The Australian Financial Review has reported (paywall) that one of Australia's oldest digital currency exchanges, BTC Markets, has partnered with neobank Volt Bank, to offer banking services to crypto investors.
Debanking of digital currency exchanges has been a sufficiently serious problem to gain the attention of the ongoing Senate Inquiry into Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, Chaired by Senator Bragg. The link up with Volt is quite interesting given it implies that BTC Market's days of being debanked are over.
Steve Weston, CEO of Volt Bank, said:
The crypto community hasn’t been happy with the games being played by banks and making life more difficult
Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, politely said:
Our experience probably mirrors a lot that’s already in the public domain about dealing with financial institutions in Australia... [w]e’ve certainly had a lot of changing relationships with financial institutions
The deal reportedly took 18 months to reach a point where APRA, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority which has responsibility for regulating banks, was satisfied with arrangements.
The blockchain and crypto community will be marking this announcement and the arrival of the intersection of traditional banking and digital assets, with great interest, as fiat currency on and off ramps have long been considered one of the limiting factors for more entrants into the digital asset ecosystem. Traditional banks will now face pressure to reconsider their position towards digital currency exchanges from a new angle, competition and ultimately their own investors wondering why these banks aren't seeking to play a part in the rapidly growing blockchain space.
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