Bitcoin investors in Australia have claimed that major banks including National Australia Bank, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corporation, have started to freeze the bank accounts of cryptocurrency traders without prior notice.
Major Banks Called Out
Earlier this week, Australian cryptocurrency trader Alex Saunder publicly called out all of the major banks in Australia that have had a history of treating cryptocurrency traders unfairly, despite the criticism of the Australian government.
In May, the Australian government released the 2017-18 budget which contained the elimination of double taxation on the trading of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Given the controversy around some of the country’s largest banks unfairly closing down the accounts of cryptocurrency traders and businesses, the government also reaffirmed that it will provide a friendlier ecosystem for both cryptocurrency businesses and users.
“The Government will make it easier for new innovative digital currency businesses to operate in Australia. From 1 July 2017, purchases of digital currency will no longer be subject to the GST, allowing digital currencies to be treated just like money for GST purposes,” the budget read.
Still, regardless of the efforts of the Australian government to revive its cryptocurrency and fintech industries that have struggled to see success for many years due to the unfair treatment of businesses, Australian banks are reportedly refusing to provide services to fintech businesses like bitcoin exchanges and brokerages.
CoinSpot, one of the few remaining cryptocurrency exchanges processing Australian dollar (AUD)-to-bitcoin trades, stated that the company has placed a temporary restriction on all forms of AUD deposits, because of the lack of banking services provided by local financial institutions.
“We assure you we are just as unhappy with the situation as you, but unfortunately Australian banks have been so far unwilling to work with the digital currency industry which leads to frequent account closures and strict limits on accounts whilst they remain operational, in effect debanking our industry,” said CoinSpot.
Bitcoin Babe AU, another Australian cryptocurrency trader, revealed two documents sent by ANZ, announcing the closure of the trader’s bank accounts. The two documents provided a vague explanation for the closure of the client’s bank accounts. They read