What is the sanctions law and what does it mean for you?

The sanctions law exists since 1977 and applies to everyone. Companies which are registered in the Netherlands must adhere to this law, which means that companies have to screen you as a customer. We are obligated to ensure we do not do business with any person listed on the sanctions list.

Beyond that, in the case of bitcoin payments to third parties, we have to verify that the name of the involved counterparty does not appear on the sanctions list. If the counterparty is listed on the sanctions list the transaction is not permitted. It should be noted, however, that Bitonic does not offer this type of transaction.

DNB expects that Bitcoincompanies to whitelist the bitcoinaddresses of their customers and verify whether the customer is indeed the owner of the wallet. DNB describes this as follows (English translation by Bitonic):

“This means that: * the serviceprovider determines the identity and home address of the counterparty and screens against sanctions lists (and this does not lead to a hit) and * the serviceprovider determines that this person is indeed the recipient or sender.”

Bitonic has protested these demanded measures up until the last moment, because they are not in line with the law and the measures are ineffective. Still, we are obligated by DNB to burden our customers with such far reaching and privacy-violating measures. Everyone who buys or withdraws bitcoin from us is now obligated to verify their bitcoinaddress.