filed a fraud claim with my bank to see if they can't transfer my ACH deposits to my original account.