The gatekeepers of mainstream commerce are keeping their doors shut to cryptocurrency companies.

Entrepreneurs in the digital-assets industry from New York to Hong Kong say that even as some attract investment from multibillion-dollar institutions like Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, they are routinely refused basic banking services by the likes of HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

While top-tier banks are getting more crypto-curious—JPMorgan rolled out a prototype digital coin last month—most see the growing number of companies in the industry as they have since day one, ticking regulatory time bombs.

Crypto isn’t the only novel industry having a hard time accessing traditional banking to support its development, a federal prohibition on marijuana has kept big US banks out of the cannabis industry too.

“No bank is willing to help them out,” said Robby Houben, a lawyer and professor at the University of Antwerp who co-authored a paper for the European Parliament on financial crime involving cryptocurrencies.

“I have met some really stand-up people in crypto that don’t deserve such a bad reputation and want the sector to be regulated, yet for every one of those, there are plenty of others trying to scam the public, launder money or evade taxes.”


https://paperblockchain.com/crypto-companies-complain-theyre-being-shunned-by-most-banks/