South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) will shut down accounts linked to crypto

Rajan Dhall, MSTA FX Daily

In a blow to cryptocurrency trading, one of South Africa's largest banks said it will shut down any accounts linked to cryptocurrency trading.

FNB made their decision known to cryptocurrency exchanges in the region, including Luno, ICE3X and VALR, that the bank would no longer provide services to crypto-related companies.

FNB went on to say that the decision is taken due to serious consideration of its “risk appetite” for crypto-related activities. They did promise to review the ban if regulations around the emerging industry become clearer in the future.

This is an extract of the notice:

FirstRand Bank has been considering its risk appetite in respect of virtual currencies and virtual currency exchanges for some time. Within this context the bank has taken the decision to discontinue the provision of banking services to virtual currency exchanges and/or entities dealing/trading in virtual currency.

Author

Rajan Dhall, MSTA

FX Daily

Rajan Dhall is an experienced market analyst, who has been trading professionally since 2007 managing various funds producing exceptional returns.

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