Finnish Cryptocurrency Exchange Threatened Suspended
The exchange of cryptocurrency and the service provider of the Finnish-based cryptocurrency purse (Cryptocurrency Finland), Prasos Oy one more step will be frozen.
This is because most banks in Finland are no longer willing to do business with them, Bloomberg reported on March 9.
Established in 2012, Prasos has demonstrated a tenfold sales volume surge of $ 185 million by 2017, the bank's main concern.
Finnish banks have no hold on Finland's Cryptocurrency Rules
Finnish banks themselves have no hold on the regulation of cryptocurrency and the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions that would potentially conflict with current Finnish anti-money laundering laws (AMLs). As a result, four banks; S-Bank, OP Group, Saastopankki, and Nordea Bank AB issue measures to close Prasos Oy's account in 2017. For now, Prasos has to manage all its customers' transactions through one bank.
Tomi Narhinen, CEO of Saastopankki, commented that the anonymous character of cryptocurrency surgery violates AML laws of the European Union (EU).
"In most cases, such a thing is almost impossible or at least very difficult to do business with dealers and exchange cryptocurrency, because it is impossible to determine the origin of funds," said Narhinen.
Prasos Oy CEO Henry Brade notes that the company is facing a critical situation. "The risk is we'll see our last bank account closed before we can open the next door," Brade said. "This will freeze our business."
The legal status of cryptocurrency in the EU is further questioned in December 2017, when the EU decided to regulate more strictly the exchange of cryptocurrency to protect banks from money laundering and tax evasion.
Brade noted that the company has fully adjusted the size of AML, and expects the authorities to formulate the necessary regulations.
"We have created identification practices, which we started using in March, and they fully comply with anti-money laundering laws and regulations, even though the authorities do not even require this from us because our business is not in regulatory obligations."
Cointelegraph reported in February that the Finnish authorities were baffled by the Treasury guidance surrounding the storage of 2,000 bitcoins confiscated.