New York’s Metropolitan Commercial Bank recently announced that it was closing its crypto business, citing material changes in the regulatory environment. Signature Bank cut ties with the international business of Binance, the biggest crypto exchange. The lender, one of crypto’s leading banks, started paring back its relationships with crypto depositors late last year.
The crackdown is squeezing crypto businesses. While the industry often pitched itself as an alternative to banks, these firms still rely heavily on banks to link up with a financial system that runs on hard currencies such as dollars and euros. Without banks, crypto companies struggle to pay their employees and enable customers to move money in and out of digital currencies.
“If you don’t have a bank account, it’s very hard to do business,” said Scott Shay, Signature’s chairman.
Source: Banks Are Breaking Up With Crypto During Regulatory Crackdown – WSJ
