"My bank account's got robbed by European Commission. Over 700k is lost."

[dkf]

The most of circulating assets on our business Current Account are blocked.

Over 700k of expropriated money will be used to repay country's debt. Probably we will get back about 20% of this amount in 6-7 years.

I'm not Russian oligarch, but just European medium size IT business. Thousands of other companies around Cyprus have the same situation.

The business is definitely ruined, all Cypriot workers to be fired.

We are moving to small Caribbean country where authorities have more respect to people's assets. Also we are thinking about using Bitcoin to pay wages and for payments between our partners.

Special thanks to:

- Jeroen Dijsselbloem
- Angela Merkel
- Manuel Barroso
- the rest of officials of "European Comission"

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=160292

[librechik]

1. It's not austerity. It's thievery

Only the thieves are all well connected bankers.

[bluedigger]

2. Best of wishes in finding a more secure tax shelter for the future. n/t

[EC]

3. Maybe a regular bank

instead of a tax haven?

[dkf]

5. They were located in Cyprus.

Cyprus just decimated their moderately profitable small businesses. What's the purpose of staying there now?

So the Cyprus workers will be let go and the business owner is leaving.

[geek tragedy]

4. Why was the money in Cyprus in the first place?

Note that their response is not to move the deposits to a safe banking system like Germany, but rather to other tax shelter areas like the Cayman Islands (aka "small Caribbean country&quot

If people oppose bailouts, by definition they stand for bank's creditors getting shafted. And that means depositors.

[dkf]

8. They were working there.

Note the blurb about having to let go Cypriot workers.

The business must start over elsewhere. Since there are not much assets and further risk there isn't much of a reason for staying.

[geek tragedy]

9. An IT firm that decides to base itself in Cyprus and then

decides its next destination is the Caribbean?

Red flags all over that one.

Why not deposit their funds in Germany?

[dkf]

11. They are probably going to bank where they are located.

[geek tragedy]

12. So, why is the next alternative going to be the Caribbean?

Why not Turkey, or Italy, or Germany, or Spain?

Why another notorious tax shelter area?

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Wow. A tax evader whining about "theft."

Sorta like eating at a five star restaurant, then accusing them of robbing you when they bring you the check.

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. Ding ding ding

"We are not Russian oligarch. (We just evade taxes like Russian oligarch). Next stop, Grand Cayman! But we have to fire all our employees!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. That's what happens when a bank fails

Strange that a "European medium size IT business" can just move to a small Caribbean country. However, I don't believe that any IT business would ever contemplate payments in Bitcoin (that is like saying you'll put your employees' wages on a roulette wheel); they're either lying about that, or the whole thing is a hoax.

[dkf]

10. The Govt is starting to take it seriously.

Web Money Gets Laundering Rule


The U.S. is applying money-laundering rules to "virtual currencies," amid growing concern that new forms of cash bought on the Internet are being used to fund illicit activities.


The FBI report last year said Bitcoin attracts cybercriminals who want to move or steal funds. "Bitcoin might also logically attract money launderers and other criminals who avoid traditional financial systems by using the Internet to conduct global monetary transfers," the report said. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment when asked about the agency's concerns regarding virtual currencies.

For now, the size of the bitcoin market is so small that it could be difficult or costly to move and exchange large amounts of illicit funds. Another danger: extreme price fluctuations.

The value of a bitcoin rose to more than $60 a unit from less than $49 on one exchange following the release of FinCen's new guidance—a move that Mr. Garzik attributed partly to a new level of certainty and legitimacy that federal recognition attaches to bitcoin transactions.

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887324373204578374611351125202?mg=reno64-wsj


Jittery Spaniards Seek Safety in Bitcoins

Since Sunday, a trio of Bitcoin apps have soared up Spain’s download charts, coinciding with news that cash-strapped Cyprus was planning to raid domestic savings accounts to pay off a $13 billion bailout tab. Fearing contagion on the other end of the Mediterranean, some Spaniards are apparently looking for cover in an experimental digital currency.

“This is an entirely predictable and rational outcome for what’s happening in Cyprus,” says Nick Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group. “If you want to get a good sense of the stress European savers are feeling, just watch Bitcoin prices.”

The value of the virtual currency has soared nearly 15 percent in the last two days, according to the most-recent pricing data. “One hundred percent of that is due to Cyprus,” says Colas. “It means the Europeans are getting involved.”

That Spaniards would consider converting a portion of their dwindling savings into a peer-to-peer currency vulnerable to wild price fluctuations and the odd thieving Trojan speaks volumes about banking confidence in some parts of Europe. As German economist Peter Bofinger warned in aninterview with Spiegel Online: “European citizens must now fear for their money.” The same apps download data, however, showed that Italians aren’t ready to abandon commercial banking, remarkable as many Italians still recall that black day in 1992 when they woke up to a levy on their savings accounts to prop up the nation’s teetering finances.

http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-20/jittery-spaniards-seek-safe-haven-in-bitcoins

It's not something I would be interested in doing, but it shows the distrust in Europe.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Yes - it's not a serious exchange medium yet

Anyone who is complaining about the dangers of running their business using a normal bank account, and then says they're considering bitcoins instead, is a fool, liar or crook.

[mainer]

13. Don't know a thing about Bitcoin, but I do know about small businesses

and if your business account money suddenly disappears, you can't pay your employees or your expenses, and everyone loses.

I know it's fashionable here on DU to say, "oh, it's just rich people with accounts over 100,000 Euros." But many medium-sized businesses need at least that much in their accounts just to meet payroll. You can't transfer it to hard assets. It needs to stay liquid and easily available.

[BillyRibs]

14. Sorry

You seemed perfectly happy to reap all the profits while the bank you were working with robbed as many people as possible to secure it's Money, but when the whole thing goes bust you are disgusted to be treated the same as you have let others be treated. You want Sympathy? it's in the dictionary between shit and syphilis. Good luck in the Caymans.

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. WTF? Depositors are responsible for the bank's behavior?

[JPZenger]

15. A certain amount was supposed to be insured, not all

The original Cypress bailout plan would have harmed small investors, including persons who had accounts under the amount that was supposed to have been insured. The new plan hit larger investors, and respects that government guaranteed amount of deposits.

Everyone should understand the government-guarantee amount for any country where they keep their money. In the US, for example, you could have accounts in 100 banks and be protected, as long as each account did not exceed the government protected maximum.

[MannyGoldstein]

18. Can I assume that the world's bankers are made whole by this?

Hopefully I'll be surprised for once...