Germany is putting up some laws against money laundry right these days.
Those include terms regarding buying & selling of crypto money.
I think coinbase does not want to have any legal trouble there and sort things out first if they can fulfill those restrictions.
Its not just coinbase that they can use to buy bitcoin. They can also use exchange site itself. I think BTC2BID is working good this time.
Hey,
I am logged into my account Coinbase to buy Bitcoins.
I get the following message:
Sorry! Buy & Sell not available in Germany
We are not able to Provide exchanging bitcoin in your region yet. Consider Contacting your local government. Learn More>
It seems to be also affected Luxembourg alongside Germany.
The rest of Europe (32) are not affected.
Since Localbitcoin is banned in Germany, seems probably because the German "local government" there which prohibit.
Does anyone have any info, is on what legal basis prohibited here?
Very easy fix: VPN
VPN is not the solution for it. If its a ban from the government the website won't function but its indicated as buying and selling not available for Germany and Luxembourg.
If you are from Germany, VPN can still help indirectly as you as btc buyer can simply set where ever you are and then set up a meeting with a btc seller from localbitcoin.