Scott Snaith, CEO of 50cycles, has made headlines after two banks froze his accounts due to crypto-related activities. By essentially putting his Leicestershire-based business in jeopardy, these banks show why exactly decentralization matters.
Eric EisslerFinancial discrimination
Snaith says that his bank accounts (including the business one) were almost immediately blocked without any warning following a hefty transaction on a P2P crypto exchange. He claims he was involved in trading only with identified British citizens.
The account suspension had horrible consequences– he simply couldn’t pay his employees, and one of the team members was forced to leave. The tech-savvy entrepreneur, who himself offers an innovative mining product, calls it pure ‘financial discrimination.’
A double-edged sword
HSBC and Barclays, the banks who let this disaster happen, swiftly received complaints from Snaith. While HSBC agreed to unfreeze his bank account, Barclays remained defiant. Snaith is certain that banks do not keep up with up with their customers’ demands. On top of that, they keep abusing their power by showing clear anti-crypto bias.
On the flip side of that, legal advisors say that banks cannot be fully blamed for not facilitating crypto transactions since the majority of crypto companies are still not transparent enough. However, things are slowly changing– Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange to open a Barclays account.
Taking advantage of new technologies
Scott Snaith is behind the electric bike that is able to mine cryptocurrency whenever you turn its wheels. This is the first case of such tokenization– it has been estimated that riders can earn £20 with every 1,000 miles, which gives them a financial incentive to stay in shape.
The state of the art bicycle is expected to appear on the market this September, marking the company’s 15th anniversary.
Alex Dovbnya
Tomiwabold Olajide
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov