Bitcoin-24, the largest bitcoin exchange in Europe, has been offline for the last two weeks after its Polish and German bank accounts were closed.
Simon Hausdorf, the owner of the exchange, is currently awaiting legal action from the German prosecutorâs office, which has said he is suspected of fraud in connection with bitcoin sales via Bitcoin-24.
The exchangeâs customers began complaining earlier in the month, after the site began refusing withdrawals.
âOur Service is momentarily not available,â the website stated.
On April 12, one customer posted a threat of legal action against Hausdorf.
Eventually, posting under his username TAIS46 on the popular Reddit site, Hausdorf blamed the problem on German and Polish banks. He complained they were alarmed by fraudulent transactions sent to his exchange after criminals hacked his customersâ accounts via phishing attacks.
âThe Germans think, I am a criminal guy and they will stop the crime. They asked the poland for help (sic) and they closed my bank account in Poland,â Hausdorf stated in his post, adding that he hoped to get his bank account back within the week.
Exactly one week after that, a letter was posted on Bitcoin-24âs website from German legal firm Röhl, Dehm & Partner (which did not respond to CoinDeskâs emails): âWe expect that this situation will be a temporary one,â the firm stated in the letters, adding that customersâ bitcoins were safe, but inaccessible.
Four days later, on April 26, the law firm issued another letter: âWe expect that all clients will get limited access to their accounts as fast as possible under bitcoin-24.com, so they can transfer the bitcoins and get general information about their account,â it stated.
As of April 28, it was possible to withdraw bitcoins from Bitcoin-24, according to an update on the site. It also noted, âAll withdrawals will be done manually within 24 Hours.â
The Bitcoin-24 update page features links to the law firmâs documents regarding the matter. Interested parties must search for âbitcoin sicherungsmaÃnahmenâ on the site, as permanent links are not available.