Capital One Is Blocking Customers from Purchasing Cryptocurrency

Capital One acknowledged in a tweet on Sunday that they are blocking customers from purchasing cryptocurrency with their credit cards.

A report from The Merkle claims that Capital One credit card customers are having their transaction canceled when attempting to purchase cryptocurrency through an exchange.

We have been informed by multiple users that Capital One has prevented them from buying Bitcoin. This mainly applies to people who rely on the Coinbase exchange, although it seems likely other exchanges will be affected by this development as well. More specifically, people using a Capital One credit card have a higher chance of running into problems right now than those relying on a regular bank transfer. However, neither payment method is reliable as of right now.

The report was sparked by a Reddit user who posted over the weekend, claiming that Capital One informed him that they would be blocking all transfer to and from exchanges. They informed the Reddit user that “all [cryptocurrency] exchanges have been blocked by Capital One,” the user wrote.

Capital One confirmed that they are blocking customers from purchasing cryptocurrency in a tweet on Sunday: “We currently decline credit card purchases of cryptocurrency. We’ll continue evaluating our policy as this market evolves.”

This isn’t the first time that a bank has blocked cryptocurrency purchases. In October, TD Bank allegedly told a customer that the bank doesn’t “deal with th[at] kind of business.” Earlier in 2017, customers reported that PNC Bank had begun to block money transfers that were headed towards cryptocurrency exchanges.

In a comment to Breitbart News, Capital One explained the reasoning behind the new policy.

Capital One is currently declining credit card transactions to purchase cryptocurrency due to the limited mainstream acceptance and the elevated risks of fraud, loss, and volatility inherent in the cryptocurrency market.

 Capital One continues to closely monitor developments in cryptocurrency markets and exchanges and will regularly evaluate the decision as cryptocurrency markets evolve.

 Members of the cryptocurrency community have long recommended local credit unions for transfers of fiat money to cryptocurrency exchanges.