Cryptocurrency and financial services platform Uphold announced on June 23 that it is withdrawing from Venezuela and asking users in the country to withdraw their funds.
“We are very sorry to inform you that Uphold has decided to withdraw from Venezuela due to the increasing complexity of complying with US sanctions,” they said from the company in a statement sent to CriptoNoticias.
The company highlighted that Venezuela was one of the first countries to adopt Uphold and they love serving their customers there. For this reason, they maintain that they are taking this step “very unwillingly” and expect to return as soon as changes in US policy allow.
Venezuelans must withdraw their funds from Uphold before July 31
“Our top priority now is to help all of our Venezuelan customers quickly withdraw their money in accordance with United States law,” Uphold estimated.
They warn that the ability to trade will stop on July 31 and all accounts will be completely restricted from September 30. After this date, the asset withdrawal process will be slower as you will need to go through their customer support team.
That’s why, ask Venezuelans who have a balance in Uphold to withdraw their funds before July 31. In order to withdraw, you may be asked to answer a few questions in accordance with US regulations.
For that, they point out to Venezuelan users that they can convert their funds into a level 1 asset (USD, GBP or EUR). This way, they will be able to withdraw through an existing linked bank account or to a Tier 3 asset if they wish remove one wallet external of cryptocurrencies.
They also indicate that as of June 23 they will no longer accept deposits from Venezuelan residents and will close all accounts with a zero balance.