NiceHash Disables Transfers to Coinbase

[Osmodin]

I felt like I should start a topic here, considering that I got into using NiceHash after they sponsored a LTT video on Youtube.

 

Early this morning NiceHash disabled transfers to Coinbase citing that their API for transactions was limiting.  NH says they have been trying to contact Coinbase and resolve the issue with no response.

 

The problem I have with the situation is the way it was handled.  There was no grace period, no emails sent out and as far as I know no other clues that it was going to happen.  I only found out by logging into their rig dashboard and clicking on the little blue notification icon in the top right.

 

Right now I have coin sitting in my NH account that I can't withdraw the way I have been.  People on Reddit have posted ways to do a workaround using direct BTC wallet transfer, but this means NH charges a fee.  Had they given a heads up I would have done the last transfer I could have and stopped mining but because I wasn't properly notified my rig kept going, producing coin I can no longer access without paying a fee.  The cynical part of me feels like this is how they wanted it to happen.

 

Personally I'd really appreciate some sort of address from Linus on the issue.  I understand that he's not responsible for what the sponsor does after the sponsorship runs it's course, but I feel like an extra heads up about what's going on is the right thing to do...

 

Here is NiceHash's press release.

https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/suspending-withdrawals-to-coinbase

 

The discussion happening on Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/ncswlu/suspending_coinbase_withdrawals/

[tikker]

30 minutes ago, Osmodin said:

Right now I have coin sitting in my NH account that I can't withdraw the way I have been.  People on Reddit have posted ways to do a workaround using direct BTC wallet transfer, but this means NH charges a fee.  Had they given a heads up I would have done the last transfer I could have and stopped mining but because I wasn't properly notified my rig kept going, producing coin I can no longer access without paying a fee.  The cynical part of me feels like this is how they wanted it to happen.

 You haven't lost access and whether you like it or not, Bitcoin transfers have transaction fees associated with them that you'll just have to swallow. That's the reality of these coins. The only reason these fees could be waived is because they are on their own internal or internal-like network, they pay the fee for you or something similar. Look at e.g. Binance and the Binance Smart Chain. If you want to get it on Coinbase just see if they support a free or low fee coin. Use NiceHash to convert BTC into the other coin, transfer the other coin and convert back to BTC. This might not be advantageous regarding taxes if you're in the US, for example, though so do be careful about that.

 

I agree they could have handled this better, but I'm not sure a heads up would have helped all that much though. Given that apparently the problem is Coinbase not being able to handle the amount of transfers, this heads up would have only resulted in potentially more transfers to Coinbase which either would not be handled or would have caused more problems.

 

I wonder how much of the load would be reduced if people would just stop transferring their mere $3 worth of BTC every day. Just save up and transfer in bulk.

[Chris Pratt]

1 minute ago, tikker said:

I wonder how much of the load would be reduced if people would just stop transferring their mere $3 worth of BTC every day. Just save up and transfer in bulk.

I'd imagine that was the actual issue that prompted this. Bitcoin has taken a huge tumble over the last week, and there was probably quite a few Nicehash users trying to cash out because of that. If they were barely able to stay within API limits before, that could have pushed everything over the edge. Also probably why there was not more warning.

[Osmodin]

15 minutes ago, tikker said:

 You haven't lost access and whether you like it or not, Bitcoin transfers have transaction fees associated with them that you'll just have to swallow. That's the reality of these coins.

I'm completely happy paying fees.  I've always been of the mindset that people should be compensated for the services they provide.  That's why I'm cool with the dev and pool fees for PhoenixMiner and 2Miners which I've switch back to currently.

 

The problem to me is that they changed the rules, without telling me they were going to change the rules.  My coin is stuck unless I agree to their new rules.  I've been transferring to Coinbase without fees for a few months but now my coin is locked behind a fee because they flipped the switch.

 

Their minimum requirement for withdrawing is 0.0005 BTC.  Double that requirement and you halve the number of transactions.  NiceHash had that option but they didn't take it.  Even if they had switched to a doubled payout requirement while notifying about disabling transactions "soon" it would have left a better taste in my mouth.

[tikker]

3 minutes ago, Osmodin said:

I'm completely happy paying fees.  I've always been of the mindset that people should be compensated for the services they provide.  That's why I'm cool with the dev and pool fees for PhoenixMiner and 2Miners which I've switch back to currently.

 

The problem to me is that they changed the rules, without telling me they were going to change the rules.  I've been transferring to Coinbase without fees for a few months but now my coin is locked behind a fee because they flipped the switch.

 

Their minimum requirement for withdrawing is 0.0005 BTC.  Double that requirement and you halve the number of transactions.  NiceHash had that option but they didn't take it.  Even if they had switched to a doubled payout requirement while notifying about disabling transactions "soon" it would have left a better taste in my mouth.

They would've gotten equal backlash about charging insane withdrawal fees. I don't think much would have changed with a notice. That'd be like saying "hey guys, the ship is sinking but just so you know we'll plug the hole next week". This is one of those cases where it is better to act now and explain afterwards bar. If they don't and wait a week, tons more transactions will get stuck which will be a lot of work if they're confirming all of those manually.

[Osmodin]

Most of what I see people complaining about through Reddit etc is the bad optics and lack of transparency.  Heads up would have curbed that, or at least some of it.

 

I wasn't suggesting that raising or adding fees to the transaction would be a solution though.  What I was saying is raising the minimum withdraw limit.  You mentioned people taking out their $3 a day is part of the problem and that they should save up and transfer in bulk, that's what I was suggesting.  Right now the minimum is 0.0005 which is something like $25.  Raise it to $50 before you're allowed to withdraw, cut back on the number of withdraw requests.

 

People being so quick to withdraw from NH is also a problem of their own creation, people don't trust them.  Partially because of the history of their founder, partially because of the hack they had where people's coin was stolen and partially because of the drama with PhoenixMiner and T-Rex.

 

I still don't have anything in my email about the Coinbase thing, only way to come across the info is to look for it.  Either on their website or on their social media.  Zero reaching out was done to even tell people what already happened.  Meanwhile I have multiple emails about them adding Doge and constant updates to Quickminer.  To me that shows their priorities.

[Skyeshotz]

NiceHash is the worst way to mine coins. Everyone was warned they cannot be trusted. This is just another example. 

[tikker]

11 hours ago, Osmodin said:

I wasn't suggesting that raising or adding fees to the transaction would be a solution though.  What I was saying is raising the minimum withdraw limit.  You mentioned people taking out their $3 a day is part of the problem and that they should save up and transfer in bulk, that's what I was suggesting.  Right now the minimum is 0.0005 which is something like $25.  Raise it to $50 before you're allowed to withdraw, cut back on the number of withdraw requests.

Oh you're right, I misread that.

11 hours ago, Osmodin said:

People being so quick to withdraw from NH is also a problem of their own creation, people don't trust them.  Partially because of the history of their founder, partially because of the hack they had where people's coin was stolen and partially because of the drama with PhoenixMiner and T-Rex.

 

I still don't have anything in my email about the Coinbase thing, only way to come across the info is to look for it.  Either on their website or on their social media.  Zero reaching out was done to even tell people what already happened.  Meanwhile I have multiple emails about them adding Doge and constant updates to Quickminer.  To me that shows their priorities.

Yeah they could have at least sent an email about it. I do think people withdrawing quickly is also because people don't understand it and want their money now, because they are mostly doing it because of FOMO and are scared it'll be worth nothing tomorrow.

3 hours ago, Skyeshotz said:

NiceHash is the worst way to mine coins. Everyone was warned they cannot be trusted. This is just another example. 

Or any exchange for that matter. They'll all do everything they can to have you keep your coins on there.