Multinational banking group Santander has placed a limit on all cryptocurrency transactions for its UK customers. The group cited cryptocurrency fraud warnings from regulators as the reason behind its decision.
According to a Nov. 3 announcement, the bank plans to protect its clients from the risks associated with investing in crypto assets, sharing that: “Money held in clients’ cryptocurrency wallets is unlikely to be protected by the Financial Ombudsman.” Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong.
In a purported effort to protect its customers from crypto-related risks, Santander UK said it believes the best way to protect its customers is to limit the amount of money they can send to crypto exchanges, stating that this is , “the best way to make sure your money stays safe”.
The limitation will apply from November 15, and customers will be limited to £1,000 per transaction and a total limit of £3,000 per month. The bank added:
“We will make further changes to limit or prevent payments to crypto exchanges in the future, although we will always notify you before making these changes.”
Despite the new limitation imposed, customers will still be able to receive payments from cryptocurrency exchanges to their bank accounts.
The announcement was met with criticism and shock from members of the Twitter crypto community. Bitcoin enthusiast, podcaster and author “LayahHeilpern” said: “Remember they only ban what threatens them. If this isn’t their signal to buy I don’t know what is…”
So literally nothing new. UK banks have been slowly blocking/limiting crypto payments for over a year now, I live there, I have multiple banks here
— Brand âš’ï¸ (@Brand99_) November 3, 2022
Another user by the name of “alesxius” shared: “Since when do they have the authority to tell you what you can and can’t do with your own money?”
Since when do they have the authority to tell you what you can and can’t do with your own money?
— Alesxius (@alesxius) November 3, 2022
In 2021, Cointelegraph reported that UK Santander banks had followed in Barclays’ footsteps by banning their customers from sending payments to Binance, citing warnings from the Financial Conduct Authority.
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