Before obvious implications I'm trying to scam people, I've been into crypto since 2011.
I've been a fanatic from the moment I saw the post on Reddit, but the stupid programmer I was, I didn't focus on obtaining as much as possible, I focused on developing silly projects that would use the new technology.
So when I finally realised the full potential, I borrowed 10k EUR from my ex, and deposited them into Mt.Gox. I was literally one click away from clicking BUY and I would now be holding bitcoins that I paid ~20 EUR a piece.
But, a tragedy happened and I had to return all the money before making the buy.
So, in the end, I was left with 10 BTC on Bitstamp but I was still happy because I believed in the 1 BTC = 1 MIO EUR at the time I have to retire. I decided to leave it at that and went for a spiritual journey in Germany (walked 600 km from Berlin almost to the Polish border). I left all gadgets at home, and was without internet for a year.
When I returned home I was thrilled to see bitcoin's rise, but for some reason I couldn't log into my Bitstamp account. After digging through the emails it hit me: in the period I was gone, Bitstamp was forced by the law to verify its users. And since I din't verify in time, my account was suspended. I contacted them and I got this response:
Dear Jure,
As you know, your Account was terminated in November 2014 as part of our new, stricter verification program that is intended to protect Bitstamp and our customers against illegal activities and government enforcement actions. For more info see: https://www.bitstamp.net/article/final-notice-to-unverified-account-holders/ As you did not respond to our multiple notifications, your Account and its balance got seized by the US government in accordance with our notification.
As a result of the seizure by the US government, we no longer hold the funds which were associated with your unverified Bitstamp Account. That being said we can no longer initiate any form of Account reactivation or Account reclaim. Should you wish to claim your seized Account value, we kindly suggest you contact the appropriate US government agency.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask.
Best regards,
Bitstamp Support
I decide to let it go, even though I knew the CTO as I helped test one of his previous crypto endeavours.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that a friend encouraged me to try to get the coins back. So I contacted Damian but till now I didn't get any response. I know he's probably super busy with his new project.
The thing I'm also curious about this is: OK they took my BTC but what about BCH that I got for free also?
You know whats worse than not getting bitcoin back? Getting them back when they are worth 10 EUR a piece.
So yeah, if you can help, I'll give you steem. But if you help me get my crypto back I'll give you some.
I'm posting this on yours.org:
https://www.yours.org/content/10-btc-seized-by-the-us-government-681834539b23/
Also, I got in contact with Damian but not sure how they will procede.
Hope you can get your coins back.
I've sent mail to their support 5 hours ago:
Hi,
I am long time customer who had his acount terminated because of not verifying in time. You can read about my story here:
https://steemit.com/bitstamp/@codemojo/10-btc-seized-by-the-us-government
I understand I can't get my BTC back, but what about BCH that I got for free?
Best,
Jure
Congratulations @codemojo! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP