Banks are currently closed in Greece and ATM withdrawal limits have been imposed, leaving many with seemingly no option to secure loans. One possible alternative is through bitcoin exchanges, which can enable Greeks to send and receive money online.
With capital controls currently put in place, some bitcoin exchanges have reported seeing a sudden surge in signups from the country. Even bitcoin prices have enjoyed a bit of a boost from the increase in demand and trading volumes as the debt crisis unfolded in the past few days.
Loans from Bitcoin Exchanges
BTCjam is a global lending network that still allows loans to be secured by Greeks. The process is simple since it entails the borrower to enroll, send and application, and receive the funds. The network offers personal loans for as low as 6.7% APR and even allows bitcoin investment that can generate as much as 19.3% APR.
The company offers bank-level security with SSL and AES-256 encryption. It also requires a two-factor authentication.
This alternative financing and investment scheme could prove to be more appealing for the Greek population, as banks are closed and trading on the stock exchange has been halted. Eurogroup leaders are set to have meetings within the week to discuss potential action steps for the country and what it can do to avoid the crisis from spilling over to other nations.
Nonetheless, residents in other euro zone member nations have also reportedly started to move their funds away from the shared currency onto other assets. Greece has already defaulted on its loan to the IMF, which means that it cannot have access to additional financing from the fund. Greece faces another debt deadline from ECB later on this month and a default could effectively force the country out of the euro zone.
