This article is part of our series exploring what exactly the Palau digital residency ID can be used for.
I made my eleventh attempt to use the Palau digital residency ID (“the ID”) on the week of January 1st, 2024.
I tried to use the Palau ID to open a cryptocurrency exchange account on Kraken.
Result: unsuccessful.
Explanation: I signed up with Kraken crypto exchange. After registering an account, I attempted to verify my identity by using the Palau digital residency ID. I was given the option to upload one of three document types:
Passport; or
Driver license; or
ID card
I chose “ID card” and uploaded both sides of the Palau ID and hit submit.
Kraken’s website displayed a moving icon that looks like a paper airplane, indicating the submit request was pending. This lasted for over an hour and I never progressed to the next screen.
The next day, I attempted the same process and once again never progressed to the next screen.
I tried a third time a day later and was shown the error screen below which stopped me from attempting to upload ID again.
I then called Kraken customer support at 1-888-837-8818 and requested a call back. I then received a call back from a Kraken employee who verified some personal information verbally with me. He stated Kraken had indeed received the Palau residency ID card and that he was forwarding my verification request to another team and that the process “wouldn’t take long.”
I finally received the email below from Kraken stating:
“To help us verify your account, we require a different type of government-issued photo ID because the one previously submitted is not in our acceptable ID list.”
I emailed back one more time to confirm that Kraken would not accept the Palau residency ID:
“Thanks for following up, Daisy.
The ID submitted is a national identity card from the country of Palau. Is that not acceptable?”
I didn’t receive a response back to my email, so we’re marking this attempted use case as UNSUCCESSFUL. If Kraken support ever responds to my last email to approve use of the Palau ID for ID verification, I will update this report.
I’ll continue trying to use the ID, and report the results here on Malakouti Law.