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U.K bank bans crypto for 5M+ clients amid fraud concerns with Binance

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1 day ago

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Image courtesy of Binance Twitter page

  • A U.K bank has reportedly banned crypto purchases for over five million customers, expressing concern that crypto platforms are riddled with fraudsters.
  • TSB Bank has further expressed specific concern with Binance and Kraken exchanges, with the latter firing back and accusing the bank of spreading misinformation.

A U.K bank is reportedly set to bar over five million customers from access to cryptocurrencies. TSB Bank is concerned with the outbreak of fraud related to cryptos according to sources with knowledge on the matter. The bank specifically cited Kraken and Binance as two exchanges it’s concerned about for “low security standards” which allow the proliferation of fraudsters.

A new report has revealed the new drastic measures, which if enforced, will affect close to 5.4 million customers. The report by British newspaper The Times claims that the bank will be blocking crypto purchases “because it believes scammers are being allowed to set up e-wallets and steal people’s money because of weak security checks.”

TSB is particularly concerned about Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. Binance is registered in the Cayman Islands and is no stranger to accusations of flouting the law. Already in the U.K, regulators are looking into the exchange for listing stock tokens for Coinbase and Tesla. However, the investigation has done little to deter Changpeng Zhao, with Binance listing Microsoft and Apple tokens in late April.

Related: UK regulators investigating Binance for issuing Tesla and Coinbase stock tokens

849 fraud reports in one month on Binance

According to The Times, TSB Bank received a shocking 849 reports regarding fraud on Binance in a one-month period – between March 15 and April 15. When TSB attempted to contact the exchange to resolve the issues, Binance reportedly refused to cooperate.

However, the exchange has denied the claims. It says it never received any communication from the bank’s security team. A representative for the exchange stated:

Binance is very serious about its responsibility to protect users from scams. When we are made aware of these claims, we immediately take action and have an excellent record of working with law enforcement agencies.

TSB isn’t sparing Kraken either, despite the exchange boasting of being one of the most compliant in the world. Kraken has the highest euro-crypto exchange volume in the world and is identified as the largest crypto exchange in the region. It intends on going public in the next 18 months according to Jesse Powell, its CEO and co-founder.

Also Read: Kraken CEO to Elon Musk: You have more studying to do on Bitcoin’s energy use

In its response to the fraud accusations, the exchange’s global head of compliance Steven Christie denied the allegations. He stated:

We categorically deny the allegation that Kraken does not respond to calls for assistance on incidents of fraud. Kraken responded to well over 1,000 different requests from law enforcement agencies in 2020 alone. Kraken operates in full compliance with law enforcement agencies.





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airbnb

Travala launches decentralized home-sharing service — will it be the next Airbnb?

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5 days ago

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June 16, 2021

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Pro-crypto travel booking agency Travala.com is releasing a decentralized property rental service.

In a Wednesday announcement, Travala said it had partnered with former executives from Airbnb, Expedia, and other companies to launch Dtravel, a decentralized vacation rental platform that may serve as a competitor for sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. The platform is community governed through Dtravel’s Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO, and uses DeFi to facilitate smart contracts between hosts and guests.

Dtravel claims to repair “the broken relationship between hosts and guests created by existing centralized home-sharing platforms.” The platform said that issues stemming from centralized control on competing home-sharing platforms have led to high fees and lack of direct communications between hosts and guests, in addition to many not allowing cryptocurrency as a payment option.

“Traditional home sharing platforms are aligned with their users in the early stages, but over time this changes,” said Travala co-founder and CEO Juan Otero. “With the need to return profits to shareholders, home-sharing platforms are forced to extract as much as possible from transactions on their platforms.”

Many have criticized platforms like Airbnb for higher-ups rarely — if ever — changing policies in response to customer feedback. For example, Airbnb unilaterally decided to issue many refunds to guests for cancellations at the beginning of the pandemic last year, but often did not provide a means for guests who cancelled prior to a certain date to receive compensation. The move led to a public outcry from many Airbnb hosts and guests.

Users on the booking site can use Dtravel’s TRVL token to pay for stays and participate in platform governance. However, the token can also be used for staking to qualify for certain rewards. The site has promised to distribute $35 million worth of the token — on the Binance Smart Chain and the Ethereum Network — to the first 100,000 hosts who register.

Related: Crypto Travel Agency Travala to Use Binance Chain for Decentralized Services

The launch of the booking platform comes when vaccinated U.S. residents are able to enter many other countries without a 14-day quarantine. Some countries in Europe have opened up to U.S. travelers, as airlines are reportedly preparing for an air travel spike this summer.

As of May, Travala had more than 183,000 monthly active users. In addition, 72% of all bookings that month were paid for using cryptocurrencies. Dtravel is backed by a $5 million seed round from Kenetic Capital, Future Perfect Ventures, DHVC, Plutus VC, GBV Capital, AU21 Capital, Shima Capital, LD Capital and NGC Ventures, and several angel investors.