Australia’s Commonwealth Bank To Decline ‘Certain’ Payments To Crypto Exchanges

Australia’s largest bank Commonwealth Bank (CBA), has announced that it will decline certain payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, citing concerns about potential scammers.

This comes as a result of lawsuits faced by two major global cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance and Coinbase from the United States the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Moreover, this move comes after another prominent Australian bank, Westpac, prohibited its customers from engaging in transactions with Binance.

According to statement released by the Commonwealth Bank on June 8, it would decline or impose a 24-hour hold on “certain payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.”

Reporting from @jessicasier @FinancialReview that @CommBank have banned AUD transfers to “high-risk” crypto exchanges & limited transactions with others to $10k per month, with a 24 hr delay. $700k per day leaves CBA as scammed money heading to crypto. Banks & the crypto industry…

— Caroline Bowler (@CaroBowler) June 8, 2023

However, the bank did not provide any details regarding which exchanges or payment types would be affected by these new measures.

“Commonwealth Bank has today introduced new measures to help protect customers from scam risks associated with making certain payments to cryptocurrency exchanges,” the CBA stated.

According to a report published by Cointelegraph, the bank further added that they will limit its customers transactions with crypto exchanges to 10K AUD per month in the coming months.

Reportedly, James Roberts, the general manager of CBA’s fraud management services, stated that scammers worldwide are taking advantage of the growing interest in the crypto market. These scammers often pretend to be legitimate investment opportunities or redirect funds towards cryptocurrency exchanges in deceptive schemes.

The bank also said that it would monitor the imapct of the measures to tackle the situation.

When And Why Did SEC Sue Binance?

On June 5, the SEC sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly mishandling funds, violating federal securities laws and lying to regulators. SEC filed 13 charges against the leading crypto exchange.

According to the lawsuit, the Binance offered unregistered securities to the general public in the form of BNB token and Bianance BUSD stablecoin.

Also Read: Binance & Coinbase Witness $600Mn In Net Outflows As Investors Lose Trust