Standard Bank, one of the largest banks in South Africa, has sent account termination notices to customers that offer automated crypto arbitrage services.
Naturally, this came out as a big shock to the crypto industry and raised the question of the criteria the bank uses when it decides to terminate an account.
For example, the report is quoting an unnamed arbitrage trader who is claiming that their account is being terminated just because of the arbitrage business model of the company. The co-founder of arbitrage trading company Shiftly, Carel de Villiers, was also flabbergasted by this decision.
A spokesperson for Standard Bank declared that the actions of the bank are not discriminatory and simply wish to make sure that all clients follow regulations: “Standard Bank is committed to treating its clients fairly and constantly strives to strike the appropriate balance between maintaining client relationships and ensuring regulatory compliance.”