At the beginning of August 2018, one of the leading electric bicycles retailers in the UK Scott Snaith saw his bank account frozen. The businessman was stunned when he woke up to discover both his personal and business accounts with Barclays were frozen.

According to our sources, Scott who runs the popular 50cycles, an electric bicycle which generates cryptocurrencies for its users when they ride was trading Bitcoin for Cash through a popular peer-to-peer trading platform, LocalBitcoins.

According to Scott, his transactions were “entirely transparent and above board” and he went further to explain that he purposely traded only with UK account holders in possession of a verified ID.

Scott then lodged a complaint to both the Barclays bank and financial ombudsman, who both launched investigations together with his local MP Nicky Morgan (also chair of HRMC Treasury department and responsible for future UK cryptocurrency regulations)

“I lodged a complaint with the bank’s senior fraud advisor and I’ve taken the issue to Financial Ombudsman”

However, after about 25 weeks, Scotts accounts are still frozen and his money still being seized. More to that, he is still waiting for answers as to why his money frozen.

“But we’re now six months down the line and I’m still in the dark… my treatment has been nothing short of a disgrace. I’ve been made to feel like a criminal simply because of my interest in future tech “

Eventhough this trade took place through Scott’s personal account, his linked business account is also being affected.

An official response from Barclays stated it “was complying with its legal and regulatory obligations and we never take the decision to issue a notice of closure, or end a client relationship, lightly”

This is, however, not the first time we have seen a crypto trader’s bank account frozen. Last year, numerous accounts were frozen by other banks around the UK and the EU following a crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

What are your thoughts on this news? Do you think banks are going to far with their crackdown on crypto traders?

Let’s know your thoughts in the comment section below.