Topic: U.S. bank closing all of my deposit accounts because of bitcoins - page 2. (Read 20568 times)

I knew I had seen this somewhere.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/list-of-bitcoin-hostile-and-friendly-banks-264679

Do you mind saying which bank.  I may need to open an account with another bank and I want to stay away from bitcoin-hostile banks. 

Maybe we should start a thread identifying bitcoin-hostile and bitcoin-friendly banks.

It is very common for banks to closely monitor cash deposits/withdrawals, even amounts much lower then required for currency transaction reports (CTRs). Cash transactions (even just a few thousand) on personal accounts or businesses that do not normally deal with cash can easily be considered suspicious in the eyes of the bank. Depending on the bank's policies and procedures, they may inquire more about the transactions or just send you a closure letter. If they do talk to you about the transactions and are not satisfied with the results they may send you a closure letter anyway.

Banks have received significant regulatory pressure in recent years and their risk tolerance for depository accounts has changed greatly. For example, finding a bank that will entertain the idea of opening an account for a money service business (MSB) is very difficult. Even if you are able to, the bank may have a large collateral requirement in addition to the normal MSB requirements.

Barclays has been hostile to Bitcoin: it froze the accounts of blockchain.info and Mt Gox (but doesn't that feel like so long ago now, 'twas barely a year!).

sorry to hear that dude

Yep! Boise, Idaho US Bank branch. 10 year old accounts they're closing. Checking & savings.

Ok, sure ... in a free market the banks should be able to say which customers they wish to serve.   And in that free market I can then start a bank next door to compete.

But it isn't a free market.  The banking industry is a regulated monopoly.

As long as I am prohibited by law from providing this competing service, then banks have a responsibility to provide service without discrimination.    Get rid of that law and open the banking industry up to competition .... and I'm fine with the banks restricting access to whichever customers they choose to.

Or better yet, let's start using a payments network and store of value that routes around this regulatory friction.  

It feels like a dick move because it is. But it's also their business. You try running a business and being told you can't choose who your customers are, and tell me if that's fair.

are you in the USA?

I had some large cash deposits which got me a call from the branch manager. Basically told her I was buying and selling bitcoins. Was told not to buy any more bitcoin from coinbase or they would close my account. Got this letter a couple weeks later.

wow that's some scarey stuff guys , im in the UK and haven't heard of any banks here causing anyone any trouble, could be wrong let me know if i am, i hear alot of news about the FED cracking down on you guys in the usa, i read that Germany is the first country to accept bitcoin!   

I got the same letter. Like, identical except with my account numbers and more recent dates.

That would be acceptable if that was made clear before he opened the account.

I.e. ToS: We can cut you off if your activity is suspicious, i.e. if you transfer too much (greater than 10000 in one month)

The "We'll cut you off for any reason at any time just cuz" doesn't feel fair.

He was doing business, and these may have been personal accounts. Banks structure their workload and expectations differently between personal and business accounts. This whole sad problem may be as trivial as the distinction I just pointed out. Add to this the possibility of AML flagging, an occasional idiot in the corporate office, and general ignorance of what Bitcoin is, and you get high likelihood of what is described in here.

I, too, wanted to run multi-currency arbitrage. Developed algos, tested them on historical data, but after weeks of preparations had to give up precisely due to admimistrative overhead. It's not easy doing it right.

the long and short of it is your behavior caused them to believe that you were more of a liability to them than an asset. so they cut you off because its their bank, they can chose to do that.

The quantity may have been the red flag but the transaction fee they charge covers the cost of filing.

Perhaps you use non FinCEN like mtgox ( currently now registered with FinCEN but not available for 48 States for the time being) authorized service to block you. I think this is the reason.

The account didn't get closed because of bitcoins. It got closed because of your usage. Having to file 3-4 SAR a day tends to make banks grumpy. Even 1-2 a month is a red flag. Unless you have a HUGE business account and keep enough money in there for it to be worth it to them to keep a staffer on hand to file them all.

You can thank your government and the ridiculous laws it passed. Now, not only can you not use a bank account in the US, but no foreign bank will touch you either, for the same reason.

/ another indentured citizen of the United States.
//wants out before the country implodes.

BS. "All drugs are legal" NOWHERE. In most of european countries (including Spain, Italy and obviously PORTUGAL) possession of any drug for personal use is decriminalized, meaning that if you get caught smoking a joint, or doing cocaine/heroine whatever, you can NEVER go to jail unless they can prove that your are a drug dealer - if you are not and only have "personal use" quantities, you just get a fine, an administrative sanction that is just like a speeding ticket.

Even more, even if you have very big quantities (a couple of kilos of Marihuana, dozens of grams of cocaine), if you can a) prove that you are an addict and that those quantities are for you and only for you (for example for a whole year) and b) the prosecutors cannot prove that you are a dealer (for example because you can justify all the money you have from a legit job, plus you do not have any trafficking related gadgets like scales, etc.), then you will be free as a bird regardless of the quantity they catch you with.

But this is very different from "all drugs are legal". You still cannot legally sell any drugs nowhere, apart from a very few and notable exceptions regarding cannabis (and sometimes minor drugs like shrooms) in The Netherlands (but its just because they do not enforce the law, not because its explicitly legal(), North Korea, Pakistan and some States of the US.

You see, "legalizing all the drugs" (legalizing meaning that you are able to freely buy and sell them) is not happening anytime soon, there is too much powerful people living directly (trafficking) and indirectly (Government agencies like DEA, drug police, etc.) from drugs being a "black market" thing, and thus something that is sold with a huge premium and without paying any tax. The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is still being enforced, and nations that try to do otherwise are always reminded by the US that there is a 1961 treaty that needs to be respected or there will be very serious consecuences. This is why The Netherlands never "legalized" Marijuana, even tough they don't enforce its illegality in coffee shops.

Sorry for the off-topic, but the "all drugs are legal in Portugal" its so wrong I couldn't help myself...

EDIT: maybe a mod should move these three posts (mine and the two I'm replying to) to a different thread as this is 100% off-topic.

Here is the letter that OP posted a link to earlier in this thread: