Banks need to trust customers with their own money
Fighting scams is vital, but many Australian banks have gone too far on crypto, limiting legitimate activity in the name of protection.
In Australia, if you have a bank account, you can withdraw up to your daily limit at an ATM without question and spend the cash however you like.
You can also walk into a branch and withdraw your entire balance. While you may be asked a few questions to satisfy anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, you’re still entitled to empty your account on the spot and do whatever you want with your cash.
Yet if you try to send $5,000 to a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, many banks will block or deny the request to access your own money, citing “scam risk” as justification.
Protecting customers from fraud and crypto scams sounds compelling on the surface. But it overlooks the controls and transparency built into regulated cryptocurrency exchanges, where every transaction is traceable and subject to Know Your Customer (KYC) and AML requirements.
