In a crippling blow to Chilean cryptocurrency exchanges, Banco del Estado de Chile (Banco Estado) has refused to service the accounts of Buda, Orionx, and Cryptomkt, according to local publication El Mercurio.
"Banco Estado has decided not to interact with companies that issue or generate cryptocurrencies, that provide brokerage and intermediary services with cryptocurrencies, and do not serve as a platform for crypto exchange transactions," the bank said in a statement.
Banco Estado, the only public bank in Chile, manages all financial transactions made by the state. Traditionally, it has focused on servicing small businesses and customers not covered by banking services. Banco Estado is Chile’s largest issuer of debit cards and is considered the safest bank in Latin America.
An Orionx official said that the account closures were not the end of the world, stressing that the money of the customers is "fully supported, and there is no risk of insolvency."
Pablo Chavez from Buda said the closure might prompt the cryptocurrency exchange to build its own bank. Cryptomkt’s Martin Zofre made similar remarks.
Last month, Buda and Cryptomkt issued a public statement to the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABFI), calling for fair rules. The exchanges asked regulators to "show their position more transparently" after the bank accounts of both exchanges were frozen without warning.
Closure of bank accounts is a common practice in combating money laundering and tax evasion.
In March, Finnish wallet service provider Prasos Oyis said it was on the brink of suspending operations as most local banks had refused to conduct business with it. However, one of the largest crypto exchanges, Coinbase, has struck a surprising deal that will allow it to open an account with one of the oldest British banks, Barclays (LON:BARC).
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
