Starling, a United Kingdom-based digital challenger bank, made headlines in the cryptocurrency community lately when it had decided to suspend all of the payments made to various cryptocurrency exchanges.
Starling, also known as Starling Bank, is a challenger bank with headquarters based in London. The bank primarily focuses its efforts towards business as well as current account-based products and is also regulated and licensed. It had been founded in January of 2014 by Anne Boden, a former Chief Operating Officer of Allied Irish Banks.
Crypto-related crimes
For those wondering as to why the bank would suddenly and abruptly put an end to the payments being made to the aforementioned crypto exchanges, we need not look any further than the recent mounting concerns pertaining to the various financial crimes that have often become associated with the use of cryptocurrency in the past and well into the present.
As such, cryptocurrency-based financial crimes had been listed as the official reason as to why the suspension had been put into effect, and with good reason, as there has been an increase in crimes committed within the cryptocurrency industry lately, as had been the case with PancakeBunny, JulSwap, and BurgerSwap not too long ago where attackers had successfully utilized flash loan exploits to steal millions.
However, it should also be mentioned that this suspension is said to be only temporary and will most likely be lifted once consumer protection can be fully guaranteed. A Starling representative had therefore stated that this is indeed an issue for every single bank, not just a select few. He then went on to apologize for any inconvenience caused for the respective customers and once again went on to reassure everyone that this measure is a temporary solution.
In related news, Barclays, another prominent figure in the world of British banks, had suggested that its own clientele will still be permitted to interact with the various cryptocurrency exchanges.
Crypto can wait, according to Starling
Goldman Sachs had recently donated $69 million to Starling as the challenger bank is en route to obtaining an IPO (initial public offering).
Anne Boden had stated earlier on in May that there just isn’t any kind of overwhelming demand on the part of the bank’s customers for cryptocurrency as of this point in time. Others, such as Mark Hipperson, the co-founder of Starling, have adopted a relatively more friendly and open-minded approach towards cryptocurrency. He even possesses his very own crypto start-up known as Ziglu.
