How safe is it letting the bank know that you are a BTC Investor?

[EluguHcman]

Few days ago, I made a BTC P2P transaction with my wallet exchange, the value of the fund was above my bank accounts capacity which got my bank account temporarily blocked.
So I went to the bank to sort it out and they said I would have to do an account Update and Upgrading.
I was asked to provide some personal documents for the procession so that my account can be upgrade to accumulate as much bigger value of funds hence the upgrade is done.
I provided all that required but while on the process, the customer care banking official asked me what I do for a living and I told her I am an investor and she asked to know what I invests on. I paused in a moment and  thought twice if I should say BTC investor or something else because I thought about my safety first since they have access to my bank account and they could easily get me in track if they wanted.
Besides, there were other customers who stood behind and with all ears which I was extremely security conscious to myself because my country isn't safe not because BTC is illegal but in the fact that they believes anyone dealing with BTC is a total wealthy man.
We all know that basically anyone who is not into BTC but knows about its potentials would say BTC is an investment platform specifically for the rich people.

Finally, I told the the official that I am a BTC investor and it was written down behind the bank form I filled for mtge upgrade request. After on, my conscience wasn't at rest because I was wondering i have attracted the bank from monitoring my banks transactions.

Question please: was the official question on me necessary? And was it wrong of me letting her know that I am a BTC investor? My conscience just keep saying "Hello man, you fucked up talking about BTC out there".

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[btc78]

Yes, the bank often concerns itself with their clients’ businesses and source of incomes. They usually insert their noses in on clients who seem to be having some unusual activities especially regarding money. If you deposit or withdraw huge amounts of cash, the bank will take this as a sign of possible criminal activity.

Even though you did nothing wrong, they are still bound to check whether you actually are involved in some kind of money laundering activities. It is not ideal to announce that you own bitcoin but if bitcoin is not considered as illegal in your country then the bank can not really do anything about your account.

[franky1]

many people even in UK/america experienced this years ago where a platform called localbitcoins offered listings for individuals to do P2P away from centralised exchanges..
when too many random participant transactions in succession occurred or values too high to be the account holders personal income occurred. this caused banks to question the values.. and yes banks by default do check on their customers for multiple reasons..

the main issue people received is that banks spotted PERSONAL accounts being used for what they deemed BUSINESS trading currency.
which caused them to flag accounts and inform customers it was a breach of use of accounts for using a personal account for business even if the person was a sole trader(self employed). people needed to upgrade to a business account, and also because the business was a money service business doing currency swaps they needed a money service business licence to then operate ontop, before the business account could be operated

so be aware if your country requires licences for operating as a currency service or money business or anything related to facilitating payments as a service for a fee/commission.. expect that to be another hurdle to climb

..
yep alot of people think DE-FI and private P2P will hide them from being found as running an exchange service.. but the banks do look at the fiat sides of a deal and spot when too many strangers are putting fiat into or taking fiat out of your account.. counts or volume that cant be explained as paying bills or friends/family do raise suspicion levels in banks policies of monitoring accounts

[Zaguru12]

You see some of these banks actually do ask this kind of mostly when they see an account that barely gets funded or even funded aren’t that much suddenly receiving large amount of money, although it is kind of a privacy breach to ask you what you do but they do so in most compliance with government rules. Reason been that aside the issue of money laundering this is where some country government get information on your income and later up your taxes.

It wouldn’t be a thing of worry if your country doesn’t frown on bitcoin, but if they are yet to make a stance on the issue firmly it will be a risk telling people you invest in bitcoin, you could as well tell them stuffs like been involved in real estate or better still into agricultural cultivation and so. If the bank has you on their radar as bitcoin investor , should the government order for the closure of bank accounts dealing with bitcoin or cryptocurrency yours will definitely be at risk. If you’re converting your bitcoin to local fiat and the amount is huge, learn to use different bank accounts from different banks to avoid much suspicion with large in flow of money

[franky1]

the bank has you on their radar as bitcoin investor , should the government order for the closure of bank accounts dealing with bitcoin or cryptocurrency yours will definitely be at risk.

its not just "bitcoin" word fear
if your country has rules about any money shuffling above X they can question the purpose of X

its not just "bitcoin" word fear
if your country has rules about running a business converting any currency. even if its another countries fiat requires a special money conversion licence to operate as such

its not just "bitcoin" word fear
if your country has rules about any money received, needed to be declared to tax departments as a rare personal gift or a business operation (depending on amount small rare amounts can be left undeclared, unless the volume of small amounts cause suspicion of joint payments evading the limit)

its not just "bitcoin" word fear
if your country has rules about fundraisers/charities of multiple small transactions even if you say they are gifts, they can question the purpose of it where saying its just lots of random gifts done as fundraisers, need to declare the activity as a charity business

some people scream "what about privacy"
there has never been a right to privacy in regards to the relationship between banks and its customers..
yes when it comes to bank accounts, the account holder has protections from friends, family, neighbours, strangers to not be allowed to find out financial information without account holder authority. but the bank itself can, do, will and legally able to monitor peoples accounts.. there has NEVER been any right to privacy in regards to your banks relationship with you. and that has been the case even before bitcoin existed. banks have always been able to monitor its customers accounts.

also
if you do lie, and it is found out. that raises suspicions of fraud by making an official declaration that is incorrect, which can lead to issues with access to an account

[mk4]

While it totally depends on the country you're in, generally, banks and governments tend to hate bitcoin/crypto; hence as much as possible I don't recommend mentioning it. But unfortunately sometimes you need to mention it due to tax purposes lol (especially if you're from the United States).

[sokani]

Bitcoin investor is not an occupation and the customer care representative needs to input the right information into the system, so that's what prompted the question. There are many things you could have written on the form like student, businessman, civil servant etc, but why BTC investor? Which to me looks like a show off.

So I think you really screwed up, you're supposed to keep your crypto dealings discreet and exposing yourself in this manner is not good. The banking staff may not harm you but with this kind of mentality, you may repeat same mistake elsewhere.

[Text]

If I were in your situation, I would also be concerned about revealing my involvement in BTC to my bank, especially considering the potential security and privacy risks. However, banks are legally obligated to conduct due diligence on their customers, which includes understanding the sources of our funds – it's just following standard protocol.

In many cases, inquiries about your occupation and the nature of your investments are part of the bank's efforts to comply with regulations and prevent fraudulent activities. While it may be uncomfortable, it's not uncommon for banks to ask about the types of transactions you're engaged in, especially during significant changes in your financial behavior. Banks often seek clarification when they encounter unusual or high-value transactions.

One risk I see is that banks might be more inclined to monitor your transactions, especially large ones if they know you're involved in crypto. This could lead to delays or inquiries if they suspect suspicious activity. Being a crypto investor might also make you a target for phishing attacks or scams to exploit your knowledge and holdings.

I believe in the right to privacy, and you can choose what information you share with your bank. In your case, you chose to disclose that you are a BTC investor. Could it be less specific and mention digital assets or technology instead?

[Solosanz]

Unfortunately you can't do anything, you could say you're a stock investor, but if they were actually know you're a Bitcoin investor, don't be surprised they would froze your funds.

This is similar like you visit a doctor, let's say you're an underage but already have a sex, you're ill, when the doctor is asking what have you doing before, what will you say? will you create a fake story, didn't answer or being honest if you have a sex? you're scared your doctor might report you or you don't feel comfortable by telling it, but you need to tell it in order make the doctor able to know your disease.

[DapanasFruit]

Question please: was the official question on me necessary? And was it wrong of me letting her know that I am a BTC investor? My conscience just keep saying "Hello man, you fucked up talking about BTC out there".

I think that this concern should really be discussed by all people who are into cryptocurrency. Personally, I would not tell outright that am into Bitcoin or cryptocurrency as we don't know what can be the policy of the bank regarding proceeds from cryptocurrency investing and we don't what will happen in the future. Your account can already be flagged as one involved with cryptocurrency hence they gonna list it for accounts on the lookout. I am sure there are other ways to evade this question but maybe OP was just a little bit nervous and was not prepared beforehand for the question so I understand. I remember one time when I was opening an account with a big, well-known bank here in my country and the teller told me explicitly that it was their bank's policy that no money from cryptocurrency should come to my account. I don't know if the same policy is still in place but it is really discomforting hearing that warning, nonetheless.

[coinerer]

in many countries Bitcoin is use as a legal currency. so now it  depend in your country law that how to safe yourself from Bank if they know about your Bitcoin investment. normally I don't think bank can pressure you for your Bitcoin investment. because if your country is legalised the Bitcoin then you have the right to invest your money on Bitcoin. but if your countries law still consider Bitcoin as a illegal currency then bank can froze your account to avoid Central Bank liability. so you have to protect yourself in accordance with the law of your country

[BlackBoss_]

Few days ago, I made a BTC P2P transaction with my wallet exchange, the value of the fund was above my bank accounts capacity which got my bank account temporarily blocked.

With Peer to Peer trades, you don't have to tell banks that your trades are with Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies and bank has no reason to block your bank account temporarily.

The only reason is if you are trading with a trade partner who use illegal money and do money laundering via a trade with you. Then if the victim of your trade partner reports the scam to police, bank, by tracing money flow, at the end your bank account can be related and be blocked temporarily. It's because of money laundering, not because of Bitcoin-related trade.

With your question, Bitcoin investor or not, bank does not care about it. They care that what you use your bank account for such trades, legal or illegal.

[Patrol69]

Banks will never want you to invest in bitcoins because if you invest in bitcoins you don't keep money in the bank it is the bank's loss. Banks in my country are always against bitcoin and they never want people of our country to invest in bitcoin that's why they distribute different leaflets and give different warning ads in different media. I don't share my own investments with anyone, banks are far from it. I need the bank to make some small transactions but the bank never knows about me or knows that I am a bitcoin investor. If they know about my investment then I will suffer through them and my investment will suffer. I will never try to tell the bank about this because if the bank knows it will result in loss of my investment.

[adaseb]

Its depends where the money comes from.

If it’s from a bitcoin exchange then most banks these days know that the exchange does KYC and they feel it’s less risk.

The issue is from P2P because you are dealing with other individuals instead of an exchange. And in many countries, most countries if you want to trade currencies for profit you need a money transmitter license. Most of the P2P people don’t do that and hence why banks blocks accounts because you aren’t allowed to do this. Especially on large values.

[0t3p0t]

was the official question on me necessary? And was it wrong of me letting her know that I am a BTC investor?

I think that was part of their protocol or maybe requirements to know your capacity to have that huge amount of money which is part of the banks regulation but it's all good if all of it came from crypto not from illegal activities like gambling or the like. It's not wrong as long as you are a law abiding citizen though exposed as a crypto investor but yeah it doesn't matter.

[franky1]

I believe in the right to privacy, and you can choose what information you share with your bank. In your case, you chose to disclose that you are a BTC investor. Could it be less specific and mention digital assets or technology instead?

maybe read the terms of your bank account.. you are using their service. they thus have terms of use you have to agree with, some of their terms are purely policy wrote at their business level. but some are backed up by laws like the BSA

this is why many people hate FIAT, hate banks and why bitcoin was invented. to escape the need to rely on banks.

[Richbased]

This is the more reason why I hate centralized monetary regulatory authorities like the bank because they raise suspicion whenever they observe that a customer deposited a huge amount of money in their account although on the contrary it is also good as some of these banks uses that methods to fish out fraudsters who are making money through illegal means but however, to me it's not even the duty of the bank to question one's source of wealth as there are government agencies to handle such situations maybe in as case where someone is flaunting their wealth then it would be their job to run some investigations on how such a person got their wealth and this kind of questions from banks stopped me from having any dealings with them for years now because had it been it involved a customer that they know is wealthy and maybe a huge amount enters the customers account would they have cared to know how such a customer got such money? It's just unfortunate that it looks like the laws affects the average man in the society unlike the Rich amongst us

I can never tell a bank that I'm a bitcoin investor, because I know that all these centralized authorities ain't even happy about the invention of Bitcoin so telling them that you're a bitcoin investor would mean that you're giving them the room to always monitor your account and if for any reason in the future, the government now starts frowning at crypto enthusiasts, you would easily be apprehended. I believe that the creators of Bitcoin invented it out of anonymity so it is also our duty to protect our identity at all times.
In Nigeria, the government placed a ban on cryptocurrency in 2021, and just within December 2023, the government lifted the ban but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is at liberty to flunt crypto assets.

[Hatchy]

Question please: was the official question on me necessary? And was it wrong of me letting her know that I am a BTC investor? My conscience just keep saying "Hello man, you fucked up talking about BTC out there".

When it comes to privacy and security, it's not a good idea to tell people you're a Bitcoin investor because it could make you a target. Centralized bodies often mishandle our data, and their employees might sell it to criminals. It's important to be cautious about what you share to avoid drawing attention to yourself.

Do you have other sources of income besides Bitcoin investment? If not, how do you invest in Bitcoin without a steady income? While you might earn from forum activities like signature campaigns, it's risky to rely solely on that for investing. It's better to have multiple sources of income.
Instead of disclosing your Bitcoin investments, consider sharing other aspects of your life or occupation to protect your privacy and security in the long run.

[Assface16678]

Well, primarily, it's better not to share with anyone about your investment in bitcoin or crypto currency stuff, but it can't be helpful because the bank will have to ask for a reason why you would like to expand or increase the limit of your bank account, and I think stating about crypto currency could be a valid reason as they know that transactions made through crypto currency are huge. But rest assured that even though you've shared your information about engagement in crypto with the bank staff, they have the rules to not let out personal information about customers, so they will not say anything to everyone about your engagement in bitcoin. Of course, it still can't be avoided, so you better have a different reason to say something than to give anyone a hint about your investments. You could put yourself in danger whenever you talk about your Crypro currency engagement.

[Adbitco]

You messed up yourself by telling them you are a bitcoin investor most at time bank don't care to know but what they believed is that you are a fraudster and therefore you were just using Bitcoin investment to hide your evil deals.

One thing you must know is that most of the bankers are working directly with EFCC and if they start observing your account transaction then they will have to call you efcc to come question you, that is why before boldly saying anything you should think about the country you finds yourself otherwise you might easily gets yourself into trouble by saying what you aren't meant to say.

Sometimes 2017 or 2018 I was asked same question while in bank but was clever enough to give them a smart answer that doesn't relates with bitcoin investment all for my safety otherwise who knows what could have happened by now comparing the rate at which EFCC and other agencies are digging out things from young people because they all believe anyone who is healthy and looking flashy is always an internet fraudster.