HSBC, Nationwide Banks Crack Down On Bitcoin And Crypto Access

Two of the U.K.’s largest banks have imposed further restrictions on their customers’ ability to acquire cryptocurrencies.

British banks have continued to crack down on their customers’ cryptocurrency purchases. According to a Bloomberg report, Nationwide and HSBC are the latest U.K. banking giants to impose new limits on their customer’s cryptocurrency purchases via debit cards and end purchases with credit cards.

“Nationwide is applying daily limits of £5,000 ($5,965) on debit-card purchases of cryptoassets, the building society informed customers on Wednesday, while its credit cards can no longer be used to buy crypto. HSBC said it barred customers from making crypto purchases via its credit cards from last month,” reads the report. HSBC states that the decision is due to alleged financial risk to customers.

The report describes how “Most of the major [U.K.] banks have also implemented exchange-specific restrictions, with the world’s largest crypto platform Binance Holdings Ltd. the most popular target.”

Bitcoin Magazine covered the start of these moves from U.K. banks in tandem with increasing discussion of a U.K. CBDC. Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest Group, described how the bank had taken a “pretty hard line” on cryptocurrency due to the instability and volatility of the platforms and the risk of fraud, citing social media and technology platforms as the fraud’s primary source.

These new limitations on customers places U.K. citizens at a further disadvantage in regards to acquiring bitcoin. As such developments are taking place, it highlights the need for more decentralized, peer-to-peer exchanges that can facilitate no-KYC bitcoin transactions. 

2 March 2023 19:45