Santander Ordered to Pay Back Mercado Bitcoin
Local media have reported that the Court of Justice in Sao Paolo in Brazil has ordered that Banco Santander should pay back the cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin.
Frozen Funds
Banco Santander has previously closed Mercado Bitcoin’s account, stating that the cryptocurrency exchange’s activities were in violation of the bank’s policies. All the exchange’s funds were then frozen.
The Brazilian exchange filed a complaint against the bank in the court of law, protesting against the closing of its accounts and claiming that Santander had unfairly frozen its funds.
The exchange won the case and the bank had been ordered to return Mercado Bitcoin’s funds along with interest at the rate of 1% per month for every month that the funds were frozen. The company was also told to pay for the legal expenses incurred by the crypto exchange, and legal fees were fixed at 10% of the value of the conviction.
After the ruling, Santander appealed against Mercado Bitcoin, holding to its stance that it has stuck to its banking policies. However, the Court of Justice denied this appeal and ordered the bank to return the crypto exchange’s funds.
According to reports, the funds to be returned come to a total of about R$1,350,733 (~$350,000). The ruling that was passed on March 6 on the government’s official portal Impresa Oficial also specified that the appeal was denied by a unanimous vote.
Other Exchanges’ Accounts Shut Down
Mercado Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency exchange that has been struggling with account closures and frozen funds.
Last year in April, cryptocurrency exchanges in Chile, Orinox, BUDA and CryptoMarket had had their accounts closed by banks in the country. The three exchanges also filed complaints with Chile’s appeals courts against these banks.
BUDA and CryptoMarket’s accounts had been closed by Corpbanca and Scotiabank.
Later in 2018, in July, Orinox won its case against the local bank, Banco del Estado de Chile. The bank was ordered to reopen the crypto exchange’s accounts.
BUDA’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Guillermo Torrealba stated that these banks’ decisions were killing the crypto industry in the country.
A Milestone for the Crypto Industry
Interestingly enough, in Asia, the South Korean Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial watchdog, officially stated that banks could work with cryptocurrency exchanges. This was a milestone for the crypto industry as this was the first time that the government had officially backed the crypto exchanges.