Actually a reasonable exchange, but gross incompetence, e.g. improper mixing of ERC20 / BRC20 tokens

This exchange is technically well build, has a broad range of currencies and good deposit / withdrawal options. But they really did not distinguish between ERC-20 and BRC-20 tokens! They offered deposits for both, mixing the tokens and handlingh them as if they are the same, though anybody in crypto space should know that any bridged tokes have an additional layer of risk.

And they failed miserably to handle this additional layer of risk properly. When the pNetwork wrapped GALA incident happened back in November 2022, they took the full blow because they did not even monitor the bridge proeprly, so they did notnitice what happened for hours and days. It took them 5 months to even think about a strategy how to handle this.

Now, as a result, I have a singificant amount of GALA that I bought in a good faith on this exchange as arbitrage opportunity on CEX.IO and they stole it from me by converting it to pGALA five months later! They are refusing to either return my GALA or negotiate - they just send some "instructions" which they call a "settlement" which would rip me off my GALA for a fraction of its value.
All this while keeping my funds hostage now for 9 months! It is more and more obvious that I would need to seek legal assistance. That's more than unfortunate as
A) I am a good customer for six years now, and have been usually satisfied all this years (that's why I still give two stars instead of one)
B) I am willing to tal about a reasonable settlement, just not that low as their current offer which is far off (but no reply yet), and legal actions will just increase costs on both sides.

I might update this review with the outcome of the legal action.

I have been a registered cex.io user since 2016. Used it to mostly buy cryptocurrency.

Last year I initiated an upgrade to cex.io's highest level of verification. Provided them with a comprehensive set of documents, including IRS Forms 1040A, invoices to my clients, bank statements, passport scan, etc.

When they asked for screenshots of destination wallets for withdrawal transactions from 2016-2017 I decided to cancel the verification upgrade and withdraw my bitcoins. Made three attempts to withdraw coins, but they blocked all of them. Shortly after that I received an email from cex.io informing that my account transactions are suspended.

And now I have a volatile cryptocurrency on a CEX with blocked transactions and no replies to numerous emails.

I am a U.S. citizen from Massachusetts who pays taxes and obeys laws. It is quite unexpected to witness this kind of attitude from a CEX who positions itself as a reputable company. I've started consulting with experts in the crypto community, lawyers and law enforcement agencies, but I still hope for a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Here is my last email message to cex.io, which is still unanswered:

I believe my funds are locked illegally, without a reason and a proper notice.

Hence, I have questions addressed mostly to the legal department:

1. Transactions I have been questioned about took place in 2016-2017. I upgraded to Address verification level after those transactions took place. I made a handful of transactions afterwards. So why cex.io is looking at the old transactions? What is so special about those transactions anyway? Can you provide any details?

2. I have no access to destination wallets, since they were not mine. Even if they were mine, why am I required to take their screenshots and share with someone? That is an unsafe practice.

3. Who authorized cex.io to request wallet screenshots from the customers? Is there a specific document or a legal entity you can refer to?

4. You mentioned regulators and rules you must follow. Would you please name any of them? For example, FTC, FDIC, FinCEN, FRB, SEC, CFTC, IRS, FINRA, State Bank Divisions who issued licenses to cex.io, etc?

5. It looks like The Terms of Use referred by one of your customer support representatives, https://cex.io/terms have changed significantly since my registration with cex.io back in 2016. I don't remember seeing any update notifications. How does cex.io make sure their customers review and accept new editions of ToS?

6. Is this the correct legal address of your organization?:
CEX.IO Corp.
900 E. Diehl Road, Suite 110
Naperville, IL *******