is this for real? (overzealous banker)

[larry_vw_1955]

i was talking with the branch manager at my local bank. we ended up talking about bitcoin and crypto and i mentioned to him that I'm buying/selling crypto and he said that's not allowed. He pulled up my account on the spot and started asking me questions about various transactions. I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin 

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[Daniel91]

i was talking with the branch manager at my local bank. we ended up talking about bitcoin and crypto and i mentioned to him that I'm buying/selling crypto and he said that's not allowed. He pulled up my account on the spot and started asking me questions about various transactions. I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin 

I think you need to be very careful what you talk to and who you talk to.
When you talk to a tax or bank clerk, never talk about your personal finances if you don’t have to, and don’t reveal things you don’t have to.
As for the rest, I read somewhere that crypto is banned in Turkey and India (probably some other countries to).
If you don't live in these countries, I think you don't have to worry but still inquire further and be careful in the future.

[CryptocurencyKing]

Unfortunately, it's common practice on some banks. There are many stories where the bank account immidately closed after they found out there's transaction which related with Bitcoin.

As for the rest, I read somewhere that crypto is banned in Turkey and India (probably some other countries to).
If you don't live in these countries, I think you don't have to worry but still inquire further and be careful in the future.

Even if Bitcoin is legal on some country, the bank still could close your bank account because it violate their rule.

This is the case with Nigeria a while back, when we the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) placed a ban on crypto. It was a case of all accounts that were found to have transacted in cryptos being closed down. It never made sense to me. That an account be punished for some transaction carried out even before the transaction was outlawed!

Well, I'm yet to see a government that fully supports bitcoin aside from viewing it as insecurities and those that 8nvest on it are at there own risk. I'm sure your discussion with the banker who happened to have placed you under some sort of investigation has been an eye opener to you now on those you discuss your financial affairs with, not because bitcoin or cryptocurrencies are illegal but, because they want to be the doom of this growing field.

His got the authority to view your account as a bank manager but, should it not be embedded in their company policy and your not from a nation where cryptos are outlawed then, it becomes unlawful should your account be closed on the bases of your choice of investment. Though, it would be a lot complicated should issues arise as to this note. Government would be biased on which side to work with because, the banks are its agents. So, be careful whom you open up to.

[mk4]

Yea.. legal or not in your jurisdiction, you pretty much shot yourself in the foot there bud. Banks being suspicious concerning bitcoin/crypto transactions ain't anything new. Best thing you could do is to simply downplay the transactions that you've made (probably only admit to 5-10%?), and never do that again lol.

[Lucius]

As for the rest, I read somewhere that crypto is banned in Turkey and India (probably some other countries to).

A lot of people these days are misled about the crypto situation in Turkey, so it should be made clear that this is a ban on paying for goods and services with crypto - and not a total ban that would involve trading or owning crypto. @fillippone has explained this quite clearly in this thread -> Turkish Central Bank Forbids use of cryptocurrencies as a mean of Exchange.

I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin 

The interest of this banker is to protect the interests of the bank, which is quite logical - especially if the bank has rules that its customers are not allowed to use their account to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. You took the wrong step when you talked about something you should have kept to yourself, but if it bothers you that a bank did that, why not just open an account at another bank and close the old account after that?

[BIT-BENDER]

i was talking with the branch manager at my local bank. we ended up talking about bitcoin and crypto and i mentioned to him that I'm buying/selling crypto and he said that's not allowed. He pulled up my account on the spot and started asking me questions about various transactions. I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin 

Are you from Nigeria? Reasons for me asking is that, am a Nigerian and it's fresh that there is a bank to crypto-currency and crypto-currency to bank ban, it's unnecessary from from them but yes they did.

Still your bank manager has no right to interrogate you, you were just scared into it, there is no law he hold to ask you questions concerning what you do financially if he suspects you for any reason he can report you and then the appropriate agency take it up, know your rights.

[fillippone]

Unfortunately, it's common practice on some banks. There are many stories where the bank account immidately closed after they found out there's transaction which related with Bitcoin.

As for the rest, I read somewhere that crypto is banned in Turkey and India (probably some other countries to).
If you don't live in these countries, I think you don't have to worry but still inquire further and be careful in the future.

Even if Bitcoin is legal on some country, the bank still could close your bank account because it violate their rule.

This is exactly what happens in Italy if you hit a certain threshold on transfer to/from crypto exchanges.
You get a meeting with the branch manager, and then he's probably getting your account terminated.
Please note it is perfectly legal to own and trade bitcoin in Italy. Some other banks allow you to buy/sell and hold on their very own platforms!

[DdmrDdmr]

On the Spanish board we’ve being trying to update a thread on the matter (applied to banks in Spain) every now and then, based on people’s experience for a certain pair <bank, exchange> (see Mover dinero entre bancos y exchanges).

What we’ve seen so far, is that it is seemingly arbitrary, and that one person’s experience can be the opposite to another’s under similar circumstances. One normally does not want to explicitly bring this type of information to light by chatting with their bank, but it they want to ensure that a given TX gets through without any hassle, it may be necessary to have a pre-emptive chat beforehand. Of course, if there is a history of prior TXs that went through, the chat for TX n+1 may also put the spotlight on the n prior TXs, as the OP’s experience points out.

This is probably a function of:
<Country, Exchange, Custormer, Bank, Bank employee,  …,  Bank employee’s willingness to screw around, random factor related to star alignment, etc.>

[Welsh]

Yeah, I've noticed that sometimes its not actually the bank that's hostile to Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies for that matter, but the employee injecting their own beliefs, and threatening action based on their own miss skewed views. Of course, there are banks which are somewhat hostile to Bitcoin, and they tend to give the excuse of it being risky, but any bank which prevents you from sending money, despite the risk isn't a bank that you can trust.

Banks which warn you of the risk, but still allow the transaction if you wish, I can understand to a point.

[hatshepsut93]

Banks often view clients that deal with crypto as "high risk", and some banks just think it's not worth for them to verify that their clients are honest investors and not some money launderers, as it's easier to just not deal with people who do crypto transactions. Before using your bank account for buying/selling crypto, you should learn about your bank's stance by looking for reviews from other clients, or just asking the bank directly, though it can be risky if you already did such transactions.

[pakhitheboss]

i was talking with the branch manager at my local bank. we ended up talking about bitcoin and crypto and i mentioned to him that I'm buying/selling crypto and he said that's not allowed. He pulled up my account on the spot and started asking me questions about various transactions. I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin  

Bad decision!!

You should not discuss with anyone unknown about your finances. Things can get worst from now on if you know what I mean. Banks employees are the worst to discuss about finances. They have certain targets to achieve and one of them might be to catch someone doing cryptocurrency transaction in your country.

That is why there is a saying "Never trust a Bank"

[Asuspawer09]

i was talking with the branch manager at my local bank. we ended up talking about bitcoin and crypto and i mentioned to him that I'm buying/selling crypto and he said that's not allowed. He pulled up my account on the spot and started asking me questions about various transactions. I felt like an idiot for letting some dumbass in on my private personal financial life which is none of his business. But now it is!!! Seems like his mission in life is now to catch me in the act of buying or selling bitcoin 

Wait I can't see any reason why this is allowed? this is ridiculous  ? Is bitcoin banned in your country or something?

At some point, he can't just ask about your personal finances or investment, but I guess you already said it. We already know the connections of bitcoin and banks are not really that well, so I guess it's better to not talk about it especially in the banks. I have some issues about the banks but usually, the concern was where the money came from and if it is legal because probably they think like if it came from crypto it is probably related to something that is illegal.

If your just a normal investor or something or just invest and earn not a really high of a profit you could probably get away with the tax, so in my opinion, you could just tell them about it that you try it and didn't really make a big amount. If bitcoin is not illegal I guess you could just deny it, I mean they can't really just lock or freeze your account for something like that.

[Pokapoka124]

We all know traditional banks are strictly against the idea of crypto. They see Bitcoin as a threat to their existence and relevance. They would discourage anyone who wants to own Bitcoin. The same corporations who own the banks also own the media. That's why there's such bad news surrounding crypto for years. Bitcoin has been labelled a scam, ponzi and so on.
 Bitcoin has been banned in some countries in recent times. You have to check these things to make sure your country government hasn't changed their mind about crypto. There are already talks of crypto regulation in the U.S. I don't know how far they will go for it.
In the future, never disclose such information to anyone. If you need someone to talk to about crypto you've got the forum, I'm sure most of your questions can be answered here.

[pixie85]

I bet that guy is jealous and is going to keep watching you just to make your life miserable.
My advice is: change the bank. Don't answer any questions about transactions. They are not the police, you don't have to explain it to them.

Check the bank's TOS if they say anything about transactions from crypto exchanges. If they do, see above, if not, don't worry. Tell that manager that you want all that in writing.

[larry_vw_1955]

I think you need to be very careful what you talk to and who you talk to.
When you talk to a tax or bank clerk, never talk about your personal finances if you don’t have to, and don’t reveal things you don’t have to.

I think you hit the nail on the head. i'm learning that the hard way. i guess i just let my guard down a bit too much!

Yea.. legal or not in your jurisdiction, you pretty much shot yourself in the foot there bud. Banks being suspicious concerning bitcoin/crypto transactions ain't anything new. Best thing you could do is to simply downplay the transactions that you've made (probably only admit to 5-10%?), and never do that again lol.

Well that would be easy to do in theory but the way I talked to the branch manager, he could see I had alot of belief in what I was doing and I even told him the banks need to get on the bitcoin bandwagon or be left behind. I don't think he liked that. I was all proud of myself at first before I realized he took a dim view of what I'm doing! I don't think he's going to let me downplay that. I'm in the usa by the way.


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[cabron]

Well, you certainly exposed your self vulnerability when they have access to your personal data and finances. Don't start arguing anything related to Bitcoin to someone who handles your bank account, it hurts their feelings when they see you are winning.   But why would he be cracking you like he will get something out of it?  

If you are in a country where its illegal however its going to be a lot dangerous to tell something like that to the one who handles your bank account.  

[larry_vw_1955]

I bet that guy is jealous and is going to keep watching you just to make your life miserable.
My advice is: change the bank. Don't answer any questions about transactions. They are not the police, you don't have to explain it to them.

Check the bank's TOS if they say anything about transactions from crypto exchanges. If they do, see above, if not, don't worry. Tell that manager that you want all that in writing.

Well I did ask him if I could see in their TOS where they explicitly don't allow it but he just said they don't have to list every single thing that's not allowed. That's how things ended. Obviously the understanding is that I will not be doing any crypto transactions going forward using that account. Thanks for the reply.

[larry_vw_1955]

hey guys just an update on this situation, i was in the bank today and the branch mananger walked by me and said "how's that bitcoin stuff going?" i wasn't sure whether to take that as a personal interest or him trying to be nosy. i said "ok" then he said "just as long as you dont bring it here you'll be fine we don't allow money laundering" and then he just walked off?? not sure if i should take this guy seriously or not. i guess he made up his mind about me though. and aint gonna let me do anything lol.