A local cryptocurrency exchange in Chile has reportedly filed a lawsuit against six major banks in the country for abusing their power and quashing its crypto payment business. This lawsuit follows another one filed in Chile against ten banks by a different crypto exchange.
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Six Banks Sued
Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx filed a lawsuit with the country’s Court for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC) against six major banks in the country last week, according to Diario Financiero. The six banks are Bancoestado, Banco de Chile, Banco Bice, Itaú Corpbanca, Santander, and Scotiabank.
The lawyer representing Orionx, Pablo Tromben of Tromben Abogados legal services, was quoted by the publication:
The demand before the TDLC is based on the fact that the defendant banks, abusing a dominant position and with sufficient market power, excluded Orionx from the market of digital payments that was achieved through the refusal of sale and exclusive practices.
He noted that the six banks control 77.1% of Transbank, the main operator of digital payment systems in the South American country.
The lawsuit includes the financial entities that declined to sign a contract with the exchange or hindered the management of its new bank accounts. The company interprets these actions as an attempt to impede free competition.
Banks Closed Crypto Exchange Accounts
In March, a number of banks in Chile closed the accounts of Orionx as well as two other crypto exchanges: Buda.com and Cryptomkt.
In closing Orionx’s bank account, Bancoestado said it did “not wanting to get involved with transaction operators of cryptocurrencies, because there is no legal framework that regulates them,” Criptonoticias detailed. The company then filed a request with the TDLC, “alleging that Bancoestado
