STJ understands that closing a bitcoin operator account is not an abusive pra...

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The 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice understood, this Tuesday (9/10), by a majority, that the closing of a cryptocurrency current account by Banco Itaú should not be interpreted as an abusive practice. The action reached the Court in 2015 and only began to be analyzed in August of this year.


The case is the first to come to court regarding what are also called  bitcoins . In this Tuesday's session, in a unanimous vote, Minister Ricardo Vilas Bôas Cueva followed the understanding of the rapporteur, Minister Marco Bellizze, who had already taken a position, since his monocratic decision, that the actions of Banco Itaú should not be interpreted as a practice abusive. The understanding was also followed by ministers Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino and Moura Ribeiro.

In his vote, in August, the rapporteur also B2B Lead recalled that the STJ had already ruled in favor of banks in cases involving individuals who had accounts closed. “The National Monetary Council (CMN) itself would allow the closure of accounts, as long as the institution met the need to notify the account holder in advance,” he said.

Divergence
In a second trial, in September, the divergence was opened by minister Nancy Andrighi, who, with the vote, stated that the closure of the current account constitutes an abuse of rights as it removes the “essential infrastructure” from cryptoactive brokerages for its commercial activity.

“The act of closing “the current account maintained by the appellant in an unmotivated and unilateral manner” created “insurmountable obstacles to the regular exercise of its commercial activities”.

According to the understanding of the STJ, according to Minister Nancy, the “act of consumption is not aimed at profit or integration of business activity” and “the current account is nothing more than an input for carrying out” the commercial activity of the Bitcoin Market that “ operates with mediation and brokerage of cryptocurrencies”.



Mercado Bitcoin, author of the action, appealed the decision that considered the closure of its account at Itaú to be lawful, since an extrajudicial notification was sent communicating the bank's intention to terminate the agreement, even though there was no abusive conduct on the part of the author. of the action. In view of this, he requested that the ruling be reformed and, based on the Consumer Protection Code (CDC), the maintenance of the current account was determined.