Gauls: Largest streamer in Brazil counts frustrated experience with Bitcoin

In the words of the streamer, „bitcoin equals any other currency“. Gaules said he thought bitcoin was more anonymous and „safe“.

Alexandre „Gaules“, famous streamer at Twitch and professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player told recently in a live broadcast about a frustrating experience with a Bitcoin transaction that ended up leaving the coins stuck in a brokerage house that was demanding KYC processes so he could perform the withdrawal.

Gaules is currently the largest Brazilian streamer by number of hours watched (almost 100 million), which also makes the streamer one of the most famous in the world ranking. In addition, the Brazilian also managed to break the record for the largest number of simultaneous viewers, with a total of 390 thousand.

In a live this Tuesday (10) for more than 30 thousand people streamer told about a situation that he went through with Bitcoin, apparently being his first transaction using cryptomeda. According to his report, the experience was frustrating, with bitcoins blocked in a foreign broker.

„I received an outgoing payment at Bitcoins, I always wondered ‚I made transaction, I will receive at Bitcoins, ’safe scheme‘. But then, bro (sic), I opened the Bitcoins ‚wallet‘ there and the money was locked there.

I received the email from the broker saying ‚To release your payment we will need all your data'“.

Gaules felt frustrated, since he didn’t want to have to send all his information for identification. According to him, if it was to be so, he would have done it with a common bank account.

„P*** my brother! If I wanted to release all my data I would have asked the guy to send it to my bank“.

„Same thing with normal money coming in.“

After sending all his documentation, Gaules managed to rescue the Bitcoins, he said. Thus, in the words of the streamer, „bitcoin is like any other currency“. Gaules said he thought bitcoin was anonymous and more „safe“.

„I sent the business [documentation] there and shovel, same thing as if normal money had come. I thought it was more anonymous, it’s not, bro! Apparently the brokers have all their data“.

„Problem could have been avoided if Gaules had used his own wallet

Despite the streamer’s frustration, the „problem“ could have been avoided if it had used its own bitcoin portfolio instead of a brokerage house.

Bitcoin brokers are required by law to implement KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) processes. This links the user’s identity to a bitcoin address, giving the authorities the ability to trace the owner of a digital address.

In case of using a bitcoin wallet, the KYC process does not occur, and the identity of the owner of an address is only revealed in case the owner commits some „slip“, such as sending to some brokerage house.

That is why some Bitcoin platforms in P2P are widely used in the world, because they do not require KYC or any other type of user identification.

See the video below:

Is Bitcoin Anonymous?

Yes, if someone said it is not, ask for the identity of a random address and see for yourself. But what makes the identity traceable? Well, as he himself stated during the live, he had the Bitcoins locked because the broker wanted the client’s IDs to release the loot. This is a completely common procedure in all brokers in Brazil and in the world.

In recent years the fight against money laundering (AML) and the procedures to know your client (KYC) have become mandatory throughout the cryptomarket. Any brokerage company operating in Brazil, USA, Europe and several other locations, will ask for identifications such as photos of the face and documents to release withdrawals and movements above a certain standard.

So, how not to be tracked? It’s actually quite simple: What the streamer could have done was to download a Bitcoin wallet and use the personal wallet address to receive the coins. That way it would have total control over the currency transaction, without having the digital asset „locked“ for any reason.

If he needed to sell, it should be to a P2P buyer who also does not want to reveal his transactions to the revenue.