Norwegian Bitcoin Exchange Justcoin Exits Gracefully after Being Dropped By their Bank
Justcoin’s founders have reported to CCN.com that over 96% of users have withdrawn their fiat and cryptocurrency. These include Ripple and Stellar amounts previously taken in a hack earlier this year. Since the announcement of their closure, Justcoin’s support staff has been working double time to manually process all withdrawals. The confirmations of successful withdrawals have been reported from within the community on both the Bitcoin subreddit and on Bitcointalk . Justcoin plans to keep reaching out to its users to help them withdraw before the November 11th deadline. Justcoin’s co-founder told CCN.com that they would prefer if their customers withdrew their cryptocurrencies to wallets where the private keys are held by the user.
Justcoin May Return
When asked about the future of Justcoin, co-founder Andreas Brekken had this to say:
In the last several days we’ve had so many people call us. We’re talking other exchanges, bitcoin celebrities, and we’re looking at all of these options. We as a team have a lot to offer and we are very dedicated to the community. We would prefer a solution where we join up with somebody else and say ‘hey, we’ve got the technology, we have a great brand, and we really believe that we can move this community forward together.’
Do Norwegian Banks Allow Bitcoin Companies?
A Norwegian Redditor called all of the major Norwegian banks to ask them specifically about their stance on digital currency companies bearing accounts at their banks. The responses were mixed, which is not a surprise. Many banks declined to reply, while some banks stated that they did not mind if individual users use their bank accounts with Bitcoin services.
Justcoin’s bank, DNB, Norway’s largest financial institution, went to media to say that they have not banned Bitcoin companies from seeking accounts at their bank; however, they admitted that they were considering it. DNB gave Justcoin ample warning that their account was going to be closed at a future date, and Justcoin chose to act immediately to warn the public. It seems that DNB is closing Justcoin’s account in anticipation of future policy changes which may also be enacted by Norway’s other banks in a Monkey-see, Monkey-do style of ignorant regulation. Hopefully, the situation in Norway does not degenerate to Chinese banks’ current standoff on Bitcoin.
What experiences do you have with Norway’s banks? Comment below!
Images from Shutterstock.
