It was in late June that UK-based crypto-currency exchange Coinfloor announced the integration of UK Faster Payments. The option did exactly what it sounds like it did. It moved money to and from the exchange faster than traditional means of moving funds.
Alas, the integration was short-lived.
The company took to social sharing website Reddit on Wednesday to announce that they will be dropping support for Faster Payments completely as of the 10th of October.
(Specifically, customers will be able to deposit via Faster Payments until September 24th, and withdrawals will conclude on October 10th.)
The reason relates to a bit of news that crossed the wires just yesterday, relating to Capital Treasury Services withdrawing support for businesses operating in the cryptocurrency sector, a direct result of pressure from banking partners.
“It appears that, once again, the British banking system has attempted to stifle Bitcoin innovation and adoption in the UK,” writes Coinfloor in their statement. “This only serves to hold London back from becoming the financial services capital of the Bitcoin ecosystem and thus mirror its leading position in the global financial industry.”
The continue:
“We are encouraged by our more recent discussions with regulators and banks across the UK and EU. The UK government continues to be very positive towards Bitcoin. Responses from the FCA, Bank of England as well as George Osborne have all shown a forward thinking and open minded outlook on Bitcoin’s innovative and disruptive potential.”
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, though.
“With the positive regulatory environment and the continued increase in mainstream adoption of Bitcoin, we are confident that in time, the UK banking industry will come to see the significant opportunity that Bitcoin represents.”
Nobody ever said the adoption of bitcoin would be easy. This is a prime example of bumps along the road.