BitOasis views Emirates NBD’s action as unfortunate as it observes a big increase in demand for services across GCC.

BitOasis said this Tuesday that it is “unfortunate” that Emirates NBD has stopped transfers for users that deal with cryptocurrency trading platforms.

BitOasis has made a statement in which it said that they are “working tirelessly” at resolving “bottlenecks” that resulted from the exponential increase in demand for its services across the GCC.

“It is our understanding that Emirates NBD’s recent policy to halt transfers for customers with blockchain-based trading platforms applies not only to BitOasis but to similar companies in the blockchain space both locally and internationally,” the statement read.

“It is unfortunate to see one of the UAE’s major financial institutions taking such a position on products built using this innovative and much in demand technology,” the statement added. “We continue to actively build strong relationships with other leading financial institutions as well as regulators in the UAE, with the aim of fostering an environment more conducive to blockchain technology adoption.”

The statement comes less than a week after a media outlet reported that BitOasis customers which were using the services of some local banks were experiencing issues with withdrawing and depositing funds into their BitOasis accounts.

They say that there are currently no issues with accepting or sending customer transfers to Noor Bank or any other UAE or GCC based banks. “We are also currently engaging with other banks mentioned in the article to streamline and remove any friction to our customers banking there,” the statement noted.

In response to this, Emirates NBD said it “does not prohibit customers from undertaking transactions involving blockchain-based platforms including transactions with BitOasis, other similar companies or any Bitcoin transactions.”

“Emirates NBD does however have policies, systems and controls to detect and prevent financial crime including money laundering, terrorist financing and breaches of international sanctions in line with its regulatory obligations and the expectations of our correspondent banks,” the bank added. “It is therefore possible that some transactions associated with Bitcoin may be rejected by Emirates NBD or as a result of rejections by other domestic or international correspondent banks.”

BitOasis said that, similar to other cryptocurrency trading platform, the recent unprecedented growth, especially in the last eight weeks, has led to unexpended delays in user verification and withdrawals.

BitOasis is managing this demand by doubling the capacity and investing more in their infrastructure to allow a greater number of new customers from the UAE and wider GCC to join.