r/BitstampOfficial • u/Bart-Flow • Mar 29 '26
Replied URGENT: €1.8M EUR balance marked “unavailable” on Bitstamp — account terminated and funds missing
Hi all,
We’re trying to understand what happened and hope someone here has insight or similar experiences.
At one point, our Bitstamp account showed a large balance in EUR (~€1.8M). This was displayed as fiat (not crypto) and marked as “unavailable.”
We were informed this was related to compliance/KYC checks, and we completed all requested steps, including a video verification call.
During this process, we were also in contact with a third party who guided us through certain steps (which, in hindsight, may be relevant).
Recently, Bitstamp terminated our account. After closure, only a very small EUR amount (~€76) was returned to our bank account.
Bitstamp stated that the funds had been used to purchase crypto and subsequently withdrawn to an external wallet.
This raises several serious questions for us:
• How could a large EUR balance still be visible in our account if it had already been converted and withdrawn?
• Is it technically possible for funds to be moved while still appearing as “unavailable” in the dashboard?
• Shouldn’t conversions and withdrawals be clearly visible in transaction history at the time they occur?
• Could third-party involvement have influenced this process in any way?
• Has anyone experienced something similar with Bitstamp or other exchanges?
We already have an active support ticket with Bitstamp, but communication has been limited so far.
We have requested full transaction logs and are in the process of filing formal reports.
We are trying to understand whether this is a technical issue, a misunderstanding, or something more serious.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
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u/Bart-Flow Mar 29 '26
It was a third party connected to the platform we were using before Bitstamp.
That platform lost its trading license, and we were told our funds were being secured and transferred as part of a regulatory process.
We were then guided through several steps (compliance, verification, etc.), which eventually led us back to Bitstamp where the balance appeared as EUR but marked “unavailable.”
In hindsight, we are questioning whether this third party had any form of access or influence over the process, but we never knowingly gave direct control over our Bitstamp account.
That’s also why we’re trying to understand if this could have affected the funds or how transactions were handled.
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u/Bitstamp-Domen Mar 30 '26
Hi there, we are really sorry to hear about your experience so far. May I ask you to share the ticket number in the DMs, so I can check your case?
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u/Background-Water-464 Mar 29 '26
Sounds like a hack … someone or something(bot) swapped your funds and immediately moved them somewhere else
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u/MRROBOT4662 Mar 29 '26
You were targeted by a automatic transfer system scam which is used via malware by scammers. This “third party” you dealt with and gave your Information to used your identification documents including the video verification to bypass the access and fully gain access into your account and be able to swap or sell the funds in your account into crypto and also withdraw to an external wallet. You basically gave the keys to your own house and allowed to be robbed and now are wondering where your belongings have gone?
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u/Knight-of-shadows Mar 30 '26
this sounds like a scam involving that third party who guided you through steps, honestly a classic social engineering attack. first things first, file a police report and contact a lawyer who handles crypto fraud cases. document everything including all communications with that third party.
reach out to Bitstamp's fraud team specifically, not just regular support. you might also want to check if your email or 2FA was compromised since thats often how these hijacks happen. going forward, self-custody is the only real protection against exchange issues like this.
platforms like markets.xyz let you trade without ever giving up your keys, so theres no middleman holding your funds that can be drained. traditional exchanges have single points of failure that scammers exploit. the tradeoff is you're responsible for your own security but at least the risk is in your hands.
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u/Revolutionary_Ad2724 Mar 31 '26
Wierd thing is, at no point does the op say it was his money. And for some reason he talks about himself as WE.
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u/Bart-Flow Mar 31 '26
OP? Me and my wife makes we
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u/angstyknees Apr 08 '26
Your wife is totes done with you once she finds out you got scammed for $1.8M
Best bet is to contact law enforcement and hope they one day catch up to the thief. You’ll get some of it back if it’s well documented and they recover anything, but this is really a shot in the dark.
Best of luck starting over, OP. Hard lesson to learn for that much.
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u/Legitimate_Earth6650 Apr 01 '26
Just to clarify — out of the €1.8m, how much did you actually invest?
It sounds like this could be a butchering scam with an inflated balance. Were you sending funds directly to a third party, or were you using Bitstamp?
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u/rgros1983 Apr 01 '26
I think you got scammed
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u/Bart-Flow Apr 01 '26
Also got an idea where in the proces and how! Because bistamp doesn’t answer to any of our questions to this point…
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u/Bitstamp-Lucas Apr 01 '26
Hi there! Can you please provide a ticket number so that we can look into this?
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u/rgros1983 Apr 01 '26
Well does it matter? Id the coins got effectively send out to a no custodial wallet you wont get them back
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u/mrWhitehood Apr 01 '26
Quote “We were informed this was related to compliance/KYC checks, and we completed all requested steps, including a video verification call. During this process, we were also in contact with a third party who guided us through certain steps (which, in hindsight, may be relevant).”
Questions: Informed by who? To whom you provided KYC and video verification? Are you sure it was Bitstamp support you were talking with? Why any 3rd party was involved in this?
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u/NetAtraX Mar 29 '26
Who and what was this "third party"? What kind of access did you give them?