Crypto News: Commonwealth Bank Puts Crypto Trading Trial On Ice See Why

Crypto News – Commonwealth Bank puts crypto trading trial on ice as regulators dither

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has put its plans for a second pilot program of crypto trading services on hold indefinitely. And cut off access to those in the first round of testing.

iexclusivenews reports that the CBA sent Cointelegraph a transcript of a Tuesday bank briefing. Where CEO Matt Comyn said that he was still waiting on regulatory clarity.

This online news outlet understands that he also stated that he was “working with a number of regulators very closely, as you would imagine, about the appropriate treatment of this particular product.”

“Our intention still, at this stage, is to restart the pilot, but there are still a couple of things that we want to work through on a regulatory front to make sure that that is most appropriate.”

Comyn stated that a Treasury filing for the program is already being reviewed, but he did not provide an estimated completion date.

Mr. Comyn stated that last week’s high volatility looked to confirm the necessity for the extended postponement. Despite the fact that the second trial program, had already been halted by April. Because financial regulators balked at allowing regular bank users easy access to cryptocurrency.

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The Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) objected to the CBA’s services because they lacked consumer protections.

He said “It is clearly a very volatile sector that remains an enormous amount of interest.”

“But alongside that volatility and awareness and I guess the scale, certainly globally, you can see there is a lot of interest from regulators and people thinking about the best way to regulate that.”

iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that Comyn also suggested that the bank was awaiting the result of Saturday’s Federal election.

If a new regime comes into power. It could spell broad changes in the crypto regulatory landscape which Comyn said “will be a focus for the incoming government to think about.”

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What You Need To Know 

Dr. Dimitrios Salampasis, a leadership and entrepreneurship lecturer at Swinburne University, told The Guardian that CBA may move cautiously in case of reputational damage.

Dr. Slampasis stated, “Taking into account the current price slump across the crypto markets due to the collapse of Terra (LUNA).” “balancing risk, brand equity and regulatory clarity will be key so as to minimize disruption in CBA’s current business model.”

Meanwhile, iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that last November. The CBA became Australia’s first major bank to provide cryptocurrency services through its mobile app.

The trial program offered access to the app’s 6.5 million users once it was completely implemented. Those plans are currently on hold indefinitely.