Chase Bank UK blocks crypto payments

The consumer bank owned by JP Morgan, Chase Bank, declared that it will no longer accept cryptocurrency payments from its UK clients as of next month.

In essence, Chase Bank has made the decision to refuse any payments made by its clients in the UK, even if it simply has a suspicion that the payments have something to do with cryptocurrency.

Customers who try to make a cryptocurrency-related debit card purchase or outgoing wire transfer from now on will, in fact, receive a refused transaction warning as of October 16.

The consumer bank of JP Morgan also emphasized that its clients are free to select another bank if they would like to make cryptocurrency payments:

“If you’d still like to invest in crypto assets, you can try using a different bank or provider instead – but please be cautious, as you may not be able to get the money back if the payment ends up being related to fraud or a scam.”

Chase Bank prohibits cryptocurrency payments in the UK to ward against fraud

With the intention of protecting customers’ money, Chase Bank has decided to outlaw payments involving cryptocurrencies in the UK.

It is hardly surprising that the bank has taken this position given the growth in bitcoin frauds targeting individuals in the UK. Chase Bank wrote the following about it:

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account.”

The damages that UK customers suffered from fraud involving cryptocurrencies rose by more than 40% in comparison to the previous year, surpassing £300 million for the first time, according to figures from the UK agency Action Fraud.

Also, ByBit disassociates itself from the UK

ByBit, a cryptocurrency exchange, recently declared that it will cease operations in the UK as of next month because of new laws pertaining to blockchain technology.

In essence, new UK regulations pertaining to bitcoin advertising and promotion will take effect on October 8 and mandate that enterprises involved in cryptocurrencies register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in order to publish advertisements and other communications.

ByBit does not appear to be on that register, which means that the cryptocurrency exchange will not be able to advertise its company in the UK.

For this reason, ByBit has determined that all new customers who are from the UK will not be able to establish new accounts as of October 1. However, as of October 8, specifically, current UK customers will not be allowed to make new deposits, sign new contracts, or take on further positions.

Customers in the UK will only be able to close or reduce their holdings and withdraw their monies from the site, that is all that ByBit will permit.