I got an email from my bank. "We tried to phone you to clear some issues with a wire you made in the past days, but we didn't manage to talk to you." Of course. I had it switched off. So I called back, but the line mysteriously dropped after the person on the other end said "let me check this... wait a minute...". Twice.

I already had a hunch what it was about, but of course I thought I'd play dumb to extract as much info as possible. An hour later, I tried calling for the third time. At last, I get through to someone who can actually explain.

The problem was with a wire I made to Kraken. Not a big amount by any means - something in the ballpark of Bob's recent addiction buys*  

Bank - "We just want to make sure you actually ordered the wire."

Me - "Why? I make dozens of wires, it's the first time..." (Actually not the first: they called once upon a time when I moved most of my fiat to another bank because they pissed me off - but that was to beg: please don't please don't.)

Bank - "I don't know, it's like an automatic system flag... well, it's to some kraken.com."

Me - (Aha!) "I see. So what's the issue?"

Bank - "No issue, sir. We just want to make sure it was actually you who wired the money."

Me - "I did. But now I'm worrying. Is this a scam site or something?"

Bank - "It is some cryptocurrency site, I think... but as I said, it's just an automatic flag. Nothing to worry about, sir."

Me - "What if Kraken sends some funds to me? Will the transfer get a flag too? Will the incoming wire be blocked?" (Slightly implying - should I close my business with you altogether?)

Bank - "Oh no, sir. Incoming transfers are never stopped. There might be some formal issue with outgoing transfers once in a while, but never the other way round."

Me - "I am afraid. I don't want any problems, you see."

Bank - "Just an automatic flag, sir. Thank you."



Things are stirring up, gents. Brace yourselves.