Fifteen “financial institutions” have become the subject of a formal complaint to a Polish government authority by cryptocurrency group the Polish Bitcoin Association (PBS), it confirmed June 27. The PBS, which has not published the full text of its complaint, wrote to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP) June 26, claiming that local banks were deliberately denying service to cryptocurrency entities and selectively closing accounts. “[T]he effects of the banks’ actions described clearly aim at removing virtual currency entities from the market, despite the fact that such activities are legal and conducted with dignity,” Finance Magnates quotes a …

The financial watchdog of Poland has recently affirmed that cryptocurrency trading is completely legal in the country, according to an official announcement published on its website June 6. In its recent move, the Polish Financial Oversight Commission (KNF) sought to clarify the status of cryptocurrencies and crypto trading, “recognizing the emerging legal doubts related to the functioning of exchanges and exchange offices.” The Commission’s notice comes following the country’s ongoing orchestrated campaign against cryptocurrency use in the country. In their most recent statement, the KNF said that entrepreneurs are not banned from crypto trading since there are “no regulations prohibiting …

Recently expatriated Polish cryptocurrency exchange BitBay tweeted yesterday, May 30, that the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) has asked them to join a Blockchain Working Group. BitBay suspended operations in Poland this week after banks refused to cooperate with the exchange, in the wake of the Polish government’s increasingly negative stance toward cryptocurrencies. Although BitBay did not directly address whether they would accept the KNF’s invitation, they wrote in yesterday’s tweet that they “are not abandoning crypto activity for the Polish community.” Nasza giełda otrzymała zaproszenie z KNF do udziału w pracach Grupy roboczej ds. Blockchain. 💪 Jak zapewnialiśmy ostatnio, …

BitBay, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Poland, has decided to suspend its activities in the country as banks will no longer cooperate with the company, the exchange announced May 29. The exchange will instead be conducted by a new supplier in the jurisdiction of the Republic of Malta, where local laws are more crypto-friendly. BitBay states that their business in Poland is contingent upon cooperation with national banks, but the last Polish bank ready to provide services to the exchange decided to cease its business with the exchange at the end May. BitBay will terminate the user contract to provide …

On May 10, Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) held a tender order of 615,000 zloty (around $170,000) to plan and conduct a social media campaign that will focus on the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, pyramid schemes, and forex trading. That sum is hardly impressive, but represents another gesture against crypto by the conservative Polish government, which has already admitted to its investments in FUD media activities in February. Nevertheless, the local crypto community has stood up for itself in an educational response. Winter disclosures Poland officially recognizes trading and mining of cryptocurrencies, however the state’s overall views toward crypto seemed …

Poland’s Ministry of Finance will temporarily suspend tax collection for cryptocurrencies, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported May 18. The Ministry says it will conduct an “in-depth analysis” of the crypto space to inform better regulation and taxation policies going forward. At the beginning of April – income tax statements in Poland are due on April 30 – the Ministry of Finance had released a statement clarifying that taxation for cryptocurrency transactions falls into two income tax brackets of 18 and 32 percent. An additional one percent levy tax due to civil law agreements is also applied, as the Ministry …

Banking group Santander will be partnering with Ripple to release an international money transfer app using Ripple’s Blockchain xCurrent and RippleNet platforms, Business Insider reports today, March 24. When speaking about the upcoming app release at the International Fintech conference in London yesterday, March 23, Nathan Bostock, the UK CEO of Santander said: “This spring, if not [sic] one beats us to it, we will be the first large retail bank to carry out cross-border payments at scale with Blockchain technology.” At the end of January of this year, Ana Botin, the CEO of Santander, had mentioned the app launch …

Poland welcomes its first two-way Bitcoin ATM in Warsaw, Magic's new Bitcoin concierge service, Tails implements Electrum Bitcoin client, industry insiders hire major ad agency to rebuild Bitcoin image, altcoin community challenges Coinbase CEO to public debate, and more news that happened on February 25. Poland Gets First Two-Way Bitcoin ATM Bitcoinomat.pl announces the first two-way Bitcoin ATM in Poland, a BitXATM device located at Five Restaurant, Grzybowska 5 street, in the city center of Warsaw. The machine allows users to buy and sell bitcoins anonymously in less than a minute, and was installed with the help of Polish Bitcoin …

Bitcoinomat.pl, a project aiming to create the largest Bitcoin ATM network in Poland and abroad, announces it had successfully set up the first two-way Bitcoin ATM in Poland located in the city center of Warsaw. Only three months after the opening of the first Bitcoin ATM in Poland at Bobby Burger, Bitcoinomat.pl, a collective of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, strikes back and announces its latest project, a two-way BitXATM device that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoins anonymously in less than one minute. The two-way Bitcoin ATM is located at Five Restaurant, Grzybowska 5 street, Warsaw: first two-way #bitcoinatm #BTM in …

March 14, a sad day for users of the Bitcurex, when hackers made an attempt to break the service and steal digital coins. Action and Reaction The attack was made early in the Friday’s morning (hackers have nothing sacred), as can be judged by the first message that arrived on the service’s Facebook page"> at 09:37, local time. The post did not inform users about the hack, blaming the error, most likely to prevent users from panicking and writing annoying posts that usually only distract people from actually fixing the problem. This first step in the damage control allowed to …

A professional soccer club from the south of Poland has become the first to accept Bitcoin. This means fans can now pay for merchandise and tickets to matches with the digital currency. BitcoinWarrior quotes GKS Katowice coach Wojciech Cygan as saying, “We want to be innovative and to show our fans that we have great ambitions to be one of the best football clubs around.” Cygan also noted that Bitcoin allows fans to deal direct with the club, buying tickets in a straight wallet-to-wallet transaction. Team press officer Marcin Cwikta backed up that statement. “This is another example of GieKSa …