Standard Bank issues account termination notices to cryptocurrency arbitrage services

mylesillidge

mylesillidge

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Shockwaves through cryptocurrency industry in South Africa

Standard Bank has served account termination notices on several clients who offer automated cryptocurrency arbitrage services, MyBroadband has learned.

This has left several businesses scrambling to figure out how to respond and has raised questions about the criteria Standard Bank used to decide whose accounts to close.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of dodgy operations somewhere. That is the problem with crypto - one bad apple can spoil it for everybody and because of the decentralized nature it is almost impossible to crack down in a surgical manner.

It might not even be the exchanges themselves but clients of them. Hell anything from money laundering, exchange control circumvention, payment for illegal activities like drugs, child porn etc.

The world don't have a solution for the above yet. And until they do... I think we are going to see more crackdowns.
 
Johand said:
I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of dodgy operations somewhere. That is the problem with crypto - one bad apple can spoil it for everybody and because of the decentralized nature it is almost impossible to crack down in a surgical manner.

It might not even be the exchanges themselves but clients of them. Hell anything from money laundering, exchange control circumvention, payment for illegal activities like drugs, child porn etc.

The world don't have a solution for the above yet. And until they do... I think we are going to see more crackdowns.
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That's exactly the issue I have with crypto in general. It could solve some problems, but that's like opening Pandora's box just to get at a jelly tot somebody said happens to be in there.
 
w1z4rd said:
Ill be closing down my Standard Bank business account pretty soon.
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And go where? Bank of Baroda has closed their branches here.... as for the other banks -- good luck. They will all act at some point or another. I very, very much doubt that it was completely Standard Bank's decision here....
 
Time for bank Zero or one of the other new players to grab the opportunity and work with them
 
w1z4rd said:
Ill be closing down my Standard Bank business account pretty soon.
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Its not Standard Bank but the regulations they will have to follow. If the other party doesnt cross their t's and dot their i's then Standard Bank has no option but to shut their account. They are following both government and international trading regulations. If they dont, it can lead to fines in the hundreds of million rands. This will have to be covered by the other account holders. The bank's trading accounts could also be blocked by foreign financial firms. ie you suddenly discover Standard Bank cant send money to the US on behalf of the clients, or all their cards rejected in Europe. So for the safety of all clients, they have to cut them off.

So dont be so quick to blame the bank. They have thousands of regulations they have to follow, or else total chaos.

So when you do run a business with them, make sure its proper.

I have to say I've never had issues with Standard Bank. Found they were the easiest to deal with. FNB the worst. I've had an FNB savings account closed 4 times all of the sudden, and all I used it for was paypal. Total chaos to get it reopened.
 
Youre just lucky you arent in China. The Chinese government just shut them down, and confiscated all their coins. For the betterment of the Chinese people. Thats the end of Crypto there.

Basically you are trading on something that is actually just a digital ID and hold no real wealth other than being a get rich quick scheme, if youre lucky.

But if a war comes, a bitcoin wont hold up to some cigarettes, or alcohol or diamonds or a fat wad of US dollar bills. It would be totally worthless. Thats when you see whats really valuable.
 
Corelli said:
But if a war comes, a bitcoin wont hold up to some cigarettes, or alcohol or diamonds or a fat wad of US dollar bills. It would be totally worthless. Thats when you see whats really valuable.
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Explain?
 
Still don't get why in 2021 I can't login to my xyzbank right now and connect my wallets directly to my bank account... banks would make a mint /shrug
 
Corelli said:
But if a war comes, a bitcoin wont hold up to some cigarettes, or alcohol or diamonds or a fat wad of US dollar bills. It would be totally worthless. Thats when you see whats really valuable.
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If war comes it wont be in every country in the world. It would be in places. Say it happens here and there is a civil war. How much do you think the rand will devalue? My bitcoin wont and I just have to get to another country and all my financial wealth is safe. You got this totally wrong.
 
w1z4rd said:
If war comes it wont be in every country in the world. It would be in places. Say it happens here and there is a civil war. How much do you think the rand will devalue? My bitcoin wont and I just have to get to another country and all my financial wealth is safe. You got this totally wrong.
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Totally underestimating TEOTWAWKI.
 
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