Digital currencies pose a security threat to the global payment infrastructure. This was stated by the founder and CEO of the British neobank Starling Bank Ann Boden.
During the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, the organization’s CEO noted that many cryptocurrency wallets are “directly connected to payment schemes.”
"It's very dangerous," Boden said.
The CEO of Starling Bank also reminded about fraud in the industry. According to her, it takes more time to protect clients than to promote cryptocurrencies.
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Boden doubted that Starling would start offering digital assets in the next couple of years. She stressed that companies associated with the industry have a lot to make up for in the fight against money laundering.
In March 2021, UK-based Starling Bank closed a £272m ($341.6m) Series D funding round led by Fidelity. In April, the organization raised 50 million pounds ($62.8 million) from Goldman Sachs.
At the end of May of the same year, Starling Bank temporarily banned customers from making deposits on cryptocurrency exchanges. Restrictions were promised to be removed after testing a new system for preventing financial crimes.
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In November 2021, payment company Mastercard announced the launch of debit, credit, and prepaid payment cards linked to bitcoin in the Asia-Pacific region.
In January 2022, Mastercard announced a partnership with the Coinbase bitcoin exchange. As part of a joint initiative, the companies planned to allow the purchase of NFTs using bank cards.