Brazil’s Banco Bradesco, currently one of the country’s largest banks, has reportedly notified one cryptocurrency exchange that the bank will proceed to close the exchange’s banking accounts towards the end of February.

The affected crypto exchange has been identified as Bitblue, according to a report published in the Portal do Bitcoin, a local cryptocurrency news outlet.

Unnamed inside sources have allegedly told the publication that on top of closing bank’s accounts, Bradesco will also extend the same measure to private accounts operated by Bitblue owners.

The CEO of Bitblue, Edisio Pereira, told Portal do Bitcoin that the exchange had held banking accounts with four other institutions, and would therefore not seek an appeal against Bradesco’ s actions.

Nonetheless, Pereira added, the company’s co-founders and partners (names and identities unspecified) would appeal, with the reason at the bank’s move can harm their reputation.

The Association of Crypto and Blockchain (ABCB), a local crypto advocacy group, has taken up the matter and complained to the country’s antitrust regulator CADE.

The Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) operates under the Ministry of Justice and has previously received similar complaints regarding banks closing down crypto accounts.

In its latest complaint, and which is similar to others in the past, ABCB contends that the bank’s actions violate rules related to free competition.

In September last year, CADE began a probe targeting six of Brazil’s top banks, which included Banco Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Itaú Unibanco, and Banco Santander Brasil.

The probe was launched in response to increased complaints about banks closing accounts operated by crypto businesses and entities, especially regarding the bank’s monopolistic practices against crypto-related businesses.

The investigation saw CADE also undertake a review of activities at the crypto exchanges that had lodged complaints against the banks. The agency announced in October that it had sent questionnaires to the ten companies whose rights the banks had allegedly violated.

At the time, companies that felt banks were violating rules included Bitcoin Market, Foxbit, Bitcambio, BitcoinTrade, Walltime, Bitblue, Braziliex, Open Digital Capital (OTC), Profitfy, and e-juno.

In yet another development related to the same matter, the Federal District Court last October ordered two banks- Banco do Brasil and Santander Brasil- to reopen the accounts operated by Bitcoin Max.

The order followed the judge’s ruling that the two banks had not notified the exchange about the impending accounts closure. According to the judge, the bank’s behavior was tantamount to “abusive conduct” and violated the country’s consumer protection rules.

Early this month, a Rio de Janeiro court ruled that Banco Secoob should not close a checking account operated by crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin.

The court’s decision upheld an earlier verdict by the district court in Barra da Tijuca that had granted Mercado the right to have its account open.