FAQs for COINBASE account owners

REUNITING CITIZENS WITH THEIR LOST MONEY.

The following are some typical questions and answers we hear regarding owners of Coinbase accounts that were sent to Wyoming in a custodial capacity. If you don’t see the answer to your question here, feel free to email us at wyomingup@wyo.gov or chat with us during normal business hours (8 am to 5 pm Mountain Time Monday through Friday).

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Q: How do I send my documents to you?

A: You can select the “Submit Evidence for your active claim” link on our main page or click here to go directly there. Please note you will want to reference your Claim ID number found at the top right corner of the claim form you received (not to be confused with your property ID numbers). If you need assistance with the upload process you can click here to watch an instructional video on how to upload your documents.

 

Q: How do I know if you received my documents?

A: You can select the “Check the status of your active claim” link on our main page or click here to go directly there. Please note you will want to reference your Claim ID number found at the top right corner of the claim form you received (not to be confused with your property ID numbers). If the status says “Waiting on Claimant” then that means we still need information/document(s) from you before we can proceed. Note that if you just uploaded your documents, it may take up to 30 minutes for the status to change in our system.

 

Q: How long does it take for me to get paid?
A:  It typically takes about 2-4 weeks to go through the verification process and make payment, but that can vary depending on the number of claims waiting for review and approval. Based on the volume of Coinbase users visiting our site, we expect this time to be a little longer. If anything else is needed, a claims specialist will email you. Once we verify you are the owner, we will email you a form asking how you want payment, so monitor your email during this time. You also may want to check your spam folder occasionally to see if the form went into there by mistake.
Q: What do I do when it asks for Social Security number? We don’t have that where I live.

A: Any fields that do not apply to you can be left blank or if they are required just enter zeros (such as 000-00-0000 for Social Security, which is only needed for U.S. citizens).

Q: What if I do not find my name when I search?

A: If you have not done so, please watch the 2-minute instructional video on “How Do I Claim My Property Online” as located at www.mycash.wyo.gov and then conduct your search. We recommend that you only search by your last name (surname) and leave all other fields blank. If too many options appear, you can try to put in your first name and search again.

If you still are not able to locate your name, we can do a manual search or work with Coinbase on locating your account if you can email the following information to wyomingup@wyo.gov:

* In the subject line, list “My name does not appear”

* What email address did you use for your Coinbase account?

* What name was tied to your Coinbase account?

* Approximately how much money was your account worth when it was closed?

* Do you know what your Coinbase account number was? If so, please provide

* Can you send us any screenshots of your account?

* Provide your First and Last Name

* Provide your current Mailing Address

* Provide your Phone number

Q: I thought I had more property than what was reported

A: If you believe you had additional cryptocurrencies in addition to the ones you have located on our website, any specific property you had that was valued at $5 U.S. or less was grouped into a mass report without listing the specific owners. We are working with Coinbase to get information on the individual owners for this, but at this time they are not claimable.

It is also our understanding that Coinbase was required to pay a tax to the Kenyan government when the accounts were liquidated. This tax would have been deducted from your account before the net amount was reported to Wyoming.

Q: I filed a claim but why didn’t I receive a form?

A: Certain email providers, particularly yahoo, hotmail and live, tend to throw our forms into the spam folder, so if you don’t see your form within 30 minutes after you file your claim, please check spam. We also encourage you to monitor the spam folder occasionally until you receive payment as we may send you a request for more information as part of the confirmation process. Once we are able to verify that the account belonged to you, we will send you a form asking how you would like to receive payment.

Q: What does it mean by virtual account verification?
A: Basically, we need to see something that proves the account belonged to you. Examples include, but not limited to, pictures/screenshots of your account (either an error message when you now try to log in, or possibly past pictures/screenshots that showed account balance), or if you have any email confirmations from Coinbase whenever you made a transaction in the past. Please send images/documents that include your email address and/or user name along with the other information.
Q: How will I end up getting paid?

A: Our government does not allow us to make payment with crypto/virtual currency. Once we are able to confirm that the account belonged to you, we will send you a form asking how you would like to receive payment. Our options include 1) mailing you a physical check/cheque to your home or business address, 2) making a foreign wire transfer to your local bank (note if you elect this option our bank charges a $10 U.S. fee that would be deducted from the amount owed to you) or 3) relinquish your funds to a friend/family member in the United States so he/she could deposit the check/cheque into his/her bank account and then send the funds to you.

 

Q: Why do I get a “bot” when I utilize the chat function?

A: Our online bot, “WYO-Erp” always begins the online conversation and will attempt to answer any questions you have. If it is not able to provide an answer, it will attempt to connect you with one of our agents; however, staff agents only monitor the chats during our normal business hours, (8 am to 5 pm Mountain Time Monday through Friday). If you are not able to connect to one of our agents, we encourage you to ask the question(s) you may have, and we will respond with an email once an agent is available to do so.

Q: Why does my claim show "paid" and I haven't received my money?

A: If your address is in the United States, the “paid” status indicates that a check has been issued and sent in the mail. It should arrive at your address within a week or so, depending on your location. If you requested a foreign wire for payment, the claim was approved and your money was sent to another agency to complete the wire transfer. This also will show a “paid” status on our website, but it may take a couple of weeks until the funds are delivered to your bank account.