Starling — a digital bank based in the United Kingdom — is the latest financial institution to ban crypto-related transfers and activities for its cardholders.
Starling customers will no longer be able to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) or receive incoming transfers from crypto exchanges or merchants.
The online bank announced the news in a statement to customers as well as on Twitter, citing the perceived high risks of crypto trading.
Hi there We always review our position in relation to financial crime. We consider crypto activity to be high risk. We’ve taken the decision to prevent all card payments to crypto merchants and to implement further restrictions on outgoing and incoming transfers.
— Starling Bank (@StarlingBank) November 22, 2022
The bank also described cryptocurrencies as “high risk and heavily used for criminal purposes.”
A spokesperson for Starling told Cointelegraph that the bank has had restrictions of “varying degrees” on transactions related to cryptocurrency for some time. “We recently tightened restrictions on inbound and outbound transactions by card and bank transfer,” the representative stated, adding:
”The innovative technology, and thinking, behind cryptocurrencies have great potential advantages, however, right now, they are high risk and heavily used for criminal purposes and,…
