On a suo moto basis, HSBC has closed an account supposedly used to back Hong Kong activists, highlighting the need for a censorship resistance currency such as Bitcoin (BTC).
In particular, London-headquartered, multinational bank closed a corporate checking account that was supposedly utilized to move crowd sourced money to back pursuits of dissidents.
The bank has taken the formal decision, five months after the Hong Kong protests started, after looking at the fierce path the campaign has leapt into.
The bank has justified its decision by pointing out that the account has been erratically used in contradiction to the purpose for which it was opened as described in the paperwork.
Congruent with a one month notice rule, the account holder was served notice in October saying that it will be closed this week. Identification details of the account were not revealed. While speaking with Bloomberg correspondent Vinh Tran, the bank spokesperson stated as follows:
“As part of our responsibility to know our customers and safeguard the financial industry, we regularly review our customers’ accounts. If we spot activity differing from the stated purpose of the account, or missing information, we will proactively review all activity, which can also result in account closure.”
HSBC, according to Bloomberg, is one of the few companies which have their fortunes tied to Hong Kong. The bank’s head office continues to keep the Hong Kong branch under pressure by asking the latter to “maintain its standing with residents there.”
The company generated more than 35% of its revenue from Hong Kong in the first three quarters of 2019. The bank further stated October that it continues to see strong business in the city, despite the political uncertainty.
It can be remembered that Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano highlighted the “non-seizability” of Bitcoin last month. Notably, the intensity of protests has doubled when the country is celebrating its 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
Anticipating severe restrictions on civil liberties through emergency orders, the residents of Hong Kong queued up in the city’s ATMs.
BitPay, a cryptocurrency payment processor, recently blocked donations to Hong Kong free press, raising concerns about their vulnerability to political pressure.
Yesterday, ex-CFO of PayPal disclosed that Bank of America (BoA) had decided to shut down his account without giving any specific reason.
