Japanese Shinsei Bank refuses Bitcoin-related money transfers

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

Related posts

The BlueCoin Phenomenon

BlueCoin is very serious about their chosen theme. Taking cue from the cultural antics of the Dogecoin community, the founders of BlueCoin have been trying to give it something of a personality. They announced an official BlueCoin afterparty to ...read more

Ripple Labs CTO Designs Smart Contracts

Stefan Thomas is one of the more talented and respected developers in the space. An old hat at this young technology, he has been making waves as the CTO of Ripple labs. In a recent effort he has set ...read more

American court stops Mt. Gox from auctioning Bitcoin domain

A United States court issued a temporary order to forbid the sale of the domain Bitcoins.com, which is still owned by the CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox. Mark Karpeles announced the auctioning of the domain two weeks ago. The injuction ...read more

New York-based Coinsetter evolves to “full US Bitcoin exchange”

Following the recent presentation of the first BitLicense draft, the Bitcoin-related set of rules that will regulate the crypto-economy in New York, the local exchange Coinsetter announced its evolution from beta stage to “full US Bitcoin exchange”. “Today, we’re pleased ...read more

Building a Bitcoin Economy: How to Close the Loop

This guide is a continuation of a previous article at http://bitcoinmagazine.com/13104/building-bitcoin-economy-stimulate-adoption/ If you or someone in the area has been preaching crypto for a while, you probably have a few nearby businesses accepting Bitcoin by now. This is an important first ...read more

#OffTheCouch: Award-winning Film Could Bring Bitcoin to 1,000 High Schools

The Corporation Film’s Crypto Challenge from Hello Cool World on Vimeo. For its 10th year anniversary, “The Corporation” is raising money for a re-release shown to 1,000 schools across North America. Their original fiat campaign closed at $30,000, and they’re ...read more