Plus the whole message of centralization vs decentralized of crypto.
But yeah, "appropriate regulations and risk management" for whom, YOU the customer, or THEM the Bank?
JP Morgan is not your friend if you deal in Crypto. The market tide is swinging that they have to play to compete but they are overall 100% hostile.
Same as HSBC.
[0] One of many examples: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-probe-idUSBRE8BA05M2...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/17/deutsche-ba...
The idea that a few of them aren't going to break some laws is kind of laughable. The only problem is whether or not they are penalized.
Oh, wait --
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-usa/hsbc-draws-line-...
So it's okay for a bank to do it, but not a person? It's okay for a bank to take advantage of fraction reserve and lend out and help a criminal org launder money?
Yes, this case they the bank, was caught, but not suddenly.
https://www.ccn.com/jamie-it-aint-bitcoin-jp-morgan-involved...
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Drug dealing is the lowest of the totem pole, there are banks out there that actively take Iran and N. Korea money and they are under sanctions.
I'm including darknet markets, ransomware, and outright exchange thefts in this.
~170 billion USD worth of BTC exists.
~9 billion USD worth of BTC has been stolen from various exchange hacks.
~140 million USD worth of BTC has been stolen through ransomware attacks.
... And as for commercial transactions:
Darknet markets make up ~40% of all non-theft, non-exchange related BTC commerce. [1]
Cash may rule the drug world in absolute numbers, but in relative numbers, the overwhelming majority of cash is used in the real economy. When nearly half the BTC that's used to transact is used for illegal purposes, it's pretty easy to see why banks aren't interested in touching it. Why risk losing your banking license, for collecting fees from such a tiny market segment?
[1] https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/darknet-markets-cryptoc...
>Whose to say they won't 180 their decision and all known bitcoin accounts and affiliated companies are removed from their banking services, amounts seized, etc
There are likely real risks here, and everyone wanting to go this route would be well advised to tread lightly and carefully to start...especially if they are doing something they aren't going to be willing to stand up in a court of law to defend. There are a bunch of 'know your customer' regulations that apply to banks that require them to do some amount of due diligence on why their customers are moving money. They cannot just say 'it's their money, not my problem'.
> Plus the whole message of centralization vs decentralized of crypto.
That's on the exchanges and the people that use this system.
> But yeah, "appropriate regulations and risk management" for whom, YOU the customer, or THEM the Bank?
Them, 100%, this should be no surprise. There are FDIC controls to protect customer assets up to a certain amount but that's it.
> JP Morgan is not your friend if you deal in Crypto. The market tide is swinging that they have to play to compete but they are overall 100% hostile.
None of these organizations are your friend, even the exchanges. The main conflict with incumbent banks is going to be specifically with bitcoin and other non-fiat currency. That won't go away any time soon. Blockchain and cryptocurrency (fiat-backed) on the other hand are potentially huge cost-saving measures and the banks are likely to adopt those much more quickly. Of course the concern will be that decentralized currencies like bitcoin will be relegated back to novelty class.
That ship has sailed a long time ago. Crypto is centralized. People have voted with their wallets, overwhelmingly for centralization. Possibly because the #1 demand for crypto comes from exchange speculators, who don't want to pay on-ledger transaction fees.
Nobody is your friend if you deal in crypto. That's the whole point of crypto.
Or are we going to forget all the times that Coinbase and Bitfinex prevented customers from selling their coins as the value was falling, or when Tether promised an audit of their supposedly 1:1 USD-backed currency and then never did, or that time Mt Gox failed and took down several billion worth of coins with it, or that time Ethereum unilaterally changed the ledger because of the DAO scandal and wiped out $300 million of holdings?
The banks at least are governed by laws and regulated by governments. Many of the exchanges don't even bother to pay lip service to regulation.