Key takeaways:
- Due to the increasing risk of scams in the cryptocurrency industry, another significant Australian bank has said it will restrict specific cryptocurrency sites.
- The names of the crypto exchanges that the bank anticipates prohibiting were not provided by NAB.
While most of the world has embraced crypto assets, specific organizations are taking a more cautious stance. One of Australia’s well-known financial institutions, the National Australia Bank (NAB), has decided to put payment bans in place on a few “high-risk” cryptocurrency exchanges.
As part of its “bank-wide scam strategy,” NAB unveiled several new safeguards against fraud on July 17.
In addition to stopping millions of dollars worth of transfers between March and July 2023, NAB will put blocks in place on “some cryptocurrency platforms” to help shield users from fraud.
The main reason for this crackdown is concern about the hazards involved with fraud. These coordinated efforts show the leading Australian banks’ united commitment to preventatively limiting access to cryptocurrency startups.
The names of the crypto exchanges that the bank anticipates prohibiting were not provided by NAB. Chris Sheehan, NAB’s group investigations and fraud executive, only mentioned that the new blocks will affect “high-risk” sites where “scams are more prevalent.” As Sheehan put it:
“These scammers are part of organized, transnational crime groups. Increasingly, we’re seeing them use cryptocurrency platforms to send stolen funds quickly and often overseas.”
Sheehan reportedly suggested that NAB’s crypto bans would impact the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. According to the executive, he said:
“Our approach is going to be consistent with the rest of the industry,”
Additionally, Westpac was the first to implement client protection measures among the four leading Australian banks on May 18. Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank are said to have obstructed payments to Binance during the past few months. On the same day, Cuscal, a payment solutions provider, made a decision that led Binance Australia to declare the end of its Australian currency deposit services.
In the release, NAB repeated the growing claim made by regional banks that almost 50% of scam money reported in Australia are connected to cryptocurrencies. In its statement, the NAB says:
“More broadly, cryptocurrency scams are one of the fastest-growing security threats, with Australians losing more than $221 million to them last year,”
The authority asserted that 40% of Australians are “extremely willing” to accept slower payments in exchange for enhanced fraud protection.
