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

[Rruchi man]

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".

Your bank will not steal your money or tamper with your money in their holding, and unless the customer care official recorded it in your profile as an investor in bitcoins, you don't have much to worry about because she will forget it as soon as possible because she deals with a lot of people daily.

As further advice, always consider the legal conditions of bitcoins in your country before discussing about it publicly with any person, or even claiming to be an investor.

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[Dzwaafu11]

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".

For me, she must ask you that question. If your bank is aware that you are a bitcoin investor, it is not a big concern. In my opinion, the only issue that these may cause you is that if your country is against bitcoin investment, you can see how your bank may use that against you because banks are governed by the country's government policy, so they may believe that allowing you to make a bitcoin transaction and send funds to your bank account will cause them problems; it will undoubtedly have something to do with what you told them.

But in a situation where your government does not make bitcoin prohibited in your country, telling them they will not do anything bad to you, they may even use that to do what you want for you in time because they believe that you are doing something tangible, so they will do that for you. But another thing is that before you disclose your source of income, you need to first look at how people view bitcoiners in your country. If you know that they view it as something that fraudsters do, don't let your bank know that you are into bitcoin activities for your safety.

[kryptqnick]

If I need to answer questions in a bank, I keep my answers very short, with the minimal amount of details I can get away with. I don't want to provide a lot of info to them, and I usually don't even mention that I have bank accounts in other banks, let alone any crypto holdings. There are some questions banks are legally required to ask, but a lot of questions actually aren't among them and are just things banks ask because they feel like it.
The op has already told the bank about Bitcoin, so there's nothing to do but hope that they won't care. Maybe they'll just write it down under employment section, I don't know.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

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".

Banks will always want to know what their customer does for a living for enabling them have such fund which resulted to their account been blocked, while trying to prevent fraud and other internet related scams. But letting the banks know that you were a Bitcoin investor was actually not a bad idea, but if I was to be in his shoe, I think using the term "Forex trader" would have been more perfect, since it has to do with exchange of foreign currencies, because I could remember months back when bank accounts related to Bitcoin were all frozen, simply because the Central bank in my region restricted banks from dealing with Bitcoin related transaction, and who knows if O.P had made such mistake during that period, his account likely would have been blocked.

[Issa56]

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.

Seriously, you should always know your bank limit before making any transactions. I went through your post history, and I noticed that you are from Nigeria. The current government is not against bitcoin, but we don’t know if the next government will be against it. Since they already have your details,  your account will be among the first to be affected if any restriction is placed. If you can remember that the previous government implemented a ban on all accounts that have been linked to crypto transactions, the best thing is to don’t allow banks to know you are into bitcoin.

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.

The only mistake that you made was that you didn’t upgrade your account before receiving that amount. If you are involved in cryptocurrency and you are planning to withdraw large amounts of money, you should first identify your account limit. If the amount you are planning to withdraw exceeds your limit, then first visit the bank and update your account before proceeding to withdraw the money. You shouldn’t wait till your account has been frozen before upgrading your account.

[Etranger]

It really all depends on a bank and on a country you live in. Generally I wouldn't recommend anyone to let their bank know he is a bitcoin investor. Bitcoin was created to maintain anonymity and while this feature is still available one should use it. In modern world it is very hard to stay out if the radar, big companies and governments have access to massive stocks of personal information. I would like to keep for myself as much as possible.

[Saint-loup]

Unfortunately you didn't mention in which country it has happened, but you're right, in most countries crypto investors are red flagged by banks, because they are afraid of money laundering, tax evasion, illegal purchases and that the customers could go quickly bankrupt and insolvent while having debts and loans. So unfortunately in 2024 being a crypto user or holder is still not well seen in most parts of the world from traditional banking services.

[mirakal]

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

Even if bitcoin is already legalized in one country but still not accepting it as a legal tender, telling a bank staff that you’re into bitcoin investment is still a bad idea. Banks will always see bitcoin investors as the bad guys, so it’s safer telling them that you’re into stocks or gold, or real estate investment. That way, you will not be doubted by them and won’t make longer investigations. Otherwise, if they observe unusual amount of funds entering your account, they will automatically close your account without even giving you prior notice.

While bitcoin investment is legit and is legal, but in order to free yourself from bank monitoring or any other legal investigations, it’s better to keep it to yourself your bitcoin investment. You know your investment’s worth, and you can’t just let any other people or other group or entity takes control of your hard-earned investment.

[Davidvictorson]

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".

Yes, the official question was very necessary. It is a required question. I guess we are from the same country. And saying you are a bitcoin investor doesn't break any rule. The reaction from the attendant may be different from what you are thinking. The government is not going to keep an eye on your account's transactions. All you have to do in my estimation is to ensure that you double down on your security and whatever P2P transactions you make shouldn't have the term, bitcoin, cryptocurrency in it. Lastly, please exercise serious caution when you talk about yourself as a bitcoin investor in the public. Next time when you are asked what you do, just say "I am a public servant working in the digital tech field."

[Faisal2202]

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 you made a little mistake there by saying that you are BTC investors while crypto is banned in your country, the reason for saying this is, that crypto is banned in my country too, and once the bank knows you are dealing with crypto and withdrawing money into the bank, they will try to stuck your money into the system, try to eat them by themselves, and you can't do anything about it, because crypto is banned in your country. So you can't file a complaint about them if you do so you will be the one questioned not them.

This is not something I am creating from my mind, it has been happening in my country for a long ago, that's why attaching your crypto life directly with banks is not a wise call, I think the question they asked was official and they had the right, but you just can say I am a investor of commodities, that's it, commodities can cover many things including BTC, but now if you have made the mistake, the better thing would be to not use bank for withdrawing or any activity purpose, otherwise they might create problems for you. Just a friendly advice don't trying to freak you up.

[The Cryptovator]

If Bitcoin is legal in your country and you are a regular tax payer, then you can definitely inform banks that you are related to Bitcoin. It isn't necessary to inform other people to protect your privacy. You can simply write on your application form that you want to upgrade your account capacity. But if Bitcoin is illegal, then you must avoid talking even about it; otherwise, your account would be frozen by the bank and take a legal action according to government rules. So everything depends on different circumstances. 

[Distinctin]

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".

Your bank will not steal your money or tamper with your money in their holding, and unless the customer care official recorded it in your profile as an investor in bitcoins, you don't have much to worry about because she will forget it as soon as possible because she deals with a lot of people daily.

As further advice, always consider the legal conditions of bitcoins in your country before discussing about it publicly with any person, or even claiming to be an investor.

Otherwise, learned not to disclose about bitcoin and just create other source of income that will support your funds, I’m sure the bank will not ask deep details on it. For me, whether bitcoin is legal or illegal in your country, it’s still best to protect your investment from being recognized by other people. Who knows, some bank’s staff will plan against your account since they are now aware how much funds are saved in your account.

Be cautious in all that you do most particularly if it concerns bitcoin. We don’t invest and let other people benefit our bitcoins, that’s why we have to stay them unknown to others.

[Furious 7]

I have experienced this and indeed the case is also the same where I was asked about my income when trying to increase the bank account that we have because the transfer we made exceeded the limit given and inevitably we have to try to reason as best as possible so that it returns.

Talking about one's own income especially if it's to the bank then actually this is a little difficult but surely in some cases we will definitely be asked the same thing like this. as for how safe or not this is still complicated because indeed on the one hand this is a privacy but on the other hand the bank's policy is like that.
It's actually quite risky too but when the regulations have been set then it's difficult for us even though it's not dangerous in my opinion but the question is quite annoying.

[Russlenat]

If I need to answer questions in a bank, I keep my answers very short, with the minimal amount of details I can get away with. I don't want to provide a lot of info to them, and I usually don't even mention that I have bank accounts in other banks, let alone any crypto holdings. There are some questions banks are legally required to ask, but a lot of questions actually aren't among them and are just things banks ask because they feel like it.
The op has already told the bank about Bitcoin, so there's nothing to do but hope that they won't care. Maybe they'll just write it down under employment section, I don't know.

Sometimes, honesty will put you in a more risky situation. But there’s nothing we can do with OP statement as he had said what he need to say. I just hope that his account will not be blocked or closed soon once the bank notice some huge amount of deposits.

But if I were in his position, instead of saying that he’s into bitcoin investment, I would rather say I’m working in crypto. At least, that won’t make them doubtful on my income.

[Cookdata]

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".

Bitcoin isn't illegal in Nigeria except you have not been upto date about Bitcoin in Nigeria. In fact, 3 years ago, central bank gave an authorization to block any bank accounts involved in crypto currency transaction, that means that any money payment or commercial bank involved in the clearing of fiat transactions for any person involved in crypto or any transactions reference to any crypto transaction will be freeze by central banks but this year, that has been reversed back which mean anybody is freely to trade and buy crypto without any problem but banks are prohibited from doing so because central banks knows they can use customers money to buy crypto and that's why they prohibited them which is fair to me.

The bank can't do you anything for saying you buy crypto or bitcoin. They don't have the right because the law didn't say Bitcoin is illegal neither did they say is legal but as far Central Bank of Nigeria allows it, you are free like a bird.

Some years back, my vendor that I used to sell Bitcoin for sent me money and I didn't receive my money so, I went to my bank to complain because I was mad at them as my vendor had already sent me money and also sent me proof of receipt buy I didn't get it. The guy check the system and noticed I had a pending transaction and ask me what I do and things I do, he actually open to me and I reciprocate and I was surprised he want to buy bitcoin with his saving because his salary isn't something to talk about, that's how we became friends even when he didn't buy, I like him for paying attention as we discussed, this is to tell you that even the bankers want the same thing you are doing, just that their system limit them because of policy.

[_BlackStar]

-snip-

Your bank will not steal your money or tamper with your money in their holding, and unless the customer care official recorded it in your profile as an investor in bitcoins, you don't have much to worry about because she will forget it as soon as possible because she deals with a lot of people daily.

As further advice, always consider the legal conditions of bitcoins in your country before discussing about it publicly with any person, or even claiming to be an investor.

Of course - it's a wise option to consider. As long as crypto trading and investment is legal in the country – then they don't need to be afraid of being spied on by banks. Most likely, the bank will simply report your money to the tax office which in turn requires the owner to report the asset to tax – otherwise, the bank is still safe to keep its customers' money.

If the OP is worried about bank tracking the flow of his money to centralized exchanges due to trading and investing - then he should also be worried about converting bitcoin or altcoin to fiat and withdrawing that fiat to a bank account. The bank has a record of it ^{[inflow and outflow]} of every transaction - so it's nothing to worry about in my opinion.

[BitcoinTurk]

Question please: Was it wrong of me letting her know that I am a BTC investor?

I think the answer to this question will vary depending on your country of residence because although some countries follow very strict policies for cryptocurrencies, we also know that some countries aren't following very strict policies for cryptocurrencies. Of course, in today's conditions I think it wouldn't be right to inform banks about our cryptocurrency investments regardless of the country reside in because due to their centralized structure they can control and block our bank accounts as they wish.

In past, 25.000 GBP was transferred to my student account in accordance with a money transfer that was supposed to be made at my workplace and my account was immediately blocked by the bank. Moreover, the transaction description also contained information about why the transfer was made. In other words, it wouldn't be unusual for a financial institution that can block accounts even for such a simple and clear transaction to find out that you are using your bank account specifically to invest in cryptocurrencies and arbitrarily block your account.

[Casdinyard]

Personally, I got my bank closing/freezing my account on me and leaving me unable o touch the money I have in place in there all because they find out that I am using or at least is earning money through cryptocurrencies. This was during the height of the crypto craze in 2021 and out of nowhere UnionBank, a very lenient and top banking provider in the Philippines decided that one day they’d start going against the very reason they received an upsurge of usage and trust within this whole time period, and they couldn’t even bother having us retain usage of our money.

Or don’t, I could care less at this point as I accepted that I wouldn’t really be able to get a hold of that account anymore without proving that I am who I am in the documents through mountains of paperwork which honestly I don’t need to really worry myself with.

So yeah, given your question OP, I think thats still dependent on the banking/provider to really prove whether they are suitable for crypto users or not.

[LesterD]

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 it depends on the country where you live. In our country, there are certain banks where it is permissible to discuss the income generated from cryptocurrencies, while some banks may not entertain such discussions. If you mention that your funds are from crypto, you may notice a change in their attitude towards you, and they may ask for further details.

[hatshepsut93]

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".

Banks need to know where their customer's money come from because they don't want to be a part of money laundering.

Both telling and not telling that you are a crypto investor is a risk. If you tell, it will be recorded in their database and if it gets hacked that data will be leaked just like with other centralized services. Also there's a risk that the bank will react negatively and close your account.

But lying to them is not a good idea either. If you tell that you "invest in something else", they will ask for proof, and if you will fail to provide it or try to forge it, your account will get closed and they might even report you to police.

If you want to deal with banks, your best bet is to research which banks in your country are crypto-friendly.