By Shelly Melancon (Switzerland)
British banks continue to disengage their services with the world’s top crypto exchange, Binance.
HSBC Notifies Customers About Binance
The bank’s clients flocked Twitter to air their complaints about the suspension of credit card transactions with Binance. While the bank is yet to release an official statement, a notice of the announcement sent to HSBC clients states that the bank cut financial transactions with Binance to “protect” its customers from any potential risks.
The bank was alleged to write to its customers that “we are duly committed to protecting you because we want to protect you. We are still observing the situation, and if there are changes, we’ll notify you instantly.”
HSBC UK referenced the UK. Financial conduct authority (FCA) warning notice to Binance over its lack of operating license in the country. The bank also remarked that “the UK FCA warning depicts the risks in virtual asset investment if things go south.” Binance reps previously issued a notice that UK FCA’s warning is only applicable to a subsidiary of Binance holdings called Binance markets limited.
Binance also stated that the two entities operate independently. As of this writing, neither HSBC nor Binance is yet to release any official statement regarding the matter. However, a Binance rep only told a select media that “Binance feel let down by HSBC’s decision and won’t mind discussing with them to clarify their doubts.”
Unending Binance Woes
This HSBC bank action is the latest in the long list of woes bedeviling the world’s leading crypto exchange. Mid-last month, another top UK bank, NatWest, announced that it would no longer facilitate any Binance-related transactions. Also, Barclay’s bank released a similar notice two months ago referencing the FCA’s warning.
With its current action, HSBC has confirmed that it is yet to acknowledge the virtual assets industry as an asset category. It continues to shut down its customers’ requests for crypto-related service offers. You’d recall that HSBC removed MicroStrategy’s stock from its online trading platform early in the year. Again, the bank showed its disdain for the virtual asset class.
International State Authorities Promulgating Strict Crypto Policies
The rapid growth of the crypto industry has attracted the attention of authorities in various countries worldwide. They only see it as a means of money laundering for criminals.
Two months ago, china authorities declared that crypto mining in the country has become illegal due to its adverse effect on the environment. The announcement caused massive declines in the price of all the cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Some of the events that followed seemed to prove that these authorities were right.
South Korean law enforcement agency announced the seizure of $47 million worth of crypto assets from several individuals who have been hiding their assets in crypto to evade tax payments. Similarly, UK’s metropolitan police traced and seized an estimated £190 million worth of digital currencies in its largest cryptocurrency seizure ever. However, there have been various positives of using cryptocurrencies, only that the government chose to turn a blind eye to them.
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