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BREAKING: Polish Banks Clamp Down On Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:44 PM
Lester Coleman
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:44 PM

polandBanks in Poland are making life difficult for cryptocurrency users by requiring online payment providers to stop doing business with cryptocurrency exchanges. The banks claim they are doing this to prevent fraudulent bitcoin transactions.

The Polish bitcoin forum bitcoinet.pl announced that as of Monday, express bitcoin payments are no longer available on cryptocurrency exchanges Cryptocoin.com, Bitbay.pl. and Bitmarket24.pl. “All this is due to the ultimatum that the four largest Polish banks bring to operators and BlueMedia CashBill payments,” the forum noted. BlueMedia and CashBill are online payment providers.

Bitbay.net, a bitcoin and litecoin exchange, has advised its customers that it can no longer make accelerated bank deposits because its online payment provider, Cashbill, has terminated its contract with Bitbay.net.

Immediate Termination Of Service

“CashBill contacted us and informed that he will need to end the cooperation with us due to the warning it got from banks,” Justyna Laskowska Witek, chief marketing officer at Bitbay.net, told CCN.com. “Banks demanded from CashBill an immediate termination of the contract with our exchange – BitBay.net. One day later, it turned out that it wasn’t only our case. Moreover, we did not receive any information (neither from the operator nor from banks) about the possibility of such a situation.”

Witek said Bitbay.net is suggesting its customers use an alternative online payment service, BlueCash, to make deposits. However, by using BlueCash, customers cannot deposit directly from Bitbay.net to a bank. However, the process is not as fast as CashBill.

Witek said Bitbay.net was seeking a solution to the problem. Bitbay.net has facilitated fast and secure bitcoin and litecoin transactions for USD, PLN and EUR since 2014.

Last week, Bitmarket.pl announced that its payment provider, BlueMedia, took the same action. “BlueMedia announced the exclusion of services for BitMarket immediately …. As a result, today we received a termination with the announcement of an immediate cease the provision of services … due to abuse our system entering their system,” Bitmarket.pl on Bitcoin Forum.

Also read: Bitmarket bitcoin exchange loses banking connection as Polish banks start to crackdown on bitcoin

Cryptocurrency supporters call for action

Cryptocurrency supporters in Poland have called for cryptocurrency exchanges to take action against unfair practices by the banks on the bitcoin forum Bitcoinet.pl.

“In Germany and Switzerland, the BTC is simply treated as another foreign currency,” an observer noted on the Polish cryptocurrency forum kryptpolonia.info. “In Poland, as usual, we have a circus. It is a pity that the bank does not inform earlier that plans to block the account to a company. This is a frivolous treatment of their customers.”