It has been a rather troublesome week for Bitcoin in Bulgaria. A lot of exchanges suddenly had to shut down due to government intervention. Moreover, various banks prevented exchanges from operating properly. It seems most issues are well behind us right now. Crypto.bg announced their plans to reopen as early as tomorrow morning. A big step forward, although it still remains a troublesome situation.
Bitcoin and Bulgaria has always been a very odd combination. Not because of a lack of interest, but mainly because Bulgaria isn’t a prominent cryptocurrency-related country. There is hardly any news from this part of the world. Even when there is news, it’s hardly ever positive. That was the case once again earlier this week. Most exchange platforms were forced to shut down due to banking issues. It is still unclear why that decision was made in the first place.
Crypto.bg Will Resume its Services
Thankfully, things are heading in the right direction again. Crypto.bg, the largest Bitcoin exchange in the country, confirms the situation has been resolved. Their bank account has been reopened and services will resume starting tomorrow. There is still some manual checking of balances and accounts to be done, though. It is good to see things be resolved in such a professional manner, though. Banks often bock Bitcoin activity for no apparent reason. It remains unclear if the Bulgarian government had anything to do with this.
Most Bulgarian cryptocurrency users rely on Fibank. This is also the bank used by Crypto,.bg and possibly other exchanges. For some reason, the institution halted cryptocurrency transactions. They claim their partner banks forced this decision, although there is little merit to that statement. JP Morgan Chase and Commerzbank have not halted Bitcoin-related activity in the slightest. A very disturbing decision that could have crippled the country’s largest Bitcoin exchange.
Such a collision between banks and Bitcoin companies is not uncommon. We can only hope they become less prominent in the years to come. The important news is how Crypto.bg will resume its services without too many problems. This doesn’t mean such an incident could not happen again in the future, though. There will be some unhappy customers, but the company will refund their money in whatever way they want.
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