Hey all! Gemini already had not been servicing Venezuela and now Uphold has announced they no longer will be supporting Venezuela due to U.S. Sanctions. A copy of the official notice can be seen below:
We´re very sorry to tell you that Uphold has decided to withdraw from Venezuela owing to the increasing complexity of complying with U.S. sanctions.
Venezuela was one of the first countries to embrace Uphold and we love serving our customers there. We are taking this step very reluctantly.
We hope to return to the market as soon as U.S. policy changes allow.
Our top priority now is to help every Venezuelan customer to withdraw their money quickly in compliance with U.S. law.
The ability to trade will be halted on July 31st, and all accounts fully restricted from September 30th. After this date, the process to withdraw assets will be slower since you’ll have to go through our customer service team.
What Happens Next?
From today, we’re no longer accepting deposits from Venezuelan residents and will be closing all accounts with a zero balance.
If you have a balance, we request that you withdraw your funds by July 31st. You may be required to answer a few simple questions to help us process your withdrawal in line with U.S. Regulations.
To do so, you should convert any funds into a Tier 1 asset (USD, GBP, EUR) to remove via an existing, linked bank account in your name, or into a Tier 3 asset to withdraw to an external crypto wallet. Asset tiers are explained here.
Should you have any questions during the process, please contact us using this form which will make sure we prioritize your case.
We have also prepared this FAQ which you may find helpful.
We’re really sorry to have to give you this news. Please rest assured that we will do everything we can to support you.
Team Uphold
What this means for everyone using Brave is that you will not be able to receive your BAT in Uphold anymore and won’t be able to connect to Gemini. You’ll be joining what feels like 2/3 of the world that is blocked from having those accounts.
Brave is looking for more options for exchanges and custodial wallets. However there are a lot of obstacles to overcome to make this happen. Not only due to legal restrictions, such as the sanctions being placed, but also because there has to be business agreements made that benefits all involved.
Brave is looking for alternatives but for now you will just have to wait and be unable to retrieve BAT from your browser. This means no turning it into cash. Your BAT will continue to arrive in your browser and you can still earn BAT. It just will require patience until things get resolved. How long is unknown, as it may be months or even years.