Do Australian banks welcome cryptocurrency users? You might have heard stories about blocked transactions and frozen accounts.
Nobody wants a bank that plays fast and loose with their money. But it means finding a bank that’s compatible with crypto investing can be a challenge, because Aussie banks are more worried about fraud risk and compliance than making it easy for you to buy tokens fast.
Learn about Australian banks’ approach to crypto, which banks are considered the most crypto-friendly, and tips to handle the relationship with your bank for best results.
What Does ‘Crypto-Friendly’ Mean for Banks?
Converting your fiat cash, like Australian dollars (AUD), into cryptocurrencies usually requires using an on-ramping service like a digital currency exchange, broker or other web app. Crypto-friendly banks make it possible to transfer your fiat to on-ramps quickly.
Finding a crypto-friendly bank isn’t straightforward because preventing customer money being lost to scams is a priority for banks.
The language used is about ‘protecting customers’, but it makes sense that banks also want to reduce time spent handling calls from people desperately seeking help to recover funds — not to mention the complaints when nothing can be done.
Ultimately, there’s more pressure on banks to be cautious, than to encourage crypto investment.
A high percentage of Australians think banks should be legally required to reimburse money lost to scams. And a new Scams Prevention Framework Bill passed into law in Australia in February 2025, holds Australian banks to account “for the actions they have taken to protect customers”, according to the Australian Banking Association.
How Big is the Problem of Blocked Transactions?
The Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index 2025 found that almost 1 in 5 Australian crypto investors have experienced delays or blocks by their bank when investing in crypto.
People moving larger amounts per month — $10K or more — faced the most problems, with 55.6% reporting interference. Over 38% of investors transferring between $501-$1,000 per month also faced notable delays.
One investor missed out on thousands in gains from a surge in Bitcoin’s price earlier in 2025 when Westpac blocked the transfer of a large sum of money to a broker. The bank’s CEO later apologised in the media and said the bank needed to “be more sensitive to customers, it’s their money, we completely understand.”
Even if you’re aware of the risks or an experienced investor, you can be disadvantaged by your bank’s fraud detection processes and restrictions. So, finding a bank that doesn’t make you jump through too many hoops is important.
How Do Australian Banks Approach Crypto?
Many major Australian banks have policies around:
- Declining or delaying payments to certain crypto exchanges.
- Limiting the amount you can transfer to digital exchanges each month.
That obviously poses an issue if you want to quickly capitalise on market movements, or you’re trading at high volumes with larger sums. One workaround is to hold extra funds in your account on an exchange — for easy access when a buying opportunity arises — but that’s less safe than keeping your money in the bank.
Westpac claimed in 2023 that one-third of all scam payments it saw involved transfers directly to a cryptocurrency exchange. Overseas exchanges, in particular, are seen as more of a haven for scammers.
In addition to ‘high-risk’ exchanges and large sums being more likely to raise a red flag for banks, your history with a bank and pattern of usage seems to matter. For instance, anecdotal evidence suggests you may have fewer issues if you’ve banked somewhere for 10 years, and you regularly transfer a small amount (say, $100) to a reputable exchange.
Some investors say they only face delays or have to verify transactions the first time they send money to a particular exchange, while other banks delay every transaction, every time.
Despite what many see as an overzealous approach to how they deal with crypto investors, Australian banks are open to exploring blockchain and digital asset use cases. For instance:
- NAB invested in Zodia Custody in 2024, an institutional-grade crypto custody solution that was founded by international bank Standard Chartered. The bank had also started to develop a stablecoin backed by the Australian dollar, but that project was shut down in 2024.
- ANZ has issued its own stablecoin linked to the Aussie —A$DC— and it also joined Project Guardian in 2024: an initiative from the Monetary Authority of Singapore aimed at progressing tokenised real-world assets (RWAs).
- Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Commbank have participated in pilot projects with the Reserve Bank of Australia to trial central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) designed to improve transactions and settlements.
- Commbank originally planned to enable direct crypto purchases through its banking app — back in 2021 it announced a partnership with crypto exchange Gemini — but the pilot project was paused indefinitely in 2022, partly due to the havoc wreaked by the collapse of the Terra stablecoin.
Top Crypto-Friendly Banks in Australia
It’s important to note that it is somewhat hit-and-miss in terms of when and why blocks are applied by different banks. The banks listed here are generally considered accommodating or able to be reasoned with when it comes to payments to crypto exchanges and brokers.
Top 3 Crypto-Friendly ‘Big Name’ Banks:
- ING: ING is often named as a crypto-friendly bank, but since April 2024 it has increased customer protections “by declining transactions made to some high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges” which has frustrated some customers.
- National Australia Bank (NAB): NAB has gained a reputation as a relatively crypto-friendly bank among the ‘Big 4’ Australian banks. The bank states it may restrict transactions made to certain cryptocurrency exchanges. It doesn’t provide any details about which exchanges are blocked, you’ll only know once your transaction is declined or rejected.
- St.George: A number of crypto investors have favourable things to say about St.George’s approach — which seems to be mostly hands-off. The bank appears to have a strong interest in cryptocurrency, and no specific restrictions in place.
Some crypto investors say they’ve experienced issues with banks including Commbank, Macquarie and Westpac — but some people banking with these companies have had no problems or minimal issues.
Commbank and ANZ are often perceived as less friendly due to monthly limits on payments to exchanges — both banks cap transfers at $10,000 within a calendar month. There’s no way to increase the limit. Commbank holds payments to some exchanges for up to 24 hours, regardless of the amount.
One positive for ANZ customers is that the bank’s app allows you to change the settings to signal you’ll be sending money to exchanges. Theoretically, by toggling off the ‘Crypto Protect’ setting, your transactions to exchanges shouldn’t be automatically blocked.
What about crypto-friendly challenger banks or fintechs?
Crypto investors report varied experiences with less well-known banks and online-only neo banks — such as Up Bank and Ubank — and other fintechs like Revolut and Wirex. For some, they work well.
Keep in mind that storing your money in an online account that isn’t offered by an authorised deposit-taking institution (which most banks and credit unions are) will probably mean you’re not covered by the Australian Government’s Financial Claims Scheme (FCS). The FSC protects money held by banks up to a total of $250K, in the event that a bank fails.
How to Manage Banking When Investing In Crypto
You can’t necessarily avoid blocks or delays but here are some best practices to follow:
- Transfer smaller amounts more regularly rather than large, one-off transactions.
- Create a digital wallet with an Australian-based, regulated cryptocurrency exchange.
- Make deposits via bank transfer/PayID or debit card, rather than a credit card.
- Be ready to politely explain your transactions if you need to verify over the phone.
Some Aussie crypto investors claim that, while their first transaction to an exchange may be frozen, once they’d confirmed verbally with their bank that they understood the risks, subsequent transactions were not flagged.
Future of Banking & Crypto in Australia
Mark Monfort of the Australian DeFi Association said that while Australia leads the way in terms of retail adoption of cryptocurrencies, our institutional frameworks are lagging compared to overseas regulators and banks. He wants to see banking reforms that reduce friction and restrictions for Aussie investors.
“Blocking transactions isn’t risk management, it’s gatekeeping. If banks want to remain relevant in a digital economy, they need to work with crypto, not against it,” Monfort said.
The re-election of the Labor Government in 2025 could see progress made soon on legislation related to digital assets that was flagged by the Treasurer in March. A fit-for-purpose regulatory framework for crypto exchanges could improve the industry’s risk profile and make banking more streamlined for crypto investors.
