Crypto users push back against dYdX promotion requiring face scan

cointelegraph.com:

Many users on social media have been lambasting decentralized exchange dYdX over the identification verification process to receive a sign up and deposit bonus of $25.

In a Wednesday blog post, dYdX announced that new users who deposited 500 USD Coin (USDC) for their first transactions could receive a bonus promotion of 25 USDC, provided they were willing to do a “liveness check.” According to the exchange, the verification process accessed a user’s webcam and “compares if your image has been used with another account on dYdX.”

Though the giveaway was completely voluntary, many on Twitter implied the checks were tantamount to invasions of privacy. DeFi Watch founder Chris Blec accused the exchange of “​​bribing users to allow their faces to be scanned & disguising it as a ‘promotion,'” hypothesizing dYdX and other platforms could offer greater incentives in return for clients giving up more information.

“What dYdX is doing now is just wrong,” said Blec. “They're misleading users on the intent. They know that every face scan they're collecting is from an innocent. A criminal won't face-scan but can still use dYdX. They're bribing new users to give up privacy just to satisfy regulators.”

In the past I have lauded @dYdX for being honest about its centralized parts.But unfortunately, that changes today.They are bribing users to allow their faces to be scanned & disguising it as a "promotion".I've long predicted this would happen in DeFi, and now it's begun. https://t.co/G0rJThHYhS

According to dYdX — which reported “reviewing many solutions” — the face scans were a solution that offered “the best UX for our users to indicate that they are, indeed, one person without revealing their full identity.” In a statement to Cointelegraph,