Danish bitcoin exchange set to open

Banks remain sceptical, but boss promises security

The CCEDK Crypto Coins Exchange Denmark ApS, due to open this month, is promising global customers a safe and secure trading platform. Crypto head Ronny Boesing said that the exchange will initially provide customers with the ability to trade Bitcoin and Litecoin against each other, as well as exchange them for Danish and Norwegian kroner, British pounds, dollars and euros.

Boesing is touting “Danish security and transparency” as a major factor as to why customers should use his exchange. The computer-generated currency was hit by a money laundering scandal in January, when the vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, Charlie Shrem, was charged in the US with allegedly trying to sell the virtual currency to drug dealers. His trial is slated to start in September.

Bitcoin suffered another hit in February when the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in Japan after it couldn’t account for 850,000 units – about US$400 million.

“Our strongest selling point will be that clients will know where we are, that the jurisdiction is Danish and that there is complete transparency,” Boesing told Bloomberg newspaper.

Boesing said his exchange will operate as if it were being overseen by a financial watchdog.

Banks remain wary
In December of last year, the European Banking Authority warned against the use of bitcoin, pointing to the lack of any regulatory framework that would protect investors from losses should the online currency collapse.

Denmark’s national bank issued a statement warning investors away, comparing the virtual currency to “glass beads”. Nordea, Scandinavia’s biggest lender, has said that it will not offer any services related to trading bitcoin and that it is advising its customers of the risks associated with the currency.

In fact, a number of the region’s biggest banks have distanced themselves from bitcoin and have rejected requests from clients looking to set up accounts using the currency, fearing that they could be used for criminal activity.

Boesing said that his exchange will set aside 30 percent of generated revenue to protect clients from crime-related losses.

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