Key facts:
Fees for withdrawing BTC from Uphold can be exorbitant.
Uphold does not charge a commission for XRP withdrawals, beyond the network commission.
Uphold’s recent announcement about the cessation of its services to eradicated users in Venezuela includes a call to this community to withdraw their money from said platform as soon as possible.
According to the statement received by CriptoNoticias, which is referenced in a recently published article, Uphold users residing in Venezuela will have the asset exchange option enabled until July 31, 2022. As of September 30 of this year, all these accounts will be completely restricted.
Options available to withdraw money from Uphold from Venezuela
Uphold offers its users two ways to withdraw their funds. One is through a bank account that is linked to the platform. It is important to clarify that there were never any Venezuelan banks available to carry out this procedure at Uphold. The main reason for this could be linked to the strict exchange control established by the Government of this country. To this were added the sanctions that, according to Uphold, are the main reason for his departure from Venezuela.
In this sense, the only way to withdraw fiat money to a bank account is for the user to be the holder of an account in a financial institution abroad, which can be linked to Uphold.
Withdrawals in cryptocurrencies and tokens
The other alternative that Uphold presents to its users to withdraw funds from the platform is with cryptocurrencies or tokens that can be sent to an external wallet. This option seems the most viable for the inhabitants of Venezuela, at least among the routes offered by the company.
To withdraw funds using cryptocurrencies or tokens, first of all, it is necessary convert all the available balance of the other wallets or cards (as they are called on this platform) to the cryptocurrency that will be used for withdrawal. Keep in mind that these conversion operations involve expenses in commissions that Uphold charges for the service.
After selecting the wallet corresponding to the cryptocurrency or token that will be used to make the withdrawal, you must select the section add funds and select the option finance with Uphold Card. Then, the card or wallet is chosen from where the funds will be added to it, the corresponding asset and the option is marked use all available funds on this card.
Below you can see the exchange rate and the commission charged by Uphold followed by the button confirm, where you have to press to proceed with this step. The same procedure will have to be repeated as many times as necessary to unite all the funds in the account in a single wallet or card.
Next, to make the withdrawal, you must select the section use funds and then the option send to Cryptocurrency or Utility Token. This will display lists of universal tokens, cryptocurrencies, and utility tokens. You have to choose among them the option corresponding to the network of the external wallet where the balance of this account will be sent.
Then a screen similar to the one for adding funds mentioned above is shown, but this time you have to add the address of the wallet to which the shipment will be made (it is best to copy and paste it in its entirety, but do not write it character by character, to avoid errors that lead to the definitive loss of balance).
The next thing is to define the token or cryptocurrency that will be sent and the amount, which in this case would simply be to check the option once again use all available funds on this card. After verifying the balance that will enter the receiving wallet after the Uphold commissions are collected, it is just a matter of clicking the confirm button and waiting for the balance to reach the destination wallet.
Uphold’s withdrawal fees for cryptocurrencies
Although the withdrawal of funds from Uphold to a wallet through tokens or cryptocurrencies is simple, the problem comes with the commissions that must be paid. The biggest con is that you cannot choose the network commission you want to pay, it is fixed and set by Uphold. So you can end up paying an exaggerated price to transfer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC).
CriptoNoticias received testimonials from users who have paid between 25% and 50% commission to send BTC from Uphold to their wallet of Bitcoin. In those cases, about half of the total was for the platform withdrawal fee and the rest was for the network fee paid to miners.
For cryptocurrency withdrawals, the most commission friendly is XRP since Uphold’s withdrawal commission for this asset is free and its network commission is usually quite low. This would serve to make withdrawals to other exchanges that also operate with XRP.
Withdraw money from Uphold via Airtm in Venezuela
Airtm is a digital platform to send, receive and protect electronic money. Transactions are made person to person (P2P) and Airtm acts as an intermediary to ensure that both parties comply with the transaction agreement before releasing the funds.
Airtm’s relatively low fees and high user population that also trades on Uphold makes it a viable third option for Venezuelans to withdraw their funds from Uphold.
If you have not previously made withdrawals from Uphold to Airtm, Uphold will need to be added to the payment methods available on Airtm. This can be done by selecting the Settings on the Airtm dashboard. Then select the section Payment methodsfollowed by add new.
There, a list will be displayed where you can write the name of the method you are looking for (Uphold, this time). Then you will have to add the data corresponding to the Uphold account, which must belong to the same Airtm account holderand ready.
The first steps to withdraw funds through Airtm are done at Uphold. There you have to convert all the available balance to USD. The method that will be followed is the same as that described above to convert all the funds to a cryptocurrency, only this time it will be done from the USD card.
By having all the funds in USD in Uphold, it is possible to know the exact amount available to fund the account in Airtm, which is the next step. To do this, click the button Anchoron the left side of the Airtm dashboard or home page.
Uphold is then selected as the payment method or searched in the search button popup.
Next, you have to write the amount with which you want to fund the Airtm account. East must be exactly the same as what is counted on the Uphold USD cardsince the idea is to empty the funds from that platform.
Below the table that exposes the commissions, you can see the average waiting time for another user to take this type of transaction depending on the cashier and the button continuewhere you have to click to continue with the transaction.
When a cashier takes the transaction it is possible to see your Airtm and Uphold data in the section Details. An email with these data is also received from Airtm.
The most important of the data received about the cashier is their email address linked to Uphold, since it is the protagonist of the next step. It’s time to go back to Uphold, select the USD card and the section use funds. Among the available options, click on send to Member or Email.
Then, in the first box you have to write the email address or username of the Airtm cashier. It is worth checking that Uphold recognizes the email address used and automatically changes it to the corresponding username. This confirms that the data is correct.
In the event that there is an error, there is the possibility of contacting the Airtm cashier directly through the platform’s chat. the tab of chat is next to the Details, where you can see the cashier’s data and the progress of the operation. There it is possible to clarify any doubt or raise any setback that may occur.
Below the email address, as in previous procedures at Uphold, the option is checked use all available funds on this card. In this case, as it is an internal Uphold transaction, there are no commissions to pay. It only remains to confirm the intention to make the payment and comply with the two-factor authentication process (2FA) that is in the account.
As soon as the transaction is completed, you can access the section exercise on the Uphold starter board. The first of the transactions displayed will be the most recent. Selecting it opens a tab showing the reservechain transaction ID on the bottom. The code below will be needed to verify that the transaction took place, so an easy way to copy it is to right click on the ID and select the option Copy the url.
Back in Airtm, the transaction details confirm that the Uphold funds were sent and paste the previously copied transaction ID below. It should be noted that not everything in the link is necessary. After pasting it, you have to delete all this part of the link https://uphold.com/reserve/transactions/ and leave the rest alone.
As soon as the cashier verifies that they received the payment at Uphold, they will authorize Airtm to release the held funds. It is important to rate the cashier according to his treatment and performance, an option that appears when the transaction has already been completed. And there the withdrawal process from Uphold to Airtm will end.
From Airtm there is the possibility of withdrawing the money to a bank account in Venezuela provided that the account holder is the same user. In fact, it is possible to buy cryptocurrencies through Airtm, but CriptoNoticias already has a tutorial that shows this and other operations that can be carried out on this platform.