Santander UK to Limit Transactions to Crypto Exchanges
- Starting 15 November, customers of Santander UK will be unable to send more than £1,000 to crypto exchanges in a single transaction, and more than £3,000 in a 30-day period.
- There will be no limits on how much customers can receive from exchanges, but the bank warned it will be implementing further crypto restrictions in the future.
Santander Bank Branch, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 18 December 2012. JuliusKielaitis/Shutterstock
The U.K. branch of banking giant Banco Santander will be placing a limit on crypto transactions for its customers, citing cryptocurrency fraud warnings from regulators, the bank said in a policy update on 3 November.
According to the announcement, Santander UK will be placing a £1,000 (around $1,100) restriction to customers who are making deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges from their bank accounts in order to “protect” them from the risks involved with digital asset investment. The reason behind the move was a “large increase” in U.K. customers falling victim to cryptocurrency fraud in recent months, and a warning from financial regulators in the country. Santander UK’s update reads:
“The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers about 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 Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong. “
Santander UK will not only place a limit on single transactions to crypto exchanges, but also a £3,000 restriction in a 30-day period to ensure that customers money “stay safe”. The new rules — which will be enforced on 15 November — will not limit the amount of money its clients can receive from crypto exchanges to their bank accounts, however the bank warned it will be implementing additional crypto restrictions in the future.
This is not the first time Santander UK has placed limits on crypto exchanges, with the bank completely banning payments to popular platform Binance in July 2021, after the FCA warned the public that the exchange did not have permission to undertake any regulated activities in the country.
- Bitstamp, the world’s longest-running crypto exchange, has been raising funds since late June, with its advisor being Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital.
- The new funds will reportedly be used to launch a new derivatives platform in Europe, expand to new markets in Asia, scale its operations in the U.K..
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- The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority continues its crackdown on crypto ATMs in the country, and has disrupted a total of 26 machines since the start of the year.
- The regulator warned the public back in March 2022 that all crypto ATMs in the country were operating illegally, and issued a “shut down or face further action” order.
- The 2023-2026 Economic Crime Plan’s goal is to make the U.K. an an “attractive destination for cryptoassets and cryptoasset innovation in the world”.
- The main focus of the plan will be to reduce the use of crypto in fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion, and to make it easier to recover criminal assets.