Key Takeaways:
- The Bank of America is allegedly cracking down on Coinbase users
- According to recent allegations, the bank closed the personal accounts of those trading in crypto on the exchange
- The development comes weeks after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — In what could be a fresh setback for the cryptocurrency sector, the Bank of America (BOA) is allegedly closing the personal bank accounts of people trading on the Coinbase crypto exchange.
The banking giant is trying to trade on safe grounds following the recent lawsuits that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed against major crypto players Binance (BNB) and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN).
In a Twitter post, Muneeb Ali, the co-founder of layer 2 blockchain firm Stacks (STX), claimed that the bank closed his account after 15 years. According to him, the bank took that step because he used the account for Bitcoin (BTC) transactions with Coinbase.
However, it seems that is the conclusion he has come to as the bank did not explain closing his checking and savings account. However, BOA said they had to suspend his credit card account as his “risk profile no longer meets their standards”.
Coinbase CEO launches poll to investigate
Alarmed at the development, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong turned to Twitter to find out if the alleged Bank of America crackdown is real.
In a bid to verify the allegations, he launched a poll with his followers asking them if anyone else has had a similar experience. He also tagged the bank with the hope of getting clarification.
If one is to believe the poll results, other people have also had a similar experience. At the time of writing, 9.1% of the around 12,000 participants said the Bank of America has closed their accounts as well.
In contrast, 19.1% of the participants said that they did not have a similar experience. However, these polls should be taken with a pinch of salt as anyone on Twitter, even without an account with the bank, can still vote and influence the result.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that the Bank of America is cracking down on accounts associated with crypto exchange Coinbase. Back in 2018, similar reports also emerged from users who alleged that the bank was shutting down accounts based, on alleging their crypto exposure was a risk.
