Bank Terminated Account of Crypto Company. Court Threatened 10,000 PLN for Each Day of Delay

The termination of an account by a bank is a well-known issue for companies in the crypto sector. We have discussed it multiple times in our materials. It usually ends the same way: a letter, a few weeks to withdraw funds, and the end of the conversation. Recently, we had a case that went differently, and the court's ruling surprised even us. We are currently observing a situation where courts are increasingly favoring taxpayers. You will learn more about this in the following part of the article.

Client Who Warned the Bank and Quickly Regretted It

Our client was running a cryptocurrency business and had to terminate it after the transitional period of MiCA. He did not do this quietly. He wrote to the bank that he was winding down the business and requested some time. He particularly needed this time for fairly simple things:

• paying invoices,
• settling public law obligations, including taxes.

He simply needed the account for this. Unfortunately, despite this, the bank terminated the account agreement. We challenged the termination, filed a request for security, and then a lawsuit. A few years ago, this case could have been problematic.

What Did the Court Decide?

The district court secured the execution of the bank account agreement. It did not stop at a general statement that the agreement should continue to be valid. It gave the bank three business days to restore access. In this regard, it described the scope of the obligation very specifically. The bank was obliged to maintain:

• the settlement account,
• other accounts,
• payment orders,
• access via online, mobile, and telephone banking.

Additionally, something we rarely see on such a scale occurred. The court ordered a payment of 10,000 PLN for each day of violation. The consequence: after three business days from the delivery of the ruling, if the bank does not fulfill the obligations resulting from the security.

The Bank Restored the Account, but Not Entirely

And here it got interesting. The bank restored our client's main account and main functionalities. This means partial execution of the content of the security. The ancillary service areas from the agreement were not restored within the specified time. From the bank's perspective, it probably looked like compliance with the order. From the perspective of the ruling, it did not. Why? Mainly because it referred to the full scope.

With such stakes, the numbers quickly become serious. A month of delay amounts to 300,000 PLN. This is ten times higher than the upper limit we have seen so far. Why? It is worth giving a comparison in this regard. According to our experience, such sums usually range from 500 to 1,000 PLN per day.

Unfortunately, according to our information, the bank has filed an appeal. This means that it is not yet final, so we are waiting for the appeal to be heard. As of today, there is a ruling with the announced sum of 10,000 PLN per day. However, in practice, its fate may still change.

What Does This Mean for People Whose Banks Terminate Accounts?

We do not know if this is a one-time exception or the beginning of a new practice by the courts. It is possible that courts are starting to react to situations where banks terminate agreements. This means that for the time being, banks will have a stronger reason to think twice before terminating a crypto client's account. It is particularly important to emphasize two things:

• If you are winding down your business, notify the bank in writing. In the document, explain what you need and by when. This fact had a significant impact in this case.
• After obtaining security, check what the bank has actually restored. Just having a functioning main account does not necessarily mean that the ruling has been fully executed.

We will describe the continuation of this case when the court hears the appeal. A full description of the case can also be found in the article on the Etlex Law Firm's website, and we have written about disputes with overly broad account blocking here.