Danske Bank A\/S says it won\u2019t lift a ban on trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its platforms, despite growing interest from clients.<\/p>\n
Denmark\u2019s biggest bank pointed to a lack of transparency and regulation in crypto trading, in a statement on its website. It also warned of volatile and \u201copaque\u201d pricing, and noted that the carbon footprint of mining cryptocurrencies is at odds with Danske\u2019s goal of doing sustainable banking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that there is a significant global market for crypto currencies and that many customers find cryptocurrencies interesting,\u201d the bank said. \u201cHowever, as a financial institution, Danske Bank for several reasons maintains a very cautious approach towards cryptocurrencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danske, which is still being investigated for money laundering in the U.S. and Europe, is particularly sensitive to the risk of crypto assets being used for financial crime. Meanwhile, Bitcoin and its peers are growing increasingly popular as several corners of Wall Street provide services that allow customers to trade them.<\/p>\n
The head of Sweden\u2019s financial regulator, Erik Thedeen, warned earlier this week of a \u201csignificant risk\u201d that crypto assets may be used for criminal purposes. \u201cFinancial firms need to ask themselves whether they really want to invest in or encourage the growth\u201d of such assets, especially when they have \u201cno obvious valuable legitimate use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Thedeen also said that carbon emissions caused by Bitcoin mining are another reason why firms \u201cshould think carefully\u201d before touching such crypto assets.<\/p>\n
In the Nordic region, where cash is being replaced by digital payments at a faster pace than in most other parts of the world, the biggest banks are united in their skepticism toward cryptocurrencies. Nordea Bank Abp also bans Bitcoin, and won\u2019t even let employees trade it.<\/p>\n
Danske said much hinges on the extent to which cryptocurrencies might one day be properly regulated. Should that ever happen, the bank will review its position, it said.<\/p>\n
Danske said it was waiting to see how developments under new European Union legislation, Regulation of Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continuously monitor developments in the area of cryptocurrencies, and as the cryptocurrency market matures and is further regulated, we will review our position,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Danske Bank says it won\u2019t lift a ban on trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its platforms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":401775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44696],"tags":[187],"class_list":["post-402437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-bitcoin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}