Commonwealth Bank of Australia has begun declining or holding certain payments to cryptocurrency exchanges for 24 hours.
Within a few months, the bank will also start limiting customer payments to credit exchanges. cryptocurrency purchases to A$10,000 (about $6,700) in a calendar month, Commonwealth Bank said in a Thursday (June 8) press release.
โWith the incidence of scams increasing and, in many cases, customers suffering significant losses from being scammed, the introduction of 24-hour holds, declines and limits on outgoing payments to cryptocurrency exchanges will help reduce both the number of scams as the amount of money lost. by customers," james robertsgeneral manager of group fraud management services at Commonwealth Bank, said in the statement.
Scammers have been capitalizing on growing consumer interest in cryptocurrency, with customers making payments to cryptocurrency exchanges facing a "significantly increased risk" of being scammed, Roberts said in the statement.
Commonwealth Bank's new measures will be subject to ongoing review, and the bank will closely monitor their impact, according to the statement.
โWhile these measures will not eliminate the risk of customers suffering loss as a result of a scam involving a payment to a cryptocurrency exchange, they are part of a series of initiatives designed to help customers reduce the risk of falling victim. of a scam. Roberts said in the statement.
These moves come a month after another Australian bank, Westpacblocked some payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, citing losses to scamsReuters reported on Thursday.
Announcing the launch of its measures in May, Westpac said investment scams account for about half of all scam losses and one-third of all scam payments are passed on to a crypto exchange.
Commonwealth Bank changes also come weeks after cryptocurrency exchange Binance Spain told clients they would lose access to Australian dollar deposits and withdrawals, prompting clients to rush to leave the platform, according to the Reuters report.
In the United States, the National Stock Market Commission (SEC) has said that each crypto exchange you are violating securities laws.
The regulatory agency has targeted both Binancethe world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and coin baseLargest US crypto exchange, with lawsuits.
The SEC also sued the crypto exchange bittrex in April for allegedly operating an illegal stock exchange.
