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Investors who want to secure part of their profits in cryptocurrencies find it difficult to transfer these capital gains to their bank accounts, writes De Tijd in its Saturday edition.
Cryptocurrency advisers and lawyers say, according to the newspaper, that almost every day individuals show up at their doorsteps to report that the bank has blocked their account or ask for more information regarding the origin of the assets.
Banks are taking a strict approach due to increasingly stringent anti-money laundering and anti-crime financing regulations. They want at all costs to avoid huge fines if they accept money whose origin is not clear. Since bitcoins and other virtual currencies are poorly monitored, banks consider them very risky.
The major Belgian banks point out that customers who transfer money to an account from a cryptocurrency platform are checked, and that they reserve the right not to accept the transfer if they suspect irregularities.
