José María Macedo, founder of Delphi Labs, was very against the bank.
At the moment, the move appears to be exclusive to BiG.
In the last few hours, it was announced that the Banco de Investimento Global (BiG), one of the largest banking entities in Portugal, has begun to block fiat money transfers to cryptocurrency platforms. The information was disseminated through the X social network by José María Macedo, co-founder of Delphi Labs.
He post de Macedo includes a screenshot of an email sent by the company to affected clients, in which they justify their action based on compliance with the guidelines of the European Central Bank (ECB), specifically anti-money laundering laws (AML). ) and terrorist financing (CTF). The message informs that transfers to accounts associated with Payward Ireland Ltd, operator of Kraken, will be blocked.
In this way, Macedo was against the decision, arguing that the measure will only push people towards decentralized platforms.
“Cryptocurrencies are inevitable, banks are dead, and these abuses of power will only cause more people to move their wealth into the sector,” the Delphi Labs founder wrote.
It is worth noting that, At the moment, these crashes appear to be exclusive to BiG. In the comments of the post, a user Indian that transfers in fiat currency to cryptocurrency platforms remain operational through Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Santander.
Portugal has traditionally been considered one of the countries most open to cryptocurrencies. In fact, in 2019, the Tax and Customs Authority exempted cryptocurrencies from VAT and capital gains tax. However, in 2023 a new tax scheme was implemented that establishes a tax of 28% on short-term profits. Despite these changes, Portugal remains an interesting destination for cryptoasset investors and entrepreneurs, but we will have to pay attention to how events develop.
BiG’s policy change reflects a growing trend towards greater oversight of the cryptocurrency market in Europe. This development occurs with the Cryptoasset Markets Law (MiCA) already in force, which seeks to establish a single regulatory scheme for digital assets in the EU. The regulation, which is now in effect, establishes strict requirements for issuers of electronic money tokens (EMT), such as stablecoins.
The bank’s stance could also be influenced by the increase in cryptoasset scams in Portugal. According to a report of Sapo published in 2023, in 2019 only 193 crimes of this type were recorded, but this figure grew to 1,160 in 2021 and shot up 74% in 2022, reaching a total of 2,124 incidents.
Even so, it is important to highlight that crimes related to cryptoassets represent a relatively low proportion compared to traditional scams. According to a report from the United States Department of the Treasury, most criminals choose to use fiat money or other conventional assets to carry out their operations.
