Why are banks allowed to prevent the takeup of Bitcoin in the UK?

[cthulthu]

I just think it's absolutely crazy as to how difficult it is to buy Bitcoins in the UK compared with other countries. I've bought via Localbitcoins and the transaction went well but as I used UK Bank Transfer both I and the seller were likely breaking the terms and conditions of our respective banks.

Compare the volumes traded in China, USA and the Eurozone with Great Britain and it's clear we're getting left behind, e.g. last 24 hours USD trading on Mt Gox=$39,019,136 in UK Mt Gox=£552,290. Normalising with current exchange rate and populations these figures equate to approximately $0.12 and $0.01 per head of population in the USA and UK respectively. Even assuming that the US trades include a fair number of non-US citizens the difference is significant.

Thanks to the informal cartel of the UK banks, who like the Mafia always want to dip their beaks in any transaction but at least the Mafia are known criminals unlike the banks (who take taxpayer money when they screw up after having fleeced us with PPI, LIBOR fixing and excessive charges or as RBS are now doing in closing down and asset stripping small businesses), individuals are prevented from participating in financial markets until the banks can get their pound of flesh. Then you get the apologists for the bankers claiming that RBS are "only" asset stripping "zombie" businesses. At least they're undead - RBS was dead, buried and bankrupt before it fleeced UK taxpayers for £163 billion.

I'll stop now before I get even more annoyed...

 

[emilia79]

understandable. Your City is in position of monopole !

[Lloydie]

The UK appears to be running a current account deficit, so theoretically they won't want people further exiting the GBP.

[Gator-hex]

They're not, it's totally illegal, under EU Competition Law.

A cartel is a group of similar, independent companies which join together to fix prices, to limit production or to share markets or customers between them.

You need to file a complaint with the EU Competition Commission if you think the banks are stopping you from creating a Bitcoin business in the UK.

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/index_en.html

Coinfloor was to be our best hope of a UK exchange, not sure what the hold up is, last I heard it was trying to sort something out through a Polish bank!

https://coinfloor.co.uk/

God only knows when we'll ever be able to exchange £ directly for BTC!

For now all we can do is convert them into goods and services www.takeaway.com  Yum!
or use www.localbitcoins.com

[cthulthu]

The key adjective I placed before cartel re UK banks was "informal". Despite their crass stupidity when it comes to dealing with other people's money the CEOs etc. at UK banks won't want to spend any time in jail or cough up any of their own ill gotten gains so the way to ensure that they do this is by always matching each other, give or take a few days, when it comes to setting interest rates, offers etc. so that there is no real competition between banks but there is also no smoking gun in the form of phone calls, meetings or e-mails that would give away that they are running a cartel. The same applies to UK energy companies (the big 6) who amazingly all increase (but never decrease, no matter the wholesale price) their electricity or gas prices to consumers and petrol retailers. The cartels learnt their lesson long ago (e.g. when Virgin blew the whistle on British Airways, Virgin Atlantic)and others forming a UK airline cartel).

The banks also have the supposed regulators (previously FSA, now Bank of England) actually doing their work for them instead of protecting consumers which is doubly ironic. The regulators pretend to do something about the banks (levying pitifully small fines compared with turnover) whilst making absolutely sure that the bar is set so high that there can be no new entrants to the supposed "market" - witness the appalling obstacles placed in the way of "The Bank of Dave" aka Burnley Savings and Loans Ltd - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjLEiR05o0I).

It's not just the banks to be fair, I used to work in the Energy Industry and having visited OFGEM's fabulously expensive HQ in London and witnessed how they fawned over the representatives of nPower etc. it's clear who's the puppet is and whose hand it is shoved up their backside.

I'd be happier if the banks, energy suppliers, petrol companies etc. were to just come clean and say "Look, you're all little people who we can't stand but we do want your money to fund our excessive pay packets so just hand over the dosh" - it would at least be honest.

[ypoc4t]

cthulthu, what you said is the single best reason to invest in cryptocurrencies, no matter how profitable they will be.

look up "finnancial tyrrany" article from divinecosmos dot com, you will love it.

[jjdeann1]

their time will come! uk banks have been awful at so many things, except making obscene profits for themselves.

[emilia79]

But English manufactures are still producing a lot of cars, even if they are branded as Vauxhall, Ford ... !

It's just that Leyland / Rover / all others disappear. The industry stayed and evolved !

Wrong example

[Gator-hex]

But English manufactures are still producing a lot of cars, even if they are branded as Vauxhall, Ford ... !

It's just that Leyland / Rover / all others disappear. The industry stayed and evolved !

Wrong example

LOL wrong example indeed, what British manufacturers?

Ford and Vauxhaul are American!

Jaguar and Landrover sold to the Indians,
Rover & MG sold to the Chinese,
Mini, Rolls Royce sold to the Germans,
TVR sold to Russians,

[Buffer Overflow]

https://ibwt.co.uk/

Never used them though. But think they use postal orders as withdraws.

[cthulthu]

Bufferoverflow re ibwt.co.uk - the idea is sound but the technology is ancient and insecure: sending cash!?! by post!?! waiting days for it to credit the account assuming somebody at the Post Office hasn't stolen it!?

As other replies have said, the arrogance of UK banks is astonishing and does to a fair extent mirror the same attitude from the 50s and 60s in British manufacturing (particularly cars and motorbikes): despising the customer, producing shoddy goods/services, resting on their laurels until it's too late and the industry/service has moved abroad.

[indiemax]

Wouldn't put it past the UK gov to confiscate the Bitcoins to pay off the deficit
were all drug dealers,child snachers  and terrorists after all   

[Hattifattener]

They're not, it's totally illegal, under EU Competition Law.

A cartel is a group of similar, independent companies which join together to fix prices, to limit production or to share markets or customers between them.

You need to file a complaint with the EU Competition Commission if you think the banks are stopping you from creating a Bitcoin business in the UK.

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/index_en.html

Coinfloor was to be our best hope of a UK exchange, not sure what the hold up is, last I heard it was trying to sort something out through a Polish bank!

https://coinfloor.co.uk/

God only knows when we'll ever be able to exchange £ directly for BTC!

For now all we can do is convert them into goods and services www.takeaway.com  Yum!
or use www.localbitcoins.com

+1

[KieranJones1]

This was in early September, so I guess it's not that recent, but it's relevant.

My bank (HSBC) called my on my mobile phone to ask about a payment I'd made about a week previously. The payment, a direct bank transfer, was made to a Localbitcoins.com vendor. I don't usually spend more than £30 in one transaction (I'm a poor student), so while this one wasn't massive, I'm used to the bank giving me a call when I make a "large" spend.

The lady at the bank noticed that the referral note contained the word "bitcoin", and she asked if I'd made the payment. When I said yes, she asked "just out of interest, can you tell me what bitcoin is?"

At this point I proceeded to freak the fuck out, thinking my bank was about to confiscate my money because I'd somehow broken their terms. I wasn't expecting the question, so I said "er, er... it's an online currency".

Her reply was just "OK, thanks for your time" and she hung up. Most likely, she was being completely honest and just wanted to know what this "bitcoin" thing she'd been hearing about was, but for a little while I was very, very scared!

[medUSA]

I believe the lady was instructed to follow up on flagged transactions
The word "Bitcoin" seems to pop up too frequently and she just don't know what the fuss is all about

[Buffer Overflow]

Bufferoverflow re ibwt.co.uk - the idea is sound but the technology is ancient and insecure: sending cash!?! by post!?! waiting days for it to credit the account assuming somebody at the Post Office hasn't stolen it!?

As other replies have said, the arrogance of UK banks is astonishing and does to a fair extent mirror the same attitude from the 50s and 60s in British manufacturing (particularly cars and motorbikes): despising the customer, producing shoddy goods/services, resting on their laurels until it's too late and the industry/service has moved abroad.

Couldn't agree more.

If Richard Branson is bullish on Bitcoin, what we need is his banks to become Bitcoin friendly for businesses.

[LiamSym]

As a newcomer to the world of Bitcoin, I've been pretty frustrated by the banking process. So far I can say:

• Barclays is good for Pingit/mobile banking as it shows your name on transfers, improving GBP transaction speed if using a P2P exchange. However it blocks payments to known exchanges such as BitStamp, and also to intermediaries such as OKPay.
• NatWest doesn't show your name on transfers, so is no good for P2P money transfers. But they seem to have approved my transfer to BitStamp, and at a lower SEPA fee than Barclays would (if they ever allow it).

If anyone has info on any other UK banks, it would be appreciated.

[elvizzzzzzz]

I signed up to intersango, when they still had a Sterling service, and had no problems transferring money from RBS/Ulsterbank.

That all stopped when Intersango's UK bank (Metro?) closed their account IIRC.

I still move money to and from Ulsterbank, but I have to use Euros, and that is somewhat inconvenient.

I'm of the view that the UK TBTF banks should have their lending rates forcibly reduced until they downsize.
Maybe then they will learn what customer care is.