BTCxChange, the first Bitcoin exchange in Romania launched in 2014, will close down starting May 1.
The platform owned by Max Nicula said in late January 2018 that Idea Bank had decided to close its accounts. This was the fourth bank account closed for the company in the past 12 months.
“Operations stopped back on 1st of February but you still could stock your bitcoins on our platform. Please withdraw all your balances before the 1st of May,” said the company in a statement.
The platform had a rocky path. Less than one year after its launch, it was suspended due to disagreements with Horea Vusca, the owner at that time, and the lead programmer. It was reopened in 2015 and one year later was taken over by Nicula.
“The banking system looks like a dinosaur cannibalizing itself, since the bank is no longer a service provider but a privilege that can be taken at any time. Who will become the winner in the end, time will show, but from our point of view, the banking system starts decomposing and there are only 2 questions that matter: 1) how long this process will take and 2) how much bad smell will be produced in the process,” said the CEO of the platform in January.
Nicula could not be reached for comment immediately. According to his public Facebook profile, he is currently living in London, having moved from Chisinau.
In one of his Facebook posts from April, he wrote that socialism “stops the economic growth”.