After Regulatory Heat, Cryptocurrency is being denied Purchasing Through Credit Card in US

At a time when Crypto-world is braving the aftershocks of Indian regulatory strikes after an all-out ban from China, largest lenders of US, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Citigroup are would be restricting the ​purchase of cryptocurrencies through their credit cards. To the agony of crypto-enthusiasts, these institutions have embarked upon this policy to avoid financing falling spears. Mary Jane Rogers, a ​JPMorgan spokesperson, was heard as saying that the institution does not intend to sustain credit risk that transactions in lieu of cryptocurrency purchase may carry. On Friday, Bank of America also canceled​ numerous, not all, transactions with popular cryptocurrency exchanges and issued a memo to the extent that the policy applies equally to both personal and business cards. However, Betty Reiss clarified while speaking on behalf of the company that debit cards services are not affected by this measure. Citigroup also is preparing to pursue a similar line, though the tenure and teeth of their step may vary from those of the earlier mentioned two institutions.

Admittedly, given the volatility and especially current one, lending institutions are awry of the fact that by betting on a wrong coin, a lender may lose the money and, consequently, go bankrupt. Antimoneylaundering drives also necessitate for the institutions to keep track of customers’ transaction and if dollars have been exchanged agains virtual coins, this task becomes far cry. Moreover, theft and unathorised use of stolen credit card information also poses risk to the money of lending institutions once it went out of their hands.

Facebook recently announced that it will be banning advertisements for cryptocurrency and ICOs, a step that would have an obvious impact on the fortune of new and yet to released coins. Amid regulatory heat and restricted advertisement space, halting credit services for crypto purchases would deal an additional blow to the market as it would be much harder for potential buyers in near future to have access to blockchain assets.