Uphold.com Review 2021 – Scam or Not?

There are a lot of “BTC Exchange” websites out there today. But how many of them are real exchange websites wherein you are not only able to directly exchange fiat money to BTC but trade fiat/crypto pairs as well? With the number of websites we’ve been through, we can honestly say that there are only a handful of websites that offer dual services. Most of them simply sell BTC, and some of them may or may not have a trading platform.

Today, we will be looking into one exchange website called Uphold.com and know more about them. Do they have a trading platform? Do they sell BTC? How do you get BTC or sell with them? These are the questions that we are going to answer in this review. Without further delay, let’s talk about that!

Background

The website was launched in 2015 and has continued to provide services to more than a hundred countries across different currencies. Uphold.com is also a FinCEN registered MSB in the United States and CSSF for Europe, making it a perfect choice for people that love to exchange with regulated websites.

Verifications with Uphold.com

The first step is to provide an active email address, the type of account, and your country of residence. The next step is they ask you personal details like complete name, username for your new account, state you live in, and your date of birth. After completing the second part, they will send you an email confirmation straight to the provided email address. The third part would be sending a code to your mobile phone. We strongly advise not to create an account with them if providing information through the internet is not your thing!

After completing all the three steps, you’re done! The last step was there to also activate your Two-Factor Authentication for added security on your account.

Becoming a verified member – Creating an account with them is just the first part. You are able to upgrade your account to a verified one if you think that the transaction limits are not enough for you. Verified members are able to transact more than $1,000 USD in their new upgraded account. In order to do this, you just need to log into your account and click on “Verify now” button. This will redirect you to a new page with the requirements needed.

 

Features

The website acts as a virtual wallet for not only cryptocurrencies but Fiat money as well. This is probably one of the features that they are doing great in compared with any other crypto exchange websites today. This means that not only people are able to use their services as an online wallet, but exchange different fiat currencies to BTC, BCH, DASH, ETH, or LTC with just a few clicks of a button. Fees might be high compared to regular exchange websites, but hey, you get to keep in your different cards.

Speaking of cards, the website offers virtual MasterCard for all your currencies online. This means that even if you do have a pure cryptocurrency account, the funds will still be able to be used through online stores as a MasterCard transaction.

Trading with Uphold.com

The website acts as a straight exchange platform wherein its users can easily convert their Fiat funds into crypto currency with just one click. Here at Uphold.com, verified users can also exchange fiat to fiat if they want to. The ability to use the accounts as digital wallets also increased the ability for users to use the exchange more often due to its flexibility in the current online market.

Fees

Exchange fees here at Uphold.com can be a bit pricey if you ask us. There is a bunch of websites today that offer lower exchange fees but without any wallet services. At least here, customers would not only be able to exchange fiat to crypto, they can also store them for future use. BTC exchange fees currently are at 1.05% against Fiat currencies, for ETH and a couple of currencies they charge 1.4% per exchange. Exchange fees for USD, EUR, and GBP are at 0.65% per transaction.

Deposits and Withdrawals

One of the features that we did not mention earlier is the ability to send funds from one Uphold member to another. This is great since users are able to transfer fiat or crypto from one account to another without limitations, and of course, fees. Uphold also does not charge deposits directly with banks or personal BTC wallets. Third party payment options like China UnionPay Card has a deposit fee of 1.8%.

Withdrawals are different since they charge both crypto and fiat transactions. For crypto withdrawals, they charge $2.99 per transaction and wire transfers cost $3.99. Please be advised that this is just the plain fee without third party costs which will be shouldered by the account holder.

Customer Service

Their customer support isn’t that great since they work with a ticket system. You can access their support tab through this link. What we do not like about ticket systems is that you can either get an answer within the next five minutes or it would take it 5 days for them to get back to you. What should have been great is a phone number that their customers can call, but they currency to not have this feature.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Exchange and wallet service
  • Virtual wallet with MasterCard
  • Regulated

Cons

  • Not anonymous
  • Fees are expensive

Uphold Review Conclusion

Uphold.com is a regulated exchange/wallet service that peoples from around the world use. They might have high service fees compared to a lot of exchange websites today, but they not only offer an exchange but users are also able to use their wallet service for free, so we guess that’s where the extra charge comes from. Their website is innovative and really easy to understand. We do want to let you guys know that if you want to have an anonymous account with an exchange website, this is not your website. They follow an intensive ID review for newly registered accounts. All-in-all, the website is not bad if you’re looking for a regulated exchange website based in the United States.

Go to uphold.com
Share your Experiences about Uphold.com:

68 User-Reviews for Uphold.com
  1. Gilbert Arthur, 1. April 2023

    It is the single worst company I’ve ever tried to work with
    It is impossible to talk to a human being. Their chat line is a lie. It always says because of high volume the agents are not available. Think about that statement. High volume. No agents. Hmmm.
    I have tried for over a week to get my account review resolved. It got resolved by their closing it with no explanation. I still have btc in the closed account and it looks like I will never receive it. They are crooks. Stay away.

  2. Michelle Katz, 2. April 2022

    Unfortunately it appears that uphold is a scam. You cannot withdraw funds to a USD bank, although they will tell you you can. They need to be reported to the SEC.

  3. horacio pineda pineda, 12. August 2021

    very unhappy/disappointed with Uphold, to the point that I can’t even log in into my account, support center send me an email saying just to wait, it has been 4 days and nothing from them. I really believe uphold will take my account/money from me, I don’t know what else to do.

  4. Miles Berry, 20. June 2021

    My experience with UPHOLD has been BAD. they were great when i was buying crypto, but then when i tried to move from my uphold wallet to a external wallet it is nothing but a night mare. they have taken my deposits from my bank at the tune of $28000 and i have yet to be able to transfer one crypto from them to a external cold wallet. i have waited there 65days cooling down period. and now they say because my account has devalued crypto i cant remove anything, because my money deposited to buy more crypto, is covering my loss of value.so i have paid for it in full, but i have to cover the loss of value, due to it losing value in the market. they keep saying i cant get any funds from my account. even after the 65 days have gone by. i don’t want funds i wanted my crypto transferred to an external wallet . just like it says you can. i have been trying to get my crypto transferred for a month. and they also took and locked up my debit/credit card purchased crypto also. then showed me the fine print disclaimer that said debit/credit card purchases under 5K are the same as a bank with drawl. you have to wait 65days… and the covering of the loss of value in crypto that i already paid for in full is criminal. their support sucks, don’t be dumb like i was don’t use UPHOLD… so far 28,000 they have got from me and i have been allowed to transfer no crypto from the uphold wallet to and external wallet.

  5. Tracy carr, 16. June 2021

    I am in the same boat, Its been months now since I regretfully moved my funds from coinbase to uphold. I havent spent a dime of that money. I need it an even after trying 3 different devices and authenticator nonsence I am still without my funds. I cant close my account without 1st withdrawing it all , so they made that an impossibility as well.

  6. EDZ, 16. June 2021

    ANOTHER UNPROFECIONAL REPLY FROM

    FIRST EMAIL TO SUPPORT:
    Dear sir madam

    this wallet address connected to your company:
    rHgS5orgPvsuzJ7shn8vw28y1XaePY4uDP

    there is been transaction send to this address accidently from my casino 1xbit account
    TAX HASH
    CE70E7A487C73D5682C96BEB011568F6F8797252831612516FE38AA2ACDE388E

    I would like you to please refund payment to my binance account

    MY BINANCE WALLET ADDRESS

    Address
    rEb8TK3gBgk5auZkwc6sHnwrGVJH8DuaLh
    Tag
    102595339

    REPLY I GOT FROM THEM:

    Thank you for contacting Uphold. We will gladly assist you.

    Even though this might be an Uphold address, only the person that owns this address has access to it, we don’t even now who the owner is for security reasons.

    I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience, but we don’t have access to these funds.

    Let us know if you have any other questions.

    Regards,
    Ivanovich and the Uphold Team

    THEN I HAVE WRITE REVIEW THEN RECIEVED ANOTHER EMAIL:

    Thank you for responding.

    Upon review of your transaction:

    We found that you didn’t sent the funds to an Uphold address.

    There are only 2 XRP addresses that we support:
    rQrQMKhcw3WnptGeWiYSwX5Tz3otyJqPnq
    rMdG3ju8pgyVh29ELPWaDuA74CpWW6Fxns

    THEY NOT EVEN LOOKING RIGHT WALLET ADDRESS DO THEY ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I WROTE

    THEN I REPLY EMAIL
    TO EXPLAIN AGAIN THAT IS THEIR WALLET
    Account summary
    Address
    rHgS5orgPvsuzJ7shn8vw28y1XaePY4uDP
    Last tx:
    CE70E7A487C73D5682C96BEB011568F6F8797252831612516FE38AA2ACDE388E
    64,206,069

    Activated by:
    Uphold (3)
    On:
    29 Jan 2021, 09:14:21 UTC
    Initial balance:
    42.972011 XRP

    Ticket number 1443747

    CAN YOU REFUND MY MONEY
    ITS YOUR WALLET ADDRESS WHY YOU STEAL MY MONIES

  7. Jardel, 13. May 2021

    DO NOT RECOMMEND.

    I’m already waiting 7 Business days and nothing, not even a reply. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

  8. Urs Ryser, 11. May 2021

    May Fraud, Horrible/ No customer service where is the Fk telephone # to call ?

    Larkspur CA office Closed ,New York no answer !

  9. Ronald Clark, 5. May 2021

    If you need customer support prepare to be ghosted. Provided all requested information got message saying my account was under review. No acknowledgment or response to support ticket forthcoming after two weeks. Business model appears to be collect fees and spend zero dollars on support.

  10. Me, 28. April 2021

    uphold is a SCAM, RIP OFF. Account restricted only after they scammed hundreds out of my debit card!
    No customer service, just a pseudo help area that never gets back to you. Don’t get scammed like I did

  11. Murrah Boswell, 24. April 2021

    I had an account with Uphold.com for a couple of months and then without warning, they closed my account yesterday (4/22/2021). I have money in my account and no one there will tell me what is going on and when I will get my money. No one ever responds to support emails nor messages left on phone. They withdrew $3000 from my bank via ACH without my permission so I got my bank to refund the $3000 and start an investigation. It was after this that they just closed my account and ripped me off for about $8000 that was in the account.

  12. Xaardrax, 14. April 2021

    Uphold is my favorite CEX. I have used Uphold for about 2 years and have had zero problems with several pages of transaction history.

    Most of the negative reviews here were either written by the same retard or by a close retarded inborn family member.

    The absolute rage and contempt they show in these reviews match the intelligence and literacy of a retard. I have no doubt that some unfortunate user is having problems doing things properly, but misunderstanding how things work in the real world with exchanges will cause problems.

    These retards most likely couldn’t figure out the rules or verification procedures necessary to be a user. Maybe their ID photos revealed more than they were claiming.

    It is curious that only the positive reviews appear to be written by intelligent writers on this page.

  13. Hasher, 14. April 2021

    Fantastic, no issues ever. Don’t know what these people are talking about, probable scammers themselves.

  14. Denny, 7. April 2021

    Been 2 days and support is not answering any of my emails. I am blocked out and no one to help me.

  15. Andie pearson, 5. April 2021

    No matter what I verify or what I do my account is restricted from even making 50$ dep. I read why this would happen and I do not fall into any category . I have emailed support and have yet to get response . Here is one of my many ticket numbers #1202388
    I only hope that I get a response before the crypto I want to purchase is already too high

  16. AH, 18. March 2021

    Uphold has scammed me out of money as well, they say you can withdraw your money 3-4 business days after it deposits. Yet when you do so after providing them with your authenticator successfully they say for security reasons you account has been locked. This doesnt happen to small dollar amount accounts. Only the larger amount accounts. So they try to give the presence of being legit cashing out the small change but let you accrue a high dollar amount im talking thousands. You will regret ever using them. Well let say you dont want the money and you just want your coins like dogecoin well good luck with that.

  17. Plask, 17. March 2021

    Please don’t recommend UpHold. They don’t have support, so you won’t pass identity verification, without it your money will be stuck there.

  18. quy duc nguyen, 16. March 2021

    Uphold is a scam
    I opened an account and deposited money into my Uphold account . Now , I need the money but they won’t let me withdraw at all . I call there customer service (888)420-5801 , nobody answers the phone . I email them hundreds of time , also no answered .
    If you plan to open an account with Uphold , try to call them first ! You will know .
    Your reply is just another lie . A big company with no phone number at all ? this does not sound right ?
    I email Uphold hundreds of time , no answer .
    I already report to BBB and I am waiting for the next step .
    I know you are trying to steal money from all the member . But it is going to be difficult because i will do every possible way to get my money back .
    In the mean time , hopefully no more people going to fall in to your trap .
    I open my case on March 4 , 2021 . Report to BBB on March 5 , 2021 . My file number with Uphold is #1137834 .
    My case number with BBB is #15259693