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UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

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21–30 of 131 posts

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#21
post #4

If this policy expanded to all UK banks, it could plausibly make the UK a less interesting target for ransomware and similar cryptocurrency-backed extortion schemes.

I believe Australia is moving towards making it illegal to pay crypto ransoms. Cybercrime has gone absolutely wild over the last few years and cutting off the money tap should do some good.

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#24

I first learned about blockchain years ago talking to some middle eastern clients who had implemented something with it. After looking at the technology from a data & software engineering pov, I thought it was basically useless and incredibly niche. I said as much, but they didnt believe me; they also thought ML was where you "fed data to a machine and it did everything" because that's what some lecturer had told the…

Most of the highly technical software engineers I've spoken to have felt similarly. Blockchain is a neat solution to some very niche problems. However, there seems to be a middle ground of perhaps less technical people (the tech bros) who are attracted by the easy money and don't think too deeply about the underlying technical realities.

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#25
post #8

> This crypto ban by Starling comes off the heels of Santander’s decision to limit customer deposits to crypto exchanges to £1,000 per transaction and a monthly limit of £3,000 This, ironically, validates the argument for crypto that banks cannot be trusted to let you do what you want with your own money.

Better than giving it to crypto scammers

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#26

I don't really understand this. I'm very, very bearish to all things crypto, but how is banks stopping their customers transferring money to crypto businesses meant to prevent risk to the banks itself?

Customers of a bank which blocks crypto will be less valuable targets for attacks since crypto is the easiest and fastest way to extract non refundable money from an account.

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#27
post #20
post #6

How about letting people do what they want with their own money?

Society picks up the bill when mom and dad bet the pension savings on crypto and they have to take public money into retirement. The banks are trying to essential provide a cooling off period so regular people don't get obliterated. The same people that complain about the impinging government are usually the first to ask for a handout the moment something goes wrong etc etc.

Society pick up the bill when they bet the pension on a legal and regulated gambling site too. Or when they bet it all on leveraged tech stocks. Why stop you doing one thing and not the others?

I'm not particularly pro-crypto, but it's an interesting question that we haven't answered very well. It's clear to me that the state shouldn't stop you doing anything risky with your money - that also means stopping people starting businesses. But where do you draw the line? Problem gamblers often funnel every penny they have into betting sites - losing their house in the process. Wall street bets makes it clear that leveraged stocks can cause the same problems. Should we ban them too?

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#28

I first learned about blockchain years ago talking to some middle eastern clients who had implemented something with it. After looking at the technology from a data & software engineering pov, I thought it was basically useless and incredibly niche. I said as much, but they didnt believe me; they also thought ML was where you "fed data to a machine and it did everything" because that's what some lecturer had told the…

I'm a tech guy, also trade, also teeter on end the fed vibes

There is value in being able to anonymously and stably transfer value uncensored.

But which state will stand aside while you realize this dream? Not a one.

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#29
post #8

> This crypto ban by Starling comes off the heels of Santander’s decision to limit customer deposits to crypto exchanges to £1,000 per transaction and a monthly limit of £3,000 This, ironically, validates the argument for crypto that banks cannot be trusted to let you do what you want with your own money.

Better than giving it to crypto scammers

Not a crypto fan but I think you should be allowed to give your money to any scammer of your choice.

Re: UK high street banks are quarantining from crypto

#30
post #20
post #6

How about letting people do what they want with their own money?

Society picks up the bill when mom and dad bet the pension savings on crypto and they have to take public money into retirement. The banks are trying to essential provide a cooling off period so regular people don't get obliterated. The same people that complain about the impinging government are usually the first to ask for a handout the moment something goes wrong etc etc.

>The same people that complain about the impinging government are usually the first to ask for a handout the moment something goes wrong

Really? This doesn't seem to match my experience.

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