Restricted Jurisdictions
Sanctions programmes change without notice, and this list changes with them. The list in force at the moment you create an order is the list that applies to that order.
1. Why we restrict at all
Two separate reasons, which people often conflate:
- Sanctions. Providing a service to a comprehensively sanctioned jurisdiction is a criminal offence for us, regardless of who you are or what you intend. There is no discretion here and no exception we can make.
- Licensing. Some jurisdictions require a licence, registration, or local authorisation to offer cryptoasset exchange to their residents. Where we do not hold it, we do not offer the service there. That is a limit on us, not a judgement about you.
2. Restricted list
2.1 Comprehensively restricted — no service
We cannot provide service to any person located in, resident in, or acting on behalf of a person or entity in:
- Cuba
- Iran
- North Korea (DPRK)
- Syria
- Russia and Belarus
- The Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Venezuela
2.2 Restricted for licensing reasons — no service pending authorisation
- The United States and its territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands
We do not serve US persons, and we do not accept orders from a US IP address. This is a licensing decision, not a sanctions one: money transmission there is licensed state by state.
We keep the same question under review for Canada (FINTRAC registration), Japan (FSA), Singapore (PSA licence), and the United Kingdom (FCA cryptoasset registration). If any of them moves into this section, it will be listed here before it takes effect.
2.3 Persons restricted regardless of location
- Any person or entity on a sanctions list maintained by the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom (OFSI) and the United States (OFAC), including the US OFAC SDN list.
- Any person acting for, or on the instruction of, such a person or entity.
- Any entity majority-owned or controlled by such a person or entity.
- Anyone under 18.
3. How we apply this
- We derive an approximate country from your IP address on each visit and each order.
- We screen deposit and destination addresses against sanctions listings, as described in our AML Statement.
- You confirm your eligibility under section 3 of our Terms when you create an order.
IP geolocation is approximate and produces false results, particularly for mobile networks, business VPNs, and travellers. If you are wrongly blocked, contact support@buysellcrypto.exchange.
4. Circumvention
Using a VPN, proxy, or any other method to disguise your location in order to access the service is a breach of our Terms. To be direct about the consequence: a sanctions restriction is not a geographic paywall, and getting past the check does not make the transaction lawful for you or for us. An order identified as circumventing this list is declined, and where sanctions apply we may be legally prevented from returning the funds.
We are stating this plainly rather than burying it, because the people most likely to be harmed by discovering it late are the ones who assumed it was a formality.
5. If you have already deposited from a restricted location
- Licensing restriction: we decline the order and refund the deposit to your refund address, less network costs, under section 9 of the Terms.
- Sanctions restriction: we may be legally required to freeze the funds and report the matter, and we may be prohibited from refunding them or from explaining why. This is not a policy we can waive.
6. Changes to this list
Sanctions programmes change frequently and sometimes without notice. We update this page as they change and review it at least monthly. The list in force when your order is created is the one that applies to it. Check this page before a large order.
7. Contact
Questions, or a blocked-in-error report: support@buysellcrypto.exchange
Compliance: compliance@buysellcrypto.exchange