Preliminary relief judge upholds Bitonic's objections and calls on DNB to review its requirement
This morning the Preliminary Relief Judge of the Rotterdam District Court ruled on the case brought by Bitonic against the Dutch Central Bank. In the ruling, the judge acknowledged Bitonic's objections and doubts about the registration procedure and the legality of the wallet verification requirement set by DNB.
The judge acknowledged that the wallet verification requirement was indeed part of the registration process, and that Bitonic therefore had every right to object to it.
Secondly, the judge acknowledges that Bitonic has an urgent interest in challenging the registration requirement.
Although the court did not rule to immediately suspend the wallet verification requirement, DNB is obliged to take a decision on Bitonic's objections within six weeks.
In addition, the court orders DNB to reimburse the legal costs.
From the judgment of the Rotterdam District Court this morning (quotes translated from Dutch):
"The preliminary relief judge, however, has doubts as to whether DNB, in view of the (European) laws and regulations, was able to apply the registration requirement in the manner in which it did so in this case."
"The interpretation that DNB has given to the registration regime in the case of Bitonic appears, in the provisional opinion, to display characteristics of a licensing regime, because the interpretation of the registration requirement has been subjected to a fairly far-reaching preliminary assessment."