Australia’s Big Banks Say That They Won’t Terminate Cryptocurrency Transactions
It seems that banking institutions from across the globe remain divided on the stand on crypto purchases. Recently, three major banks from the U.S Wall Street announced that they are banning all the crypto purchases and transactions made with their credit cards. This move was soon backed and followed by banks from across entire Europe, earlier this week.
However, on the flip side, banks from Australia and New Zealand have confirmed that unlike their U.S and Europe counterparts, they won’t prohibit its customers from buying cryptocurrencies through credit cards. In a word to ABC News, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said that it “does not prohibit customers buying digital or cryptocurrencies, or accepting them as a form of payment.”
The ANZ’s spokesperson said that the bank has put several controlling measures already in place and monitors all the cryptocurrency-related transactions in order to keep a check on any fraudulent activities or to prevent any sort of illicit activities.
However, while drawing a line of clarity, the spokesperson said that the banks, in any case, do not engage with any sort of cryptocurrency businesses or cryptocurrency exchanges as the digital currencies are completely unregulated entities and they stand against the bank’s policies. The spokesperson said: “We do not bank [with] businesses that operate as issuers, dealers or exchanges of digital or cryptocurrency.”
However, the National Australia Bank (NAB) has said that it might consider applying some brakes to crypto transactions if some of the security concerns are triggered. While talking to ABC News, the spokesperson of National Australia Bank (NAB) said: “ASIC advises that, as most of the virtual currency exchange platforms are generally not regulated, customers may not be protected or have any legal recourse if the platform fails or is hacked.”
On the other hand, Australia is also pressing for some regulatory moves. As per the new legislation introduced, exchange operators have been brought under the purview of AUSTRAC - the country’s financial intelligence agency and watchdog.
The cryptocurrency markets have been seen showing some sideways movement in the past one month. The overall valuations have corrected by over 50% since it started the year 2018, till now. Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies have also corrected significantly.
The major correction in the market started after the South Korean government started bringing some regulatory proposals to bring crypto trading practices under control. Moreover, there have several other factors contributing to the sideways movement. This includes the recent ban by the Chinese government which prevents the local investors to participate in the crypto market even through foreign exchanges. Moreover, the blocking of liquidity flow in the crypto markets by banning credit card transactions will also be a deciding factor in driving the crypto prices further.