Banks all over the world will continue to oppose cryptocurrency service providers in every way possible. Although Thailand has not banned cryptocurrency, one of the country’s major banks has decided to close the bank account of a crypto exchange. Bangkok Bank is not making itself popular with this decision, especially because it issued no prior warning.
Bangkok Bank Terminates TDAX Bank Account
Even though most people outside of Thailand will have never heard of the Thai Digital Asset Exchange, it is the country’s second-largest cryptocurrency trading platform. Over the years, TDAX has gained a lot of attention and seemingly had a solid relationship with Bangkok Bank. For some unknown reason, the financial institution suddenly decided to terminate the exchange’s bank account. An official statement mentions that TDAX was not operating in accordance with its business purpose registered with the Commerce Ministry.
Bangkok Bank is the first domestic Thai bank to halt cryptocurrency-related transactions. It is evident this creates a precedent no one was hoping to see in this country. TDAX is currently unable to perform any fiat currency-related transactions involving this bank until the problem is resolved. The company has US$175,000 worth of registered capital, although it is unclear how much money it is currently holding on behalf of its customers.
For the time being, there is very little TDAX can do to resolve the situation. Its CEO recently announced plans to increase the company’s capital in order to apply for an ICO license. It is possible that its involvement in initial coin offerings is what caused Bangkok Bank to terminate its account all of a sudden. In Thailand, there are specific licenses for this particular business model. Anyone operating without a license is subject to bank account termination and legal action as well.
It also seems Bangkok Bank is not too happy with the savings account opened by TDAX. Apparently, some documents are “missing”, which only raises more questions. Whether or not this account closure is due to the documents going missing or because TDAX is operating without a license is very difficult to determine. Either way, the end result is the same, as the account remains terminated until further notice.
Interestingly enough, it seems trading on the TDAX platform isn’t affected by this unfortunate turn of events. Indeed, the trading of Bitcoin and other supported currencies is still going on. Investors can conduct transactions using three other banks used by the exchange, indicating they had a backup plan in place all along. KBank, one of the exchange’s partners, has no plans to halt their support for this company anytime soon.
It is not the first time an exchange has had its bank account suddenly closed. Events like these have been prevalent for quite some time now, and it seems things will not be improving anytime soon. There is a lot of friction between banks and the cryptocurrency industry, mainly because the latter is a clear threat to the viability of the former. Rest assured there will be more such developments in the future.
