In digital asset OTC trading, it is crucial to avoid having your bank card frozen due to receiving dirty money. Here is a well-organized practical guide covering preventive measures, responses after a card freeze, and other key content:
1. Practical tips for effectively preventing card freezes
Choose quality platforms: For OTC trading, prioritize large platforms like Binance and OKEx. These platforms communicate smoothly with mainland regulatory and law enforcement agencies and have comprehensive risk control measures, which can reduce risk to a certain extent.
Pay attention to withdrawal strategies: Try to use OTC platforms that support T+1/T+2 withdrawal strategies. Although you cannot withdraw immediately after selling coins, it can significantly reduce the risk of being suspected of money laundering due to OTC transactions, such as Binance's T+1 model and Huobi's selected trading (which uses T+2 for withdrawals compared to free trading).
Preferable trading currencies: Avoid directly using stablecoins like USDT for OTC trading, and try to choose mainstream cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH to reduce potential risks.
Use a dedicated bank card: For OTC transactions, choose a separate card that you usually do not use, distinguishing it from your salary card and other commonly used cards. This way, even if that card is frozen, it will not affect the use of other funds, and it will also be easier to clarify the flow of funds when cooperating with investigations.
Consider local banks: For OTC trading, it's best to use cards from local banks, such as city commercial banks or rural commercial banks. In contrast, large and medium-sized joint-stock commercial banks like ICBC, ABC, and others have branches all over the country, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to freeze accounts directly, which poses a higher risk.
Avoid frequent trading: Do not trade frequently with fixed merchants or specific users. If the same user indirectly purchases more than three times in one day, or buys and sells again after a few hours, it raises significant money laundering suspicions and is extremely risky.
Be cautious in choosing merchants: Actively choose orders from larger merchants and market makers, reduce your own orders, and avoid merchants in problematic areas. However, it should be noted that as an ordinary user, it is difficult to accurately discern which merchants are reliable, as many users trading with Huobi Blue Shield service providers have also encountered card freezes.
Adjust cash-out methods: Reduce the frequency of withdrawals and increase the amount of cash converted in a single transaction to lower the suspicion of transactions.
Handle funds wisely: After OTC trading, do not transfer funds to other bank cards to avoid contaminating other funds, which could complicate investigations. If you urgently need money, you can withdraw cash via ATM or use online payments.
Choose the right time: Try to trade during normal working hours on weekdays, such as between 9 AM and 9 PM, avoiding trading during non-working hours to reduce risk.
Delay in fund withdrawal: After selling USDT for RMB, do not withdraw immediately. Keep the funds in the account for a while to reduce the probability of being subjected to risk control.
2. Key points to prove non-involvement in money laundering after card freeze
If you unfortunately have your card frozen, you can explain from the following aspects to prove that you did not participate in money laundering activities:
Indicate that the personal activity involves normal Bitcoin buying and selling transactions, without involvement in money laundering or other illegal transactions.
State that you are unaware of the funds received from selling coins being involved in criminal activities.
Actively cooperate by providing all trading records, chat logs, on-chain transfer records, and other relevant evidence.
Be clear that your digital asset trading activities do not violate the law.
3. Materials required to lift the freeze
When the bank card used for OTC trading is frozen by public security, the other party usually requires individuals to provide a series of materials to lift the freeze. Commonly required materials mainly include: complete trading records (such as bank card transaction records, on-chain transaction records, transaction platform order records), WeChat chat logs that contain communication about the trading process, and other evidence that can prove the legality of the assets, and income proof may also be required.
4. Solutions for frozen cards due to receiving dirty money
If you unfortunately receive dirty money causing your bank card to be frozen, you can follow these steps to resolve the issue:
First, go to your bank to understand the reason for the card freeze and the authority that has the right to freeze it. The reasons for freezing can mainly be categorized into two types: bank risk control and public security freezing.
(1) Bank risk control freezing and solutions
Reason for freeze: Recent frequent large transfers, scattered inflows with concentrated outflows, concentrated inflows with scattered outflows, rapid in-and-out transactions, frequent night trading, and unusual account behavior that does not leave a balance, triggering the bank's anti-money laundering risk control system.
Solution: Bring your ID card and bank card to the bank for communication and submit relevant transaction proof. If it involves public security policy directives, you also need to go to the local public security department to cooperate with the investigation. If it triggers the fraud prevention center's model control, you need to fill out the anti-fraud application form required by the fraud prevention center, and only after passing the review can you unfreeze the account.
(2) Public security freezing and solutions
Reason for freeze: The account has received other involved illicit funds, which may have been received directly or flowed indirectly. Public security will freeze all associated accounts that have involved transaction flows to prevent fund transfer and facilitate case investigation.
Solution: First observe for 3 days to see if the temporary hold will become a formal freeze (continuing for six months). If it becomes a formal freeze, immediately contact the bank to inquire about the name of the public security unit that froze the card, the case number, and the name of the police officer in charge. Then contact the responsible police officer to understand the reason for the freeze and actively cooperate with their investigation. If it is verified that there has been no illegal or disciplinary behavior, the account will be unfrozen.
