KYC (“Know Your Customer”) is the process by which a business identifies and verifies a customer’s identity. By law, KYC is required of certain businesses (such as banks, financial services, exchanges, etc.) in order to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
Why do I need to KYC?
By default, no KYC verification is required to enable and use Brave Rewards. For example, users can enable Brave Ads and earn BAT without KYC verification. They can also enjoy in-platform features, such as BAT tipping, without ever having to KYC. At this time, the only cases in which a user must complete KYC verification are:
- Withdrawals: If the user would like to withdraw BAT from the platform (i.e., transfer BAT—such as BAT earned through Brave Ads—to an external Ethereum address).
- Depositing funds beyond $600 USD: If a user would like to fund their Brave Rewards wallet with their own funds (e.g., by credit card, their own external BAT, or with cryptocurrency), no KYC is required by default. However, KYC may be required to add more funds if a user’s lifetime deposits exceed $600 USD. Below $600, no KYC is required to add or deposit external funds.
Doesn’t forcing KYC on anyone using BAT go against Brave’s stance on privacy?
Please note that users do not verify with Brave Software Inc. Because Brave does not personally perform KYC verification, we do not process or store any personal information related to the KYC process. Therefore, our comprehensive privacy policies continue to apply.
If users choose to link an Uphold exchange account to Brave Rewards (in order to withdraw BAT from of the platform, for example), users will have to complete KYC with Uphold, just like they would with any other legally compliant exchange. Uphold uses well known services, such as Jumio, for KYC. (For example, Jumio also provides verification services for well known companies such as Airbnb.)
Is connecting an Uphold account my only option?
We are working to bring other withdrawal options and vendors, apart from Uphold, to Brave Rewards.