German Bitcoin Marketplace bitcoin.de has announced to waive its trading fees for Greece citizens.
The decision has been taken in the wake of Greece’s debt crisis, an event that has propagated Bitcoin as the one true savior that offers people a way to dispose off their cash assets in return for a trustable near-term investment. Companies currently see a potential clientele in Greece and is therefore leaving no-stones-unturned to attract them towards digital currency investments.
“As a symbol of solidarity with our partners from southern Europe, we are making an offer to support Greek citizens who have turned to Bitcoin during the events of the past few weeks,” bitcoin.de says on its blogpost. “Bitcoin has never been more needed than today and, as Europe’s largest exchange, Bitcoin.de wants to help to spread the message about cryptocurrency.”
Bitcoin — A Natural Aid?
The reason why Bitcoin looks like a natural help in times of an economical collapse is its disintegration with the government and finance authorities. The digital currency is purely decentralized and can be utilized freely, without needing a bank or any other financial institution. And as the events are playing out, Greeks are scheduled to face some more challenges, with their banks remaining closed for an indefinite period, leaving them without cash.
But despite receiving such generous offers from bitcoin.de, Greeks are yet to face difficulties while making their online Bitcoin purchases. For starters, the local population needs cannot make online purchases without Single-Euro-Payment-Area (SEPA), a Euro currency-based initiative launched to simplify banking between the European Union nations. And as per our reliable sources, SEPA is currently inactive in Greece.
Which leaves the people there with only option, if they wish to hedge their funds in Bitcoin: they will have to stay in touch with Greeks having offshore Euro bank accounts. It would be an uneasy way to purchase the digital currency, but still viable. Other than bitcoin.de, Coinbase and BitCurex are also offering free trading features.