Is Slovakia in danger of a black scenario? In the Czech Republic, the bank has blocked the trade in cryptocurrencies

A few days ago, a controversial situation appeared in the Czech Republic, in which clients of the well-known Air Bank found themselves. Their investments in cryptocurrencies were suddenly stopped by the bank, the magazine reported Pinge.cz. The transaction was blocked by Raiffeisen Bank International itself, which handles foreign payments for Air Bank.

Updated at 4:10 PM: The article was supplemented by a statement from the 365th Bank

Czech bank clients cannot invest in cryptocurrencies

As a result, many clients have remained angry that they cannot invest their money (albeit at their own risk) in the world of cryptocurrencies. Although such transactions and investments in cryptocurrencies are considered high risk by many banks and financial institutions, Air Bank is so far the only bank in the Czech Republic that has banned such transfers to clients.

In a statement to the magazine Pinge.cz Raiffeisen claims that it complied with strictly valid Czech legislation and that it blocked the transaction for fear of “money laundering”. In a similar manner as mentioned above resources UniCredit Bank in the Czech Republic blocked the investment in cryptocurrencies for clients and clients in May.

How do Slovak banks react to transactions?

We were therefore interested in how banks in Slovakia view transactions leading to cryptomen exchange. Many of them refer again to the risk of money laundering, but is there a chance that Slovaks will face a similar scenario as in the Czech Air Bank and will not be able to invest freely in cryptocurrencies?

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In general, we have learned in banks’ reactions that all of them continue to consider these transactions to be high risk, not only in terms of the potential risk on the part of the client, who may lose the entire investment, but the transfer of money itself, which may also come from from crime.

“Cryptomenal transactions are considered risky from the point of view of money laundering prevention. This is pointed out by domestic regulators, but also by EU regulators.

Cryptomenic transactions make it possible to cover the origin of funds by transferring assets from one wallet to another without the participation of any other party, without any restrictions. In this way, it is possible to transfer small values, and it is these possibilities of cryptocurrencies that also attract people engaged in illegal activities. ” informed Tatra Bank spokeswoman Zuzana Žiaranová informed FonTech.sk.

However, in all transactions, banks must comply with the applicable legislation, and with the transfer of their clients, they are often settled individually. In practice, this could mean that the bank will clear the path of transactions to the cryptomen exchange, as long as it is certain that the money invested does not come from illegal activity. At the same time, the client’s cooperation is often required.

“As for investing in cryptocurrencies as such, we are seeing a stronger demand for this asset within a certain client segment, but globally it is still a topic. At the same time, however, it should be added that cryptocurrencies are a highly volatile asset that may not be suitable for everyone.

Therefore, it is appropriate to perceive them more as an alternative investment, which should represent only a minority of the portfolio. Clients must also reckon with possible losses, ” informed FonTech.sk 365.bank.

Freepik (editorial edit)

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“We are currently dealing with this situation by combining an individual approach with the need for client cooperation and a system approach (ie to carry out such transactions we often need client cooperation and other documents on which we can minimize the risk of illegal source or purpose of funds),” Tatra Bank spokeswoman continues to speak for FonTech.sk.

A similar scenario for transactions on cryptomen exchanges was confirmed by Slovenská sporiteľňa. “In our bank, when trading clients with cryptocurrencies, we follow the valid legislation, we assess clients and their transactions individually., “SLSP spokeswoman Marta Cesnaková told FonTech.sk.

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Although Slovak banks are extremely careful in such transactions, according to our findings, they do not plan such a radical intervention as Air Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International in the Czech Republic. This also applies to Tatra banka, whose subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank operates in Slovakia. They do not plan to restrict transactions in cryptomen exchanges in any way.

“At this moment, Tatra banka is not aware of the need for a blanket ban on cryptomenal transactions,” added for FonTech.sk Zuzana Žiaranová.

The same information for the FonTech.sk editorial office was confirmed in a telephone interview by mBank and in a statement also by ČSOB banka, which informed our editorial office that “the bank generally does not restrict transactions related to investing in cryptocurrencies“. Transactions do not restrict and will not block the 365th bank either. It seems that Slovaks investing in cryptocurrencies can “breathe out”, at least for now.