The Highest court of Israel has stated on 3rd June that bank Leumi cannot stop digital currency exchange Bits of Gold on the regulatory grounds to have an account as reported.
Previously in 2018, the court had declared a temporary injection forbidding the major bank of the country from supporting any activity from the cryptocurrency exchanges. But now the court has changed its decision and has forced the bank to open accounts for the cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Tel Aviv situated virtual currency exchange Bits of Gold has expressed gratitude to the court for its involvement into the matter. Both the sides had reached out to the court for the settlement into the case. Previously the Leumi bank had denied opening an account for the aforementioned exchange.
After the judgment, the exchange has said this an achievement for the exchange and the crypto community as well, as the bank, despite its tremendous objection is forced to follow the law and manage their account.
The presiding Judges of the court has said that the exchange can operate in obedience with virtual coins but has to obey future regulations as and when they come up. However, previously, the court had given its judgment in favor of Leumi in a separate case. At that time, the bank had stopped the exchange’s account on the ground of AML laws of the country, as bitcoin transaction does not comply with the law of the land.
However, the conflict of the exchange and the bank started in 2015, when the bank planned to close the account of Bit of Gold, the licensed currency changer only because they deal with cryptocurrency. But the exchange did not lose its belief on justice and kept working.
The latest judgment by the court will mean the bank can no longer discriminate between the business without any proper justification. But this does not imply Leumi will accept all types of activities from now. After the judgment, the bank has said they will examine all kinds of businesses in the account and will take steps needed to minimize the risk from the exchange.
