ShapeShift has introduced a new rewards program

Cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has introduced a new rewards program, which is able to eventually become a compulsory membership model for the exchange’s users, according to an announcement published September 4.

Erik Voorhees, founder and chief executive officer of ShapeShift, expressed that today the exchange released a loyalty program entitled ShapeShift Membership. Whereas ShapeShift is understood as “the exchange without accounts,” the freshly developed account-based membership model will be integrated in order to “reduce friction and shield customers.”

Per the statement, the program is presently optional, though it'll become mandatory in the near future and requires the provision of “basic” personal information. Within the rewards program, users will reportedly experience higher pricing and receive benefits in numerous forms across all ShapeShift products and services. The company notes that the benefits will change over time.

Until now, users weren't needed to sign in or register to execute trades. In the recent statement, ShapeShift asserted that “while the account-based format is new, we stay committed to consumer protection via our non-custodial model – we don't and will not hold customer deposits.”

Another non-custodial crypto exchange, LocalBitcoins, was raspingly criticized by users earlier this year, who protested the apparent introduction user identification requirements on the platform. Some traders took to social media once one redditor announce a screenshot of a message from the peer-to-peer marketplace which read, “Error! Your trade volume has been important in the past 12 months. Please, verify your ID to continue trading.”

While the platform was well-regarded within the crypto community since 2012, some traders thought that introducing ID needs at certain trade thresholds violated the crypto industry’s ethos of anonymity. One user wrote, “RIP localbitcoins. [sic] Hi, another centralized exchange.”