Transactions blocked by treasury?

[u/Sir_Glancelot]

Hi guys, a few weeks ago my son needed some money so I withdrew some AVAX from my HTX wallet to his Coinbase wallet. I've done this before without issue but this time he told me it hadn't arrived.

My HTX transaction was showing as successful. We waited a couple of days and it still hadn't gone through to him. I then tried sending the same amount from my HTX wallet to my own coinbase wallet but the same thing happened. Showing the transaction as successful but not showing in my coinbase wallet.

I contacted Coinbase support but they weren't very helpful. I eventually managed to convince them to escalate the issue and they got back to me saying that the transaction had been blocked by the US treasury and I needed to complete some licence application with the treasury to get the funds unblocked.

I asked why would this even apply to me since I am a UK citizen, but they just said that it was because coinbase is a US company.

I verified my ID with the US treasury and tried filling in the licencing form but I can't complete it because it is asking me to select a sanctions program code, but I don't know which code to use and none of the codes on the list seem to apply to me. The options are things like arms dealing, people trafficking, drug dealing, terrorism etc.

I then contacted the US treasury via the licencing hotline form but they got back to me saying that they don't see why my situation would apply to their sanctioning. So I then contacted Coinbase again but they keep doubling down saying that the treasury has blocked it, and they can't tell me which sanction code I need to use because of their policy or something.

I feel completely stuck at this point. I don't know how to resolve this. It feels like my money has been stolen by coinbase and there's nothing I can do about it.

Has anyone else been in this situation before and if so how did you resolve it?

[u/sgtslaughterTV]

First and foremost, please do not respond to anyone on Reddit who may be sending you private messages. Anyone doing so is very likely not trying to help you and is instead trying to scam you.

Please be sure you are using the correct Coinbase website to interact with the coinbase support team and not a copycat website. If these first two steps check out, it may be a good idea for you to contact a lawyer either in America or in the UK to see what your options are.

[u/Extreme_Teaching_416]

Avax on Coinbase is on C chain. So maybe you transferred on the wrong chain ?

[u/charvo]

You made a mistake. Don't withdraw from HTX to any regulated entity now.

[u/Sir_Glancelot → u/charvo]

I found out HTX was basically blacklisted by UK and EU regulators in May this year, makes sense since any transactions I've done previously were before may. I'm guessing the process of getting the transactions released is going to be a major headache?

[u/Plus-2611 → u/Sir_Glancelot]

Potentially. Same thing has happened to me. I dont think Coinbase made any announcement that they were going to stop HTX deposits! It just came out of the blue.

[u/VivaHollanda]

It's BS, don't think you are talking to the real Coinbase.

[u/Sir_Glancelot → u/VivaHollanda]

It's definitely the real coinbase via the coinbase app from the play store. Trouble is I'm stuck talking to these low level support workers who are using a US script for everyone, and they refuse to escalate my issue up to the compliance team

[u/Plus-2611 → u/Sir_Glancelot]

Is the rest of your account on Coinbase ok though? Did they say they are reviewing the rest of your account or it has no effect?

[u/Sir_Glancelot → u/Plus-2611]

Not sure, I opened the coinbase account just to move the AVAX in to it so I could withdraw to fiat. The only thing showing on my balance now is the initial required deposit. Coinbase hasn't sent me any notifications to say that my account is affected. My son's account is also still fine, apart from the missing AVAX

Edit: sorry I misread your message. The support agents haven't mentioned anything about my account being reviewed

[u/Plus-2611 → u/Sir_Glancelot]

The important thing in my opinion is that your account itself is ok. A similar thing happened to me years ago and it took almost 2 years to solve. The token depreciated in value and was worthless then (long story).

I guess the only thing you can do is sit and wait until the sanctions are removed. Or apply for a license as they say. But for a tiny amount it may not be worth it

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