Nordea Bank is a bank in Denmark. It is part of Nordea – the most significant financial group in the Nordic countries. And while Bitcoin is legal in this country, a court in Denmark argues that Nordea Bank has the right to enact a ban on its employees from investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin will damage the reputation of Nordea Bank
According to a court statement based in Copenhagen, cryptocurrency is risky. And this ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Denmark’s Union for Financial Industry Employees. All employees stood up against the ban because, according to them, the verdict interfered in their personal lives.
Kent Petersen, the union’s chairman, said:
“We filed suit because of the principle that everyone has a private life and the right to act as a private individual. It was important for our members and us to establish what rights managers have. In this case, it was more far-reaching than what we find to be appropriate.”
According to Nordea Bank, investing in Bitcoin can harm their reputation because the Bitcoin market is unregulated and possibly related to criminal activity.
Blockchain: YES – Bitcoin: NEVER?
Although “say No” to Bitcoin, Nordea Bank itself has offered derivative financial instruments based on crypto assets. However, these products are intended for particular customer groups only. Of course, employees can invest in such products, but not the right to own real money. Also, Nordea bank has launched a blockchain-based payment platform, we.trade, allowing permissioned cross-border remittances for small businesses.
To further clarify, Nordea Bank has launched this ban since January 2018. That was when Bitcoin prices were still rising. But this time, the bank has a justification based on the court’s ruling. Since being banned, the Bitcoin price has been declining for a year and has only risen by 400% in the first six months of 2019. Bitcoin can harm employees’ finances, but it can also lead to significant profit.
Although the ban was issued, it is unclear how the bank will check employee ownership of cryptocurrency assets because we can hold Bitcoin through cold wallets or paper wallets.
Another paradox is that Nordea Bank has scams with money laundering scandals. The bank allegedly worked with its Baltic bank partners, resulting in the handling of the contaminated funds.
Despite the ban, the Bitcoin ledger is much more transparent than the bank ledger. Balances and transactions are visible to anyone, and in many cases, the source of money can be tracked.
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