- Increased scrutiny by Australian authorities has made banks hesitant to work with crypto exchanges and companies.
- Westpac Banking Corp., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd had previously started restricting access to crypto exchanges in a similar manner.
- Nearly 50% of the fraud reported to the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange in the past 30 days is crypto-related.
In Australia, which holds significant importance in the crypto market, the country’s four major banks have blocked payments to crypto exchanges due to “increased cryptocurrency fraud.”
Four Major Banks Make the Decision to Block Payments
Increased scrutiny by Australian authorities has made banks hesitant to work with crypto exchanges and companies. National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB), along with other leading banks in the country such as Westpac Banking Corp., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, have blocked payments to high-risk crypto exchanges.
National Australia Bank, one of the four major financial institutions in Australia, cites concerns over risks of crypto fraud as the reason for blocking access to digital asset platforms.
Chris Sheehan, Group Investigations and Fraud Manager at NAB, said:
“These fraudsters are organized, part of international crime groups. We are increasingly seeing them use crypto platforms to move stolen funds quickly and often to overseas countries.”
Westpac Banking Corp., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd had previously started restricting access to crypto exchanges in a similar manner, and Binance was affected by this. Last year, National Australia Bank (NAB) identified crypto fraud as a rapidly growing security threat, amounting to 221 million AUD (151 million USD) in losses for Australians.
Nearly 50% of the fraud reported to the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange in the past 30 days is crypto-related. While NAB has not specifically disclosed which crypto exchanges are affected by this move, it has categorized them as “high risk.”
Binance Faces Regulatory Challenges in Australia
After Binance’s banking partner, Cuscal, terminated their partnership citing fraud concerns, Binance halted withdrawals in Australian dollars (AUD), and Westpac banned customers from transferring funds to the exchange in May.
Australia has become one of the billion-dollar crypto markets in terms of daily trading volume. However, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) actions towards crypto exchanges have impacted daily trading volumes.
Meanwhile, Monochrome Asset Management and Vasco have resubmitted the first spot Bitcoin ETF application under Australia’s new crypto regulations.
