By Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald, Esq.
This article is part of our series exploring what exactly the Palau digital residency ID can be used for.
I made my thirteenth attempt to use the Palau digital residency ID (“the ID”) on the week of January 8th, 2024.
I tried to use the Palau ID to open a cryptocurrency exchange account on Robinhood.
Result: unsuccessful.
Explanation: I signed up with Robinhood crypto exchange. After registering an account, I attempted to verify my identity by using the Palau digital residency ID.
I was met with a screen asking me to upload an ID. For the country of Palau, the only ID option that presented as available was a passport. For the United States, a passport, driver license, or state ID were all listed as acceptable IDs.
I tried uploading the Palau digital residency ID and unfortunately the request was rejected.
I contacted Robinhood customer service via chat. They asked me some questions about the Palau ID.
After being left hanging for over four hours before I logged off, I then emailed Robinhood about the issue.
Unfortunately, I was met with the following message stating that a Palau residence ID was not acceptable for ID verification with Robinhood.
“We can only accept the following government issued identification:
passport, U.S. driver’s license, state ID, Puerto Rico ID, or tribal ID from a federally recognized tribe (no temporary paper IDs, military IDs, school IDs, digital IDs, etc.)
We don't currently accept national IDs or licenses from other countries.
Feel free to respond if you have any additional questions.”
The result for this attempted use case was unsuccessful. I’ll continue trying to use the ID, and report the results here on Malakouti Law.