Court fines UniCredit $144M for closing Bitminer Factory accounts


One of the largest Italian banks, UniCredit, will have to pay $144 million according to a court decision, which considered the closure of the accounts of the mining company a violation of the rights of customers.

Two years ago, the Bitminer Factory division filed a lawsuit against the UniCredit division in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mining company accused the bank of causing damage due to the closure of its accounts. Cryptocurrency mining activities using renewable energy sources were threatened, the lawsuit said. Bitminer Factory also stated that the bank’s misconduct is delaying the launch of the ICO planned by the company.

The bank responded by saying that it is not engaged in crypto business and does not establish partnerships with cryptocurrency platforms, as well as digital asset service providers (VASPs). A few months ago, UniCredit reported that the bank’s policy was not to serve crypto-related companies at all.

UniCredit lost the lawsuit. The court considered that the bank did not have any document in writing that would provide for a ban on serving clients from the crypto industry. $ 144 million should compensate for the losses of Bitminer Factory. The bank does not agree with the decision of the court and intends to appeal against it.

Note that UniCredit treats blockchain much more favorably than cryptocurrencies. In 2018, the bank successfully completed the first transaction through the We.Trade blockchain platform.

The position of rejection of the crypto industry is taken by many large banks around the world. For example, in January, JPMorgan Chase closed the accounts of Hayden Adams, the founder of the decentralized exchange Uniswap, without notifying him of this and without explaining the reasons for his actions. And Irish banks began to block the accounts of cryptocurrency companies in 2020.

Source: Bits

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