But seriously, good for you.
Thank you <3
So, not a bank, but a payment services provider?
We partnered with Aqoba who has been a PSP for a couple of years.
PSPs are allowed to hold fiat currency on behalf of third-parties and offer payment services, it's exactly what a bank does, minus the issuing of credit.
Will BTC accounts be insured as well? Are there plans to try and incorporate BTC-insured accounts (meaning that BTC accounts will be insured for their equivalent fiat value)?
No, Bitcoin balances are not insured, we, as a company are responsible for the BTC deposited, but there is no insurance company backing it.
But we do use cold-storage massively and extreme security paranoia.
MOTHER (bleep bleep)! This is big. Federally insured bitcoins! This will allow more risk averse users wade into bitcoin.
I think i already know, but can a US citizen set up an account at this bank? What if I did it while I was in Europe? I have set up foreign accounts before so that I have local currency. Why not BTC ?
It is a fiat that is insured. If someone tells you the BTCs balances are insured that should probably raise your suspicion.
US citizens can open an account with us, no problem, but as of today this announcement only covers EUR balances (which are 99.9% of our business anyway).
And i think calling this a bank is just a method to get this hyped here, im sure there are alot of restrictions a PSP has compared to a bank.
The IBAN thing looks great tho, but IBAN with just and ID scan??
What will the transfer limits be?
We said "licensed to operate as a bank" which we mean as "open accounts to third-parties and hold fiat currency on their behalf in compliance with the regulatory framework".
We don't have transfer limits. The only limits are for security purposes only and can be adjusted at will by contacting our support.
Any way you guys can get a valid security certificate? The untrusted connection error is going to hurt your business.
Our certificate is perfectly valid.
This is really cool well done guys but..... I don't like that taxpayers bail out losses. why cant a private insurance company take on this risk?
Taxpayers don't cover losses, they cover your fiat balance should the Credit Mutuel go under.
Will BTC accounts be insured as well? Are there plans to try and incorporate BTC-insured accounts (meaning that BTC accounts will be insured for their equivalent fiat value)?
BTC could and should be protected in a BTC-style such as multi-sig account
We investigate these kinds of solutions, but haven't found the perfect one yet. But I do agree that it would be easier for everyone and help reduce our security costs.
He asked because the U.S. certainly does place requirements (on banks) for its citizens getting foreign accounts. Mostly it involves getting copies of copious identity documentation and reporting end-of-year summaries to the IRS (U.S.'s tax collection agency). Are you in compliance with these laws specific to U.S. citizens?
We are not subjected to US regulations, and French/European regulations do not make provisions regarding US citizens. So on our end we're fine.
US citizens need to check whether they need to declare something to the IRS or some similar authority.
To be completely honest there is going to be a learning curve on our end too, we are new in this field and Aqoba is new to Bitcoin, so some cases we did not plan for will have to get straightened out as they occur.
- You said you are accepting corporate accounts? If so that means that we can open company accounts, get a debit/credit card for such and at the same time exchange BTC on the fly from that account?
Yes, as soon as our cards program is ready we will have no problem with that.
- You said everyone gets their own IBAN, which means a bank account. Do we also have internet banking facilities?
Yes, when this functionality is rolled out (in a couple of months) everyone will get their very own IBAN (no more pasting account references in random bank wire fields, yay!)
Internet banking will be on Bitcoin-Central.net
Also, I would like to discuss something in private with you, banking wise, can we get in touch over email?
Sure! david(at)bitcoin-central.net
We're really blown away by the positive reactions (me, and everyone at Paymium). Nothing else comes to mind than : "Thank you guys!"
