Bad news for the Bitcoin community directly from Japan. A local financial institution, the Shinsei Bank Ltd., is currently blocking every international money transfer request that could be connected to Bitcoin.
The bank has apparently been trying to distance itself from transactions made by customers that buy and sell Bitcoins. According to a spokeswoman from the bank, “the decision, which has been effective since February, is based on our comprehensive judgment as a bank”.
“We have not determined yet whether we will lift the ban in the future“, she told The Wall Street Journal. Still, the institution is not revealing the reasons behind the decision.
The Shinsei Bank is the only known financial organization in the country to adopt such an anti-cryptocurrency stance so far. There is no record of a similar decision being announced by other Japanese banks or even Internet-based platforms.
Although the price of Bitcoin has recently stabilized between $450 and $500, the public image of the world’s most famous digital coin took a hard hit in Japan, mainly because of the downfall of the once mighty exchange Mt. Gox.
Featured image from Wikimedia