I think the toughest challenge in crypto is finding a secure trusted on and off ramp in and out of crypto. I know personally I am currently screwed until I find a bank that offers these services. There has been no urgency on my part up until now but there will come a point in the future where it will be required.
I saw a tweet earlier regarding the Nat West Bank in the UK and thought I would read all the replies as you can learn so much in one place on what is really happening.
What I learned is my current bank the HSBC may actually be allowing Crypto payments and need to test this theory out. What they say in their media maybe the complete opposite until you try. I had done some research with the aim of moving my accounts to another bank and had a short list in place who offered Crypto on and off ramps.
There seems to be a lot of confusion in the replies with many contradicting each other with some saying it is fine and others saying they have been blocked from transacting with exchanges. I think after reading this finding the simple became even more confusing as there are very few options in reality.
A year or two ago when I was looking for an off ramp bank I found the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was the most likely to offer that service, but apparently not. Normally the smaller banks are the better option as they would like your business even if it is crypto related.
Monzo is a small bank that I know little about but from all accounts seem Crypto friendly and would use that as an on and off ramp but would not hold my funds there permanently either. Unfortunately a traditional bank would still be required as the final destination so the off ramp would require two transactions.
Why couldn't things just be simple providing a service their clients require and not such a minefield of guessing games. I was hoping to travel this year at some point to at least sort this out once and for all as knowing you have an off ramp set up is rather important.
What does everyone else use as their off ramp bank as I thought it would be easier checking today than it was 2 years ago and I am no more the wiser to be honest. I do think this all has to change at some point and we are obviously no closer to that happening yet.
I may stick with the COTI debit card offered via SIMPLEX who are based in Belgium to at least get the ball rolling. Having an account that is a proper account and not a top up card offered by the Crypto exchanges is my preferred choice. Just think the possibilities for living off Crypto full time are not that far off with the only issue of finding a reliable solution that is cost affective. How many more years of this nonsense will this take before we can live a normal life having crypto accepted as a currency in the financial sector?
