The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is going to investigate whether the closing of the bitcoin traders' accounts by the country's largest banks complies with law.

The appeal for a formal investigation was voiced by Senator Matthew Canavan and backed by Senator Sam Dastyari, the chair of the Senate Economics References Committee into digital currency. They both doubt that the banks' simultaneous attack on bitcoin companies is a coincidence, as “they are clearly competitors to their business model, albeit small ones at this stage”.

“There are clear laws that we've got against businesses refusing to supply other businesses if they do so for an anti-competitive purpose,” said Senator Canavan.

“You have up to $750 billion worth of their deposits being guaranteed — all of this provided by the Australian people as an implicit subsidy, that implicit subsidy doesn't exist so that they can behave in a way that stifles and stops growing industries in this country,” added Senator Dastyari.

After the call for an inquiry came, the head of the Australian Bankers' Association Tony Pearson spoke to the president of the Bitcoin Association of Australia Adam Poulton, saying that the banks were searching for new ways to work with bitcoin operators. The conversation came after the head of the Australian Digital Currency Commerce Association Ron Tucker's statement that neither the Association as a whole, nor the operators themselves were given a chance to even discuss banks' concerns.

Last week, the biggest banks of Australia closed more than a dozen bank accounts linked to various bitcoin initiatives, providing no formal justification for the decision. The case has been seen as a preventive attack of the financial industry leaders on their potential rivals who develop digital currencies.


Maria Rudina