Bitcoin exchange SurBitcoin has reportedly halted its fiat operations citing issues with Bansenco Bank, its bank service provider.
The Venezuelan startup, according to a thread on Reddit, has confirmed that its banking partner has frozen its business account following the complaint of an anonymous customer. Apparently, the said customer had recently requested Bansenco Bank to reverse a wire transfer that was earlier made to SurBitcoin. While the intention behind the person’s actions is still unclear, the fraud department at Bansenco Bank didn’t wait to find out, and froze the exchange’s active business accounts.
SurBitcoin, however, managed to uncover the reason being their frozen bank accounts only after speaking to the fraud department as everyone else. The Bitcoin exchange, meanwhile, is trying to negotiate terms with Bansenco, while ensuring that its services do not get interrupted. It reportedly has allowed Bitcoin trading on its platform to some extent, where traders can still execute their Bitcoin sell orders.
“We don’t hold much customer funds. Money is very hot in Venezuela. Approx 20k usd is frozen, and we are not allowing people to deposit bolivars either. We placed 20k usd worth of bitcoins for sale, so, people have an alternative,” – SurBitcoin confirmed on Reddit thread.
Community reaction, meanwhile, stands divided on the ongoing issue. While many believe that SurBitcoin is being straightforward, there are also some individuals that have cited issues that fall in line with the current ones.
The entire incident has taken place amidst rumors of Bitcoin building up its muscles in a poor economic scenario of Venezuela. The government’s response to the disruptive payment technology has been meagre, for it has openly bullied its presence in past (read here).
SurBitcoin is part of BlinkTrade, a blockchain company that also operates FoxBit exchange in Brazil, UrduBit in Pakistan, ChileBit in Chile and Vbtc in Vietnam.
Ref: Reddit | Image: SurBitcoin on Twitter
