Some stories that make the news seem to come straight out of a past that we naively thought was over. Santander UK, the UK subsidiary of Spanish financial giant Banco Santander, has decided to circumscribe its customers’ interaction with crypto exchanges. First, by placing a limit on funds sent to exchangesbefore perhaps a total ban on deposits from bank accounts.
Santander UK limits customer deposits on crypto exchanges
Yesterday, Santander UK notified customers of its cryptocurrency policy change. From November 15, the bank will restrict the amount they can send on exchanges: ยฃ1,000 (โฌ1,146) per transaction and a total cap of ยฃ3,000 (โฌ3,440) over โany rolling 30-day periodโ. A first step obviously, since the institution warns that other more drastic measures could take place in the coming months, possibly going as far as a ban.
We will make further changes to limit or prevent payments to crypto exchanges in the future, but we will always let you know before we make these changes.
Notice to customers
Restrictions taken as always in the name of consumer protectionr, the institution citing warnings from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the dreaded UK regulator.
Over the past few months, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of UK customers falling victim to cryptocurrency fraud. The FCA has warned consumers of the risks of investing in crypto assets, as money held in customers’ crypto wallets is unlikely to be protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong.
Notice to customers
Infantilization policy in the name of consumer protection
In fact, the bank as if in charge of donkeys (protect them, they don’t know what they are doing), felt “that limiting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to guarantee the safety of [ย lโargent] of its customers.
However, the latter will still be able to transfer their funds from exchanges to their bank accounts. And even those held on Binance, which gets special mention in the bank’s update due to a warning (dating back to August 2021) from the UK watchdog.
Note that elsewhere, the local divisions of the banking group operating independently, Santander is much more affable with the world of cryptos. In South America in particular, where the bank is multiplying its initiatives. For example, it helped launch a pilot project of loans secured by crypto-assets for Argentine farmers, in collaboration with the South American tokenization platform Agrotoken. As for its Brazilian branch, it would prepare a range of crypto services for its local clientele in 2023.
This kind of adventures that punctuate the history of cryptos should not scare you, it would rather be the index of a rise in power of Bitcoin and others that makes the supporters of the traditional monetary order tremble. Also, do not be impressed and do not wait any longer to take the train of the revolution in the making, register on the Bytbit exchange (commercial link) to make your first purchases.
