Ledger, a well-known cold wallet for cryptocurrencies, has come under scrutiny after users alleged it of withholding funds, some to the tune of $3 million USD.
Many investors have started moving money from centralized exchanges to hardware wallets since the FTX debacle. However, are those cold wallets actually secure?
One user took to Twitter to recount how one of his friends had supposedly lost money, and the situation still hadn’t been resolved.
The friend who goes by the name KAI wanted to replace USDT in Ledger with USDC. Ledger endorsed its partner firm Changelly which is one of the first exchanges listed on the cold wallet that allows users to exchange digital assets.
Although KAI never heard of it before, he reasoned that there shouldn’t be any issues as it was Ledger’s recommendation. But to be on the safe side, he first tested it out with a small amount which was successful. Later he converted the entire $3 million amount, but the money didn’t arrive.
KAI contacted customer care, who asked that he complete KYC, a request he found odd, given that Changelly had originally chosen to accept USDT without the KYC.
Even Ledger Live didn’t prompt him during the prior operation.
What made it more bizarre was that the Changelly team asked about the source of the funds, attribution of addresses, bank statements, etc. Yet, its status continued to show “received and under review” even though KAI gave all the necessary information.
He claimed this went on for a few weeks. According to KAI, if the other party is unwilling to accept, one can also send USDT back to the sending address.
Meanwhile, he emailed Ledger twice, who only said it had been forwarded to Changelly and asked him to wait.
Since November 11th, $3 million has been withheld for more than a month without reason. Was it a deliberate delay? Digging deeper KAI found out that Changelly had a poor customer track record.
Ledger’s Partner Firm Customer Ratings Were Mostly 1-Star
There are approximately 400 1-star reviews on the Trust Pilot customer review page found on the official Changelly website. Other customers have said that Changelly has also withheld or delayed the transfer of their funds due to KYC and other issues.
Numerous people on Reddit are also raising concerns about Changelly’s suspicious KYC practices. KAI is currently getting ready to contact the authorities in Hong Kong, the user claimed.