A court in Chile has indicated that it will hear a case brought by three cryptocurrency exchanges that recently had their bank accounts closed.
An appeals court in Chile has agreed[1] to hear a case brought by three cryptocurrency exchanges, BUDA, Orionx, and Crypto MKT, after the banks servicing the platforms moved to close[2] their accounts.
On its decision to terminate its relationship with Orionx, the country's central bank, BancoEstado, said that for the time being, it had decided "not to operate with companies that are dedicated to the issuance or creation, brokerage, intermediation [of cryptocurrencies] or serve as a platform for cryptocurrencies."
At the time of that statement, commercial banks Banco Itaú Chile and Scotiabank Chile had already shut down accounts belonging to BUDA and Crypto MKT, respectively, though it's unclear whether the banks' actions are the result of some kind of coordinated effort or government-mandated policy. BUDA and Crypto MKT both report being told by another (unnamed) bank that it had been instructed not to "open accounts for anyone who has a relationship with cryptocurrencies."
Though a court has agreed to take on the case, the exchanges' bank accounts remain closed for now. BUDA CEO Guillermo Torrealba said that the wave of account closures threatens to take cryptocurrency trading in Chile "back five years," to a time when trades had to be conducted over the counter.
In an open letter published[3] on March 25, BUDA and Crypto MKT accused "a few banks" of "acting as de facto regulators and opting to prohibit all" cryptocurrency.
On April 5, the country's Financial Stability Council, which includes personnel from BancoEstado, the Finance Ministry, and other government agencies, published a statement[4] warning of "the risks associated with the
