Bitstamp: No withdrawals for Bitcoin related companies

[winter]

A few weeks ago our company requested a wire withdrawal from our Bitstamp corporate account.

After a week the money came back into our bitstamp account (at a $45 cost to us) with bitstamp saying: "The reason for the failure was stated as a breach of a recipients bank's Terms of Service."

This is quite worrying so we contacted our bank, and no they had not seen or rejected any transfer; and said they'd need to see the SWIFT transfer form (MT103) to check it out further.

Bitstamp then had the nerve to ask us to pay $40 extra just to get the proper receipt of the transfer; which we paid.

The receipt, that we paid $40 for, shows only that they transfer money between Raiffeisen Banka d.d. to Raiffeisen Bank international....and the RBI had rejected to process the transfer saying that they do not execute transfers related to Bitcoin...

Talking to Bitstamp is like talking to a brick wall...in their opinion Raiffeisen Banka is their bank and Raiffeisen Bank international is an intermediary; therefore we have to pay all the costs of this botched transfer and can seemly no longer withdraw funds (because of this intermediary that is supposedly totally unrelated to Bitstamp or their bank)

End of story we paid $85 for a transfer that was never sent to our bank; and we have no way to receive any transfers because bitstamps bank/intermediary will not send to Bitcoin related companies...

HOW CAN A BITCOIN EXCHANGE NOT BE ABLE TO SEND TRANSFERS TO BITCOIN BUSINESSES?

Bitstamp support seems to see no real problem with this situation.

Notes:
- We have previously done many successful wire transfers with the last one being about a month ago with no problem.
- Our company name has "Bitcoin" in it.

Here is a Memo from Bitstamps intermediary (basically Bitcoin hate mail): http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/22i768/raiffeisen_bank_international_internal_memo/

its simple really banks have to work within the laws. right now changing BTC to FIAT is a no no. Most any smart person would have told you this would happend. If you are looking to buy BTC with a bank account or even sell BTC and get FIAT for it then playing with a BANK is going to get your burned.
It does not matter if you did not even put the word BITCOIN on the statement. why you might ask because the computer system has already FLAGGED the company that you are exchanging with. Once the computer picks up on that they will close your account and you will be stuck.
I'm sorry for the lost of the $85 but most everyone should have thought it was only a matter of time.
Banks are getting cracked down on for tons of stuff and BTC is just the new thing to add to the list.
BTC = (i.e. money laundering, drug trafficking or fraud) = Thats all folks

MY ADVISE STAY AWAY FROM BANKS

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[klee]

REMOVED

This is actually a 25th Nov 2013 update - someone posted in Trading View trollbox and I did not research enough to see if it is recent!

Be careful out there..

[klee]

[igorr]

A new MtGox coming.

[grappa_barricata]

When I walked into a bank to open up a business account for my latest venture, I ran into this issue. The representative who helped me filled in my personal info on her screen, verified that I had previously had business and personal accounts with this institution and then asked, "What is the name of your business?"

"Bitcoin General Store," I replied.

She immediately turned away from her keyboard and said, "I'm sorry, we don't allow accounts for any Bitcoin related businesses." It took about twenty minutes of assurances on my part that I would only be selling caps, t-shirts, etc and a phone call to her supervisor before I was allowed to open an account.

Needless to say, I only keep a minimum amount of USD in that account, just in case.

This is very sad, but at the same time it let you know that they have almost nothing left in the clip...
In the meantime, better drop 'bitcoin' from business names. If this is the best they can do they surely can't compile a list of actual bitcoin businesses.

[johnyj]

Bitstamp's account just changed to this Raiffeisen Banka d.d. recently, I guess their old account was closed by the original bank, so they are facing the same pressure as bitcoin businesses, it is already amazing such a large exchange still operates under the sight of every bank

Banks are reluctant to provide bitcoin business due to its dangerous nature, not because it is their competition. If legalized, they would also open bitcoin account for normal users who does not command a high level of IT knowledge. Only central bank might worry that bitcoin will affect their monetary policy if it grows too big, but they might just define it as a liquid asset and treat it like gold

The fiat money dominates because it is the money that drive many large projects and hire lots of people, so that people's income is in fiat money's format

[haploid23]

I saw this one coming. It was only a matter of time, since banks were closing accounts related to bitcoin long ago. Bitstamp's main bank has no control over what the intermediary bank does, so it's not really their fault if this initially happens. HOWEVER, if they knowing keep sending the wire to the same bank that blocks the transaction, then they should eat the fees. It should be a given that you don't disclose a business name that is related to bitcoin.

[arbitrage001]

When I walked into a bank to open up a business account for my latest venture, I ran into this issue. The representative who helped me filled in my personal info on her screen, verified that I had previously had business and personal accounts with this institution and then asked, "What is the name of your business?"

"Bitcoin General Store," I replied.

She immediately turned away from her keyboard and said, "I'm sorry, we don't allow accounts for any Bitcoin related businesses." It took about twenty minutes of assurances on my part that I would only be selling caps, t-shirts, etc and a phone call to her supervisor before I was allowed to open an account.

Needless to say, I only keep a minimum amount of USD in that account, just in case.

This is very sad, but at the same time it let you know that they have almost nothing left in the clip...
In the meantime, better drop 'bitcoin' from business names. If this is the best they can do they surely can't compile a list of actual bitcoin businesses.

You will get into bigger trouble by not informing the bank your business nature.

Better to be upfront and be known of the potential problems than having money either stucked or frozen.

[Sukrim]

Exactly, even though it will cost you a lot of time and nerves in the beginning, having a good banking partner instead of viewing your bank as something that just executes your transaction orders will likely pay off.

[btcdrak]

https://www.bitstamp.net/article/bitstamp-status-update/

Dear Bitstamp clients,

Bitcoin`s staggering growth continues!

Unfortunately, to our mutual displeasure, this growth and other issues have caused problems for some of our customers. These issues include recent problems with our banking software which caused a large backlog of transfers which in turn increased the manual checking that was required by support agents. Additional networking issues also magnified the work required. Altogether our need for additional support agents and hardware has increased dramatically.

Bitstamp works hard to provide the excellent service and in response to these problems, we have upgraded our hardware infrastructure and hired four new support agents. This brings our total employee count to seventeen.

Further, in anticipation of Bitcoin`s continued growth, Bitstamp is hiring more staff members and further improving our hardware infrastructure.

Thank you for your understanding and loyalty.

Best regards,
The Bitstamp team

Do you smell the bullshit? Bitfinex doesn't have any of these problem and they process as much volume as Bitstamp.

[Corelianer]

I never had any problems with Bitstamp so far.
I use it regularly. So my Bank must have no problems with Bitcoin so far.

My bank is Postfinance Switzerland.

[Corelianer]

https://www.bitstamp.net/article/bitstamp-status-update/

Dear Bitstamp clients,

Bitcoin`s staggering growth continues!

Unfortunately, to our mutual displeasure, this growth and other issues have caused problems for some of our customers. These issues include recent problems with our banking software which caused a large backlog of transfers which in turn increased the manual checking that was required by support agents. Additional networking issues also magnified the work required. Altogether our need for additional support agents and hardware has increased dramatically.

Bitstamp works hard to provide the excellent service and in response to these problems, we have upgraded our hardware infrastructure and hired four new support agents. This brings our total employee count to seventeen.

Further, in anticipation of Bitcoin`s continued growth, Bitstamp is hiring more staff members and further improving our hardware infrastructure.

Thank you for your understanding and loyalty.

Best regards,
The Bitstamp team

Do you smell the bullshit? Bitfinex doesn't have any of these problem and they process as much volume as Bitstamp.

This is old news and bs. Take your time and research it properly on https://www.bitstamp.net/news/

[btcdrak]

This is old news and bs. Take your time and research it properly on https://www.bitstamp.net/news/

Sadly, time will tell. We'll see if they can dig themselves out of the hole they are covering up. I pray they do but just like the MtGox fiasco, apologists are not managing their risk properly and given the signs you will deserve whatever comes to you for ignoring the warnings. I might point out even BTC-e has a better track record than Bitstamp. This isn't an isolated issue, nor is it the only category of issue.

[Corelianer]

In every exchange you need to put some trust in it. So I agree to be carefull and keep as liddle fiat and BTC on the exchanges as possible.
If a desaster happens only your coins and your fiat on the exchange is in danger.

You are free to use any other exchange, but Bitstamp is doing a great job im my opinion. I also tried Mt. Gox (as long as they existed) and BTC-e but their fiat handling was very slow compared to Bitstamp.

[bitdude]

Hmm, wish I read that before I sent quite a lot of money to Bitstamp just a few days ago.

The deposit went well and the money appeared on my account. So far so good.
Bought some BTC. But I am worried if BTC withdrawal will work in the near future ...

[justforbtc]

https://www.bitstamp.net/article/bitstamp-status-update/

Dear Bitstamp clients,

Bitcoin`s staggering growth continues!

Unfortunately, to our mutual displeasure, this growth and other issues have caused problems for some of our customers. These issues include recent problems with our banking software which caused a large backlog of transfers which in turn increased the manual checking that was required by support agents. Additional networking issues also magnified the work required. Altogether our need for additional support agents and hardware has increased dramatically.

Bitstamp works hard to provide the excellent service and in response to these problems, we have upgraded our hardware infrastructure and hired four new support agents. This brings our total employee count to seventeen.

Further, in anticipation of Bitcoin`s continued growth, Bitstamp is hiring more staff members and further improving our hardware infrastructure.

Thank you for your understanding and loyalty.

Best regards,
The Bitstamp team

Do you smell the bullshit? Bitfinex doesn't have any of these problem and they process as much volume as Bitstamp.

Bitfinex operates in Hong Kong, a well known free trade port. However, bitfinex still needs to change their bank frequently.

[justforbtc]

Hmm, wish I read that before I sent quite a lot of money to Bitstamp just a few days ago.

The deposit went well and the money appeared on my account. So far so good.
Bought some BTC. But I am worried if BTC withdrawal will work in the near future ...

You will be hit with KYC procedures when you make withdrawal. Enjoy

[600watt]

Hmm, wish I read that before I sent quite a lot of money to Bitstamp just a few days ago.

The deposit went well and the money appeared on my account. So far so good.
Bought some BTC. But I am worried if BTC withdrawal will work in the near future ...

You will be hit with KYC procedures when you make withdrawal. Enjoy

i withdrew more than 50 btc yesterday without any problem. i dont think bitstamp is in trouble.

[Corelianer]

Hmm, wish I read that before I sent quite a lot of money to Bitstamp just a few days ago.

The deposit went well and the money appeared on my account. So far so good.
Bought some BTC. But I am worried if BTC withdrawal will work in the near future ...

You will be hit with KYC procedures when you make withdrawal. Enjoy

KYC will come, no matter if you withdraw or just buy. It's just a couple of innocent questions. I don't know why this is so threatening to some people 

[bucktotal]

obv bad news, but the kind of bad news that makes the price of bitcoin go UP!