Chilean Bank Reopens Accounts of Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Following the court order for three major banks in Chile to reopen current accounts of crypto exchanges, Cryptomkt and Buda.com, one bank has complied. Bancoestado has reportedly made arrangements to open an account for Cryptomkt exchange, which expects to resume cryptocurrency transactions in the coming days.

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Bank Reopens Crypto Accounts

Bancoestado, the only public bank in Chile, on Thursday “finalized the first [re]opening of a current account for Cryptomkt, as confirmed by Martín Jofré, founding partner of the cryptocurrency platform,” La Tercera reported.

The move follows the order by Chile’s Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC) in April for three of the country’s largest banks to reopen the accounts of two crypto exchanges. Bancoestado, Scotiabank, and Itaú were all ordered to reopen bank accounts of Cryptomkt and Buda.com.

Itaú is a subsidiary of Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanc; Scotiabank Chile is the Chilean unit of Canada’s Scotiabank. Following the court’s order, they appealed the decision, but the court rejected the appeal and confirmed that they must reopen the bank accounts of the two crypto exchanges while the case is still pending.

According to Jofré, when the banks announced the closing of his exchange’s accounts, “in five days they returned 99.8% of the funds to the clients of Cryptomkt, so now they will start from scratch,” the publication described.

Nonetheless, Diario Financiero reported that the exchange “expects to resume the digital currency transaction market in Chile in the coming days.”

Banks Appealing to Court

While Bancoestado has reportedly been in contact with Cryptomkt to reopen the exchange’s bank account, Scotiabank and Itaú are expected to “appeal to the precautionary measure approved by the TDLC,” the news outlet detailed.

Buda.com has not confirmed that its bank account will be reopened. The legal manager of the exchange, Samuel Cañas, indicated after the court’s decision early this month that they will continue to “completely discredit the accusations presented by the banks in their brief, which demonstrate a serious ignorance of our business and the economic institutions that support our activity,” MSN reported.

On Friday, La Tercera quoted Bravo law firm explaining that the only recourse the banks have is to take the case to the supreme court. However, “even if that happens, they must make effective the reopening [of crypto exchanges’ bank accounts] ordered by the TDLC,” the news outlet emphasized.

Do you think banks will find a way to close accounts of crypto exchanges again? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Itau, Bancoestado, and Scotiabank.

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