According to the euro-bitcoin payment processor, Transferwise, which acted as a mediator, unilaterally cut its clients from Cashila's services. Earlier, CEO of the company declared bitcoin dead.
Transferwise is a traditional, fast and low-cost international money transfer service. Clients often used it to deposit money to Cashila and to the ether-based ICONOMI system. That is why it took aback Cashila when a customer complained to be unable to deposit funds to the operator through Transferwise.
“Transferwise did not notify us beforehand of their decision. We immediately tried to reach out and urge them to reconsider their stance. Unfortunately, their response was short and negative: We don’t support crypto currency platforms due to the regulations we follow. Unfortunately there is not much more to say regarding the matter,” Cashila website says.
For the cases where a direct money transfer is impossible, the operator proposes such alternatives as currencyfair.com, azimo.com and covercy.com.
Nevertheless, this step on behalf Transferwise does not come as a complete surprise. In April, in an interview with Yahoo Finance dedicated to the service's launch in Mexico, its CEO Taavet Hinrikus made a bold statement:
“Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead. There is no traction, no one is using bitcoin. The bitcoin experiment, I think we can say, is over […] People bought bitcoin because they thought it would be worth more tomorrow. And a lot of people got lucky. But we’re not seeing real people use bitcoin. And we don’t know what problem it solves. Now, blockchain, I think, is a genius advancement in technology. But I’m not sure we’re seeing yet where to apply it. I’m pretty excited aboutR3 and Digital Asset Holdings. I think there are many areas where using blockchain is great, but it’s still early days.”
Trev Daniel, an iOS developer and bitcoin enthusiast, could not withhold a sarcastic tweet:
“Close your eyes and click you heel 3 times..then keep saying to yourself, ‘Bitcoin is dead, bitcoin is dead, bitcoin is dead’.”
Cashila is a money transfer platform and exchange operating in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). It allows people around the world to receive money from or transfer them to bank accounts within this zone while clients themselves do not need to have a bank account. According to the company, it is a good choice for freelancers, migrant workers and bitcoin enthusiasts. Cashila allows quick payments and money transfers with the low commission, as well as the ability to exchange euros for bitcoins and back.
Lyudmila Brus
