Santander UK restricts cryptocurrency transfers to exchanges in an effort to protect its clients.

The British division of the Spanish banking behemoth, Santander UK, just released an update on cryptocurrencies and cautions that investing in them can be "high risk." The bank acknowledges that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK has alerted the public to these risks and that it is doing everything it can to "protect" its clients. The bank said, "[Santander UK] considers] that restricting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to ensure your money remains safe."

According to a Reuters story, the branch is essentially setting a GBP 1,000 (approximately Rs. 91,720) cap on customers' cryptocurrency transactions. The bank also announced that users will be restricted to GBP 3,000 (approximately Rs. 2.75 lakh) in total cryptocurrency transactions per 30-day period.

Customers using their bank accounts to deposit cryptocurrency into exchanges are subject to these limitations. Customers can therefore continue to withdraw money from exchange platforms into their Santander bank accounts. The bank added that it might outright prohibit deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges while also saying that it will be changing these limits further.

Despite the bank's caution, Santander-affiliated companies in Brazil are investing heavily in tokenization, commodity tokens, and cryptocurrency services. The major Spanish bank has also created an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for bitcoin in Spain.

However, Santander UK is subject to UK financial regulations, and other Santander-affiliated enterprises follow separate rules. Customers can still receive payments from cryptocurrency exchanges into their accounts, according to the warning published on the bank's web portal, but it also warns that other changes may be forthcoming.

Santander UK's statement states, "We'll be making further modifications to restrict or prohibit payments to cryptocurrency exchanges in the future, though we'll always let you know before we make any changes."

The largest cryptocurrency exchange by worldwide trade volume, Binance, is also highlighted by the bank in the report. Specific limitations apply to Santander UK's interactions with Binance. Santander UK declares that it "will continue to prevent payments from being routed to Binance." The bank also provides a written FCA caution regarding Binance.