Credit-card based purchases have been blocked in numerous countries for some time now, and that's hardly surprising. While my personal belief is that someone has the right to decide their own risks - I can also see the bankers point that using credit cards (technically loans) to buy cryptocurrency falls under a 'high risk' transaction category, so they can at least make an argument for blocking such transactions.
But these Canadian banks took things a step further - actually blocking people from using their own money - not just credit, but even debit card transactions. Which frankly - is pretty disturbing.
Not surprising - the Canadian cryptocurrency community isn't putting up with it - trade is alive and well in Canada despite these bankers best efforts to interfere.
They're using a number of alternative methods exercize their freedoms.
First, leaving these corperate banks alltogether. Local credit unions and co-operative financial services providers are easy to find and join in pretty much every city across Canada.
Then of course, there's Bitcoin ATM's. Simply withdraw cash from your bank, deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM and have the cryptocurrency issued to your digital wallet. Once you have paper cash in hand, the bank loses control over how you use it.
Lastly, sites that connect traders directly with each other like localbitcoins.com and there's even one specific to Canada, cancoin.co. These sites are reporting usage up 400% in response to these recent moves by Canadian bankers.
Thanks to the strength and wits of the Canadian cryptocurrency community, they're giving the banks a hard pill to swallow - they can't, and won't be stopped.
Author: Ross Davis
San Francisco News Desk
