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Some of us have first hand experienced who banks have shown their policies and views of this new age of digital currencies, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

With stories about banks denying business for crypto companies, or refusing new customers due to past crypto activities or just blocking purchases of cryptocurrencies online.

Are they scared? Are they trying to protect themselves? Are they trying to protect their customers? There is a lot to be asked and explore further. But what we can also do is to focus on the good examples.

And promote the crypto and Bitcoin friendly banks that are willing to go against the tide.

I know the saying goes in the crypto space that you are your own bank when it comes to dealing with cryptocurrencies. And that might be the case completely in a few years. But we can see that there a new digital banks that are pushing hard to let crypto and Bitcoin in.

We have many German and Europeans Bitcoin and cryptocurrency friendly banks on this list. And two U.S crypto friendly banks in Simple and USAA.

The 12 Bitcoin and crypto friendly banks of 2020

1 ) Revolut

Now this is not a traditional bank per se, but they do offer banking services and they are challenging the traditional school of banks around the world.

This fintech company (Revolut) was launched back in 2015, it has its headquarters in London, England. And they like others, Klarna, Monzo are doing their best to shake some life in this very traditional space. And how can you best do that?

Well for once offer really good products, such as help customers save on hefty fees, such as when spending or withdrawing money abroad, get a very useful app with full control of all your spendings, budgeting and payments, and onboarding new customers in only minutes.

Things that are all common sense and widely common in any industry beyond banking.

But obviously Revolut has also shown that they are supporting cryptocurrencies. Where its customers can buy, exchange and track their crypto portfolio in one easy to use app.

So check out Revolut and sign up to enjoy their benefits here

2 ) SEBA Bank

This is a Swiss bank that was granted a banking license in August 2019 and launched their services officially in November 2019 (press release).

SEBA Bank (formerly SEBA Crypto AG) lets its customers invest in popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Stellar, Litecoin and Ether Classic together with trading fiat money.

This Zug-based bank will let customers (both enterprises and retail investors) invest, manage and trade cryptocurrencies. And it makes sense that Swiss banks yet again show their affinity for leading the bank race.

And SEBA are showing themselves to be a crypto friendly bank that is not afraid of these new digital currencies.

3 ) Wirex

Spend your cryptocurrencies with Wirex VISA card

Now Wirex is not your traditional bank really. But they offer much of the services that you use your bank for. That is your daily shopping, monthly budgeting or investing (in cryptocurrencies).

And you can do all of this from one single mobile app.

The app is available for iOS and Android (sign up here to get started and download it).

So you still probably need a bank account to get your salary to, but after that, you can use Wirex if you prefer.

There are benefits to Wirex that most banks lack. It is very nice and easy to use the app. With perfect control of your spendings, your finance will get easier to manage.

But the biggest thing for why Wirex is so great is that you can spend your cryptocurrencies using Wirex at any shop that accepts VISA cards!

That means you can use your Bitcoin or Ether to buy coffee, clothes, cinema tickets and so on!

So on a list of the most crypto friendly banks, I think Wirex most definitely deserves to fill one of the spots. It’s not a traditional bank, but it has the features that you want from a modern one!

Get started using Wirex as your new modern bank

4 ) Bitwala

Here comes another German bank showing the rest of the world why Germany will take a leading position in this digital and blockchain transformation.

Bitwala offers customers a full German bank account, as in getting your salary coming in here and transacting as with any other traditional bank.

But also, of course, some cryptocurrency integrations. Such as a built-in Bitcoin and Ether wallet, the option to spend cryptocurrencies at any physical or online shop (that accept Mastercard)

5 ) Fidor

This German bank aims to make it crystal clear that they are not afraid of cryptocurrencies. In fact, “Fidor speaks crypto and understands your business”.

This German bank has launched a Crypto-currency-as-a-Service offering to its customers (learn more here).

Where you can start trading, investing in cryptocurrencies, and also engage in ICOs.

Fidor is a German online bank that started in 2009 and you can get a feel that they are born digital, and modern in their approach.

Including offering cryptocurrency services, but also with fully integrated IoT integration, smart mobile applications for both private and business customers.

6 ) LHV

Another country together with Germany that has shown to be leading the pack of crypto friendly countries, namely Estonia. And in Estonia, there is a bank that stands as a frontrunner, which is LHV.

LHV is, for example, serving Coinbase with banking services in the nearby region of baltic and Scandinavian countries (learn more about their relationship).

Additionally LHV has been one of the first banks that has its own in-house crypto teams, actively working on their current and future crypto offerings.

It is also one of the backers behind Cuber app, a digital payment app with full fiat and cryptocurrency support.

What not many people know is that LHV went so far, and early for crypto that they launched their own stable coin back in 2014 (learn more about it). Which was a digital form for the Euro that was used in their Cuber app (Medium article about it).

7 ) N26

This is a German-based new digital bank, but it has a European banking license so open for all EU citizens. N26 is part of this new wave of digital banks that are focusing on delivering great user experience.

They know that customers aren’t loyal unless you can give them value for their money.

And for most that mean a great UX and experience when interacting with your bank, its app and anything else banking related.

Now N26 is not at this time have built-in support for buying and selling cryptocurrencies or have a cryptocurrency wallet, but there have been talks about the addition of just that in the near future.

And so far they have not at any point shown that they are blocking cryptocurrency purchases or in other ways stopping customers to deal with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Learn more about that on Reddit

8 ) SYGNUM

This is another Swiss bank with affiliations in Singapore that has realised that the future is not in blocking cryptocurrencies but in promoting it and making it easier for customers to buy, sell and manage their cryptocurrencies.

Exactly how their support for cryptocurrencies will be shaped is not 100% clear yet.

But we can read on their website that Sygnum will offer tokenisation solutions. So that securities can be tokenised and digitised.

This could be used for raising capital, but of course for managing these assets more easily in new digital ways.

9 ) ING

Now this is an older Dutch and multinational bank with offices around the world that by many reports are not shying away from crypto.

According to Reuters ING is deveöoping a way for their customers to safely store digital assets.

This service has not yet launched, but it shows that they are actively working on ways to help their crypto interested customers. And for ING to stay relevant.

ING “Sees increasing opportunities with regard to digital assets on both asset backed and native security tokens” The bank said in a written statement to Reuters

And crypto is an area that they are actively exploring and trying to better understand – read past surveys on the area from ING here and find more examples of articles on crypto here.

10 ) Bankera

Bankera is definitely a new type of bank, in fact, it is a blockchain-based ecosystem of financial products. With blockchain-based loans that are crypto-backed.

Where you can use Bitcoin as collateral when you take out loans in fiat currencies.

Part of the Bankera network of financial products we can also find SpectroCoin. Which is a cryptocurrency exchange, tailored for instant-purchases, and they have also launched a crypto pre-paid VISA card.

And then they have another exchange which is slightly more traditional-looking for normal retailor crypto to crypto trading (Bankera exchange).

And at the heart of all this lies BNK – the Bankera token.

11 ) USAA

This American bank is one of the few that looks to be more positively aligned towards these new digital currencies (cryptocurrencies).

For example, they have been a backer of Coinbase for years, and also made it possible for their customers to integrate their USAA account with Coinbase via Coinbase Connect.

That makes it possible for USAA bank account holders to view their wallet balances at USAA also (learn more how it works here).

It might not look pretty, and they lack some of the now common features that are available on online banks seen on this list.

But with the other benefits that come with it, USAA is a traditional old school bank, and it is available for U.S customers. And it seems like one of the few U.S crypto friendly banks that we can find.

12 ) Ziglu

Upcoming bank from Starling co-founder Ziglu is the “cool home for your money”. And that money is not only traditional Fiat currencies, but also cryptocurrencies.

This is a new bank that has yet to been launched. It will by the launch of the report sometimes in 2020. And it is headed by Mark Hipperson a co-founder of Starling Bank, that left them in 2016 to move on to this new company, Ziglu.

In Ziglu you will be able to buy, sell and hold all types of currencies in one place. With easy to use features and UX this soon to be launched bank is expecting to make its launch sometimes in Q1 2020.

The not so crypto friendly banks

I wanted to highlight some of the known examples where banks have shown their true colours and opinions of what they think about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

1 ) Nordea forbids its employees to buy cryptocurrencies

The Nordic bank Nordea found itself in the spotlight when it came out that they were forbidding all employees to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (Swedish article about it).

That meant that no one working for Nordea could spend their own private money on Bitcoin, or cryptocurrencies. This obviously grabbed the headlines as it was seen as a move that went beyond the bank’s supposedly control over its employees.

The CEO of Nordea bank Casper von Koskull expressed his views on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to Bloomberg news and talked about ‘Bitcoin’s links to criminal activities’.

This ban on cryptocurrencies was later on appealed but the nordic bank actually, later on, won that appeal in a Danish court.

2 ) Wells Fargo bans cryptocurrency

This major US bank not only stopped credit card cryptocurrency payments but actually debit card payments. It is a big thing that a major bank in the US like Wells Fargo bans cryptocurrency investments.

That meant that the US bank stopped customers from buying legal cryptocurrencies with money they had (in most cases) earned in salaries.

This move became clear last year when many Wells Fargo customers noticed that their cryptocurrency purchases were not going through.

And after reaching out to Wells Fargo on Twitter a representative from the bank confirmed that Wells Fargo is not allowing transactions involving cryptocurrency (Yahoo article about it).

It is very clear that with this move that they are not favours of the rise of cryptocurrencies, and the potential threat it could have on the way they make money today.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article about the top Bitcoin and crypto friendly banks across the world.

There are many in Europe that I could find. A few in the US and Asia.

If you have names of other banks that are showing their support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies then please let us know!

If you have any questions then leave a comment below and we will get back to you.

Otherwise please share this article and help the crypto adoption!

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