Various banks all over the world are banning Bitcoin purchases. This mainly applies to the United States, for some reason. It is possible other countries will take a similar approach in the coming months, for all we know. It seems Australia has no such plans to do anything according to these lines. In fact, the main Australian banks confirm Bitcoin-related credit card purchases will remain possible. It’s a bit of positive news which is direly needed.
Australia is an important region for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The local government even legalized this form of money. They also stepped up their game in the tax department. As such, it is good to see the local major banks keep an open mind in regards to Bitcoin. Based on the decisions in other regions, banning Bitcoin-related purchases makes sense. However, the banks will not ban Bitcoin transactions in any case. It is a very positive turn of events.
Australian Banks Keep an Open Mind
More specifically, there is no reason for Australian banks to do otherwise. While they don’t necessarily approve of Bitcoin, preventing consumers from spending their money is never the answer. Even credit card transactions are still possible. It will be interesting to see if either Visa or Mastercard plans to change that in the future. Both card issuers have taken an aggressive stance against cryptocurrency these past few weeks.
National Bank of Australia comments as follows:
“ASIC advises that, as most of the virtual currency exchange platforms are generally not regulated, customers may not be protected or have any legal recourse if the platform fails or is hacked. We take the protection of our customers’ information and accounts extremely seriously to reduce the risk for our customers, and to help protect their money, some card transactions may not be processed.”
It is evident Bitcoin is of great concern to regulators and financial institutions. The inherent volatility has been a pressing problem for some time now. By making it harder to purchase Bitcoin, banks take a very decisive move. It is something very few people will effectively appreciate, though. Australian banks keep an open mind, which is all anyone can ask for. Unfortunately, they are also part of the few who are not cracking down on Bitcoin just yet.
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