Commonwealth bank allowing crypto trading

The CBA said it would support ten crypto assets in its banking app, including Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) should start crypto trading services for the 6.5 million users of its CommBank app.

The CBA will become the leading bank in Australia to support crypto. Blockchain Australia declared it is certain that the other “big four” banks. These include National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), and Westpac, which will quickly follow suit.

As stated in a Wednesday announcement, the CBA has partnered with the Gemini crypto exchange and blockchain analysis company Chainalysis to launch its crypto services. The bank will commence a pilot for a confined number of customers in the upcoming weeks before rolling out the complete service in 2022.

Other banks will soon get involved

Ten crypto assets will show in its banking app. These include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC) mentioned at this stage.

Steve Vallas, CEO of Blockchain Australia, said that this move was necessary. According to him the big four banks in Australia underpin the national and international status as the destination of financial service.

Vallas considers that the fast growth and adoption of crypto changes the risk of maintaining a wait-and-see approach in the view of the big banks. Vallas thinks it is just time before the other major Australian banks commence their crypto services.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of local crypto exchange BTC Markets, repeated similar sentiments to Vallas. He remarked that with the regulation in the offing and the biggest bank in the country supporting it, the floodgates are now open for more appetite from traditional finance.

Nevertheless, not everyone took the CBA’s partnership well. Adrian Przelozny, the Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve CEO, displayed his dismay over the bank partnering with an overseas company.

Allan Flynn, a Canberra-based Bitcoin (BTC) trader, completed his first objection at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. He faced ANZ for de-banking him in 2018 and 2019 because of his occupation as a Digital Currency Exchange.

ANZ rejected any liability; the bank granted him a chance to reapply for a bank account. This implied that the bank is more open to crypto than two to three years ago. Flynn also has a similar case facing Westpac that’s ongoing.