The National Australia Bank (NAB) is reportedly closing the account of a long-time customer who is also a Bitcoin (BTC) holder without providing a reason.
According to a new Daily Mail report, the $455 billion NAB notified customer Shane Lucas, 49, that he has until October 14th to close his bank accounts or the bank will do it for him.
No reason was reportedly given, but the letter notification comes shortly after NAB announced in July a crackdown on using bank services for crypto exchange purchases. The Daily Mail reports that the NAB would terminate “transactions made to high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges” in an effort to keep clients away from a “scam epidemic.”
According to Daily Mail, Lucas asked an NAB branch manager if the account was being closed because he bought Bitcoin and the manager allegedly said that was “probably the issue.”
Lucas, who was an NAB customer for three decades, tells the Daily Mail that his Bitcoin purchases were not recent and his total BTC holdings are modest.
“I am a shrimp – not a Bitcoin whale… I am not some big multi-millionaire. I am just an average guy…
It should be a free society where we have the right to purchase what we want. I am not doing anything illegal.”
Daily Mail is often criticized for its unreliability as a news source. Fact checker site The Factual has Daily Mail rated as only 40% reliable.
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