Goldman-Backed Crypto Exchange Rattles Users

Poloniex LLC suspended trading and withdrawals until clients upload new documentation required to verify accounts, spurring concern among some users that they won’t be able to recover their funds, Bloomberg reported. The Boston-based cryptocurrency trading platform clarified in a tweet Thursday that users’ “funds will be safe and accounted for at all times as legacy customers complete the verification process.” That didn’t satisfy clients who still asked what happens with money of those who aren’t able to go through the new verification process. Poloniex, which is owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-backed Circle Internet Financial Ltd., is updating its verification process as regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency-linked companies increases. The company said in a May 27 post in its website, “like all registered money services businesses, Poloniex is committed to compliance with all applicable law requiring identification and verification of its customers.” While the move is meant to improve users’ verification, a string of tweets from accounts impersonating Poloniex, asking for digital tokens, followed the exchange’s original tweet, in what’s become a common scam in the cryptocurrency world.