- Commonwealth Bank of Australia implements enhanced measures to prevent cryptocurrency scams.
- CBA spokesperson declines to disclose names of cryptocurrency exchanges involved in restrictions.
- Westpac also blocks certain crypto payments, and Binance Australia loses access to Australian dollar transactions.
Reuters reported that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) announced on June 8 its implementation of a set of enhanced measures aimed at preventing scams, which include restricting customer cryptocurrency payments by blocking transactions to specific cryptocurrency exchanges.
The spokesperson representing CBA, the largest bank in the country, chose not to disclose the names of the cryptocurrency exchanges implicated.
Starting from Thursday, the bank additionally revealed its plan to implement a 24-hour hold on specific payments made to cryptocurrency exchanges. Furthermore, the introduction of a monthly transfer limit of A$10,000 ($6,666) to crypto exchanges is in the pipeline. However, the CBA spokesperson refrained from confirming whether these measures would be applicable to all cryptocurrency exchanges or only a limited number of them.
In a statement accompanying the decision, James Roberts, the general manager of CBA’s group fraud management services, expressed,
Customers who make payments to crypto-currency exchanges are currently facing a significantly higher risk of potentially being scammed.
James Roberts, the general manager of CBA’s group fraud management services
Last month, Westpac, another prominent member of the “big four” banks in Australia, took a similar step by blocking certain cryptocurrency payments to mitigate losses from scams. However, the bank did not disclose the names of the specific exchanges involved.
The recent decision by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) follows an incident involving Binance Australia, where customers were informed that they would no longer have access to deposits and withdrawals in Australian dollars. This change was prompted by the payment provider Cuscal cutting off access to Binance Australia.
During the hasty sell-off on the Australian platform, Bitcoin experienced moments of trading at a 20% lower price compared to other exchanges.
In a recent development, U.S. regulators filed a lawsuit against Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally. The allegations against Binance include inflating trading volumes and diverting customer funds, among other claims.
