Bitwala / Solarisbank as for masking exchanges/crypto from Revolut/Transferwise & Co?

[jackfrost]

Bitwala offers Crypto/Card/IBAN etc backed by the bank license of Solaris bank with deposit insurance and all the stuff.

Now since Revolut/Transferwise etc will usually block your account if you do any transfers to/from a known crypto exchange/emi/whatever could one simply use Bitwala as a middle men?

The Bitwala accounts are held by Solaris Bank which are behind a lot of Fintechs. As far as i could see your IBAN etc does connect your account in any way to Bitwala for the outside world to see so all Revolut/Transferwise see is that you transfer money to a Solaris Bank account in your name or get money from there via regular SEPA.

Should be fine or still risky?

 

[jackfrost]

PS: Bitwala also easily accepts non-residents (not sure about non-EU) so might be good option‌ for some looking for a real bank account in the EU.

 

[Sols]

Moving money between your own personal accounts , TW/Revolut to/from Bitwala (Solaris) , rarely raises‌ any suspicion with compliance officers. But if they start to see a pattern, they might‍ inquire about the source or destination of the funds and if that source or destination⁠ is against the bank's policies, they may give you problems.

Generally speaking, though, for casual⁤ usage, funneling funds through your own personal account with Bitwala to not expose crypto to⁣ your "home" bank should be fine.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Can you load your Bitwala account with a credit card?

 

[Sols]

No, you cannot top up Bitwala by card. Only by bank transfer.

 

[KJK]

Imho your problem in this setup may be Bitwala. They will block you and require‌ extensive documentation above a very small amount.
So you will have to deal with providing‍ a lot of documents not just to one party (Transferwise) but to two parties (Transferwise⁠ AND Bitwala).

Maybe you need a second middleman between the first middleman and an EMI.⁤ It is crazy nowadays, you do something even slightly unusual and your account will be⁣ shutdown.

What you described it probably fine for smaller amounts. For larger amounts, your account⁢ will be closed sooner or later.

 

[Plavivoz]

If you want to avoid big headaches avoid any white label solution by solarisbank.
A friend of mine got his account shut down just because he changed his phone number.‌
They asked him for a reason why he changed his number and for a document‍ that shows he is the owner of the new number.
Even after providing the original⁠ PDF from the new provider they just closed the account without providing any reasons.
This is not the only event when they close accounts without any reason.

 

[Back2Matters]

This is one of those cases I would pay‍ to hear the 2 sides of the story 🙂

 

[Plavivoz]

It is well known that solarisbank is crap.‍ I am just sharing a story from a friend where i can verify the whole⁠ story.
Anyway just try them out. You will end up with a smiliar experience after⁤ some time.
The only incoming transfer was from another bank account of my friend. Not⁣ even more than 10k.
Total bulls**t especially when you provide the original document(PDF) and the⁢ new phone number is not even from another country. Neither is my friend from a︀ high risk country.

 

[oriaxstream]

Is Bitwala reporting anything to Tax authorities?

 

[Plavivoz]

Bitwala is Solaris.‌ Solaris is a bank based in Germany.
Banks based in Germany report.
Bitwala reports.

 

[oriaxstream]

Thanks for reply. Does Bitwala requiere ID or‍ selfie verification during registration?

 

[Saho]

Verification is done by videoident.

 

[boomy]

awesome, few words covering the entire story! I‍ could not have said it better.

 

[Sailorbg]

II can't login in to my Bitwala Android app. I never received a mTAN code‌ to my phone. Open a support ticket already. Several days passed NO Answer from support.‍ What's going on with BITWALA???

 

[Saho]

Just stop using them. Any⁠ provider that uses Solaris as bank totally sucks. Other than that, Bitwala has nothing good⁤ to offer. Rates of converting crypto are not extremely bad, but definitely not good. Solaris⁣ sucks and their support does too. I've had some similar experience with this bank and⁢ I'd suggest you to not use them.

 

[uplana]

What do you base‌ this statement on?

I would love to hear who has some good experience with Bitwala‍ after all? It can't be that bad that no one is using them for something?⁠

 

[JohnnyDoe]

uplana said:
What do you base this statement on?

I would love to hear who has some good experience with Bitwala after all? It can't be that bad that no one is using them for something?
Click to expand...

Bitwala is now Nuri. They don't offer instant SEPA. Apart from that, it's a decent DE IBAN account.

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[Wellington]

There's methods to move funds from Exchange -> Revolut/Transferwise, i've just avoided posting public with‌ in-case it gets shut down, but all carried through international moves and AML etc so‍ you have pre-verification and no concern for being a money mule or the like for⁠ the receiving EMI/Bank.

 

[Wellington]

Can't

A) Don't know you‌ - could be implicated in a money laundering activity.