Santander UK is the latest bank to block crypto payments to cryptocurrency exchange Binance. According to a customer update sent on Thursday, customers would still be able to receive funds from Bianance, but would no longer be able to make payments to the cryptocurrency exchange.
The banking giant follows the footsteps of UK banks Natwest and Barclays to block transactions to Binance. One Twitter user posted a screenshot of a text message from Barclays, commenting alongside the screenshot: “Received a message from @Barclays. They will stop me from sending funds to @binance. China 2.0”.
Barckays used to be the official banking partner for Coinbase. However, Barclays ended their banking partnership with Coinbase in 2019, and has since been much less crypto-friendly as their recent decision to block transactions to Binance indicates.
Natwest in turn, has put a limit on fund transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges, citing security concerns. Additionally, the bank announced they would be blocking payments to a number of cryptocurrency asset firms, including Binance.
“To protect our customers from the criminals exploiting these platforms, we’re temporarily reducing the maximum daily amount that a customer can send to cryptocurrency exchanges as well as blocking payments to a small number of cryptocurrency asset firms where we have seen particularly significant levels of fraud-related harm for our customers.”
Santander took to social media to defend their crypto-related actions, following a high number of complaints from their customers.
“In recent months, we have seen a large increase in UK customers becoming the victims of cryptocurrency fraud. Keeping our customers safe is a top priority, so we have decided to prevent payments to Binance following the FCA’s warning to consumers.”
Binance has been the target of a number of financial institutions and regulatory bodies, leading to the CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao addressing the regulatory crackdown in a post.
“Compliance is a journey – especially in new sectors like crypto. […] Binance has grown very quickly and we haven’t always got everything exactly right, but we are learning and improving every day. We hope to clarify and reiterate our commitment to partner with regulators, and that we are proactively hiring more talent, putting in place more systems and processes to protect our users.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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