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UK banks ban crypto.

 


Banks are restricting customer access to cryptocurrency exchanges amid growing concerns about financial crime.

Virgin Money UK plans to block payments to crypto exchanges from personal current accounts and savings accounts from November 21. The bank has not allowed its customers to use credit cards to buy crypto since 2018. In 2021 a total of £190 million was reported as lost by victims of crypto-related scams. Santander plans to block all payments to crypto exchanges made by phone, online and in branches next year, but card payments will not be affected.

Several UK banks already restrict customers’ access to crypto exchanges. HSBC, Santander and Barclays blocked UK customers from accessing Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, in June last year after the Financial Conduct Authority, the City watchdog, warned that Binance was operating without proper permissions. Lloyds Banking Group has blocked customers from buying crypto with their credit cards since 2018. NatWest restricts payments to certain crypto exchanges, and MetroBank limits the amounts its customers can spend on them.

The collapse of the popular crypto exchange FTX last week highlighted the risks taken on by consumers. FTX commanded a 4 per cent market share at the start of October, according to the researcher Crypto Compare.

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  1. Anonymous13 November 2022 at 13:01

    While I partly understand that banks are trying to protect clients, I think banning crypto is not a good solution. Cryptos are here to stay and banks are just delaying their worldwide adoption. They should do more to educate clients so they don't fall pray to crypto crimes and also offer ways for them to protect their accounts.

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