Art by: Jing Jin
Update: Justcoin has responded to our questions indicating that no such deal is imminent and stresses that they are still focused on getting users to withdraw their funds. Stating: "We've been contacted by many other digital currency businesses since our announcement. Right now, our focus is on making sure our users withdraw their funds."
Justcoin had a bad October. After controversy regarding an issue with the Ripple protocol (Ripple claims that the issue was with Justcoin, while Justcoin maintains that the issue was with Ripple's protocol) they announced to its users through email that issues with their Norwegian bank was forcing them to cease all operations. Because that issue extended to all Norwegian banks, the shut down was said to be permanent. Users were asked to withdraw their funds by November 11th, while all normal operations ended on October 29th.
Today, we are hearing word that there is a plan to save JustCoin, using the agreement another exchange has with other European banks.
CleverCoin has contacted us to inform us of a tentative deal the two exchanges are working out that will enable JustCoin to resume operations using CleverCoin's bank agreement. Justcoin would not have their own agreement with CleverCoin's banks but could use their agreement and API to transfer funds back and forth. Presumably, this would be a temporary measure to keep Justcoin operating until they could form their own relationship with these banks.
If successful, it would make an incredible story, as Justcoin was all but dead, having already told its customers that it run would be coming to an end. Customers should probably still withdraw their funds as Justcoin asked, because they do have to shut down temporarily due to Norwegian law that states that in order to operate as a Norwegian business you have to have a Norwegian bank account. If and when they resume operations, customers will presumably be able to access any amount left on the site; but at this time, the deal isn't finalized.
CleverCoin is a Dutch based Bitcoin exchange that supports over 30 European countries and has over 2,400 registered users, according to its website.
CleverCoin's co-founder Christian de Kok, explained the reasoning behind helping another company in the same market
“Where possible we have to support each other to help boost confidence in Bitcoin and demonstrate the capacity to self-regulate. Especially when one of us is the victim of individual or collective actions of the status quo[.]”
This information has come to us by way of CleverCoin, we have not yet confirmed it with representatives from Justcoin. We have emailed them and will update this space when they respond. But if this deal does take hold, it could be a welcome reprieve for Justcoin users who had a rough October.