It seems like not a week goes by without the words “ban” and “Bitcoin” uttered together in the same sentence. Regulation is churned out day after day, leaving a palpable impact on the crypto market. This time its banks making headlines, with many taking a stance against cryptocurrency purchases.
The recent bans were kicked off by three major US banks. Last Friday, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup announced that customers would no longer be able to buy cryptocurrencies with credit cards.
A J.P. Morgan Chase spokesperson commented on the bank’s decision in a statement to CNBC:
“At this time, we are not processing cryptocurrency purchases using credit cards, due to the volatility and risk involved.”
While Chase and Bank of America have halted cryptocurrency purchases indefinitely, Citigroup group said that it would “continue to review [its] policy as this market evolves.”
Across the pond in the UK, customers were also banned from using credit cards to buy crypto. Lloyds Banking Group decided to blacklist cryptocurrency exchanges as a measure to prevent customers from racking up debt and avoid financial loss.
However, not all banks are cracking down on crypto. Four of Australia’s largest banks have confirmed that they have no intention of blocking cryptocurrency purchases. One of the banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), told Australia’s ABC news that customers may continue buying digital currencies, but the bank is always on the lookout for suspicious activity.
“We monitor transactions for unusual behavior to protect against potential fraud in line with our regulatory responsibilities.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading below $7,000, with many altcoins following the same downward trend.
