The Bank Called About My Crypto Transfer

Two days after a crypto conversion landed in my account, the bank rang. It was a short conversation because I had the documents ready. It helped to have something concrete. a platform built to convert crypto to fiat publishes the limits and the fees openly.

What they asked

Where the money came from. Not whether crypto is legitimate, which I had braced for, but the specific origin of this specific payment.

Who sent it, what the underlying activity was, and how I had acquired the crypto in the first place.

What answered it

Three documents, emailed during the call.

The original purchase records showing when I bought the crypto and what I paid.

A statement from the platform where it had been held, showing my name.

The conversion record showing crypto in and euros out with the rate.

The call took eleven minutes and I heard nothing further.

What my colleague did

Same situation, no documents ready.

He replied to the bank’s email saying it was from selling crypto, without evidence. They asked for more. He sent a screenshot of a wallet balance, which shows a number and not an origin. For client money the rules are stricter, and a platform set up for client account handling is set up for that.

Three weeks later his account was closed, with notice and no explanation.

Why no explanation

I have since learned that if a bank files a report with a financial intelligence unit, it is generally prohibited from telling the customer.

So the account closes citing commercial reasons and nothing more is said. The silence is a legal requirement, not rudeness, and pressing the branch achieves nothing because they do not know either.

The thing that would have prevented all of it

Telling the bank beforehand.

I now send a short email before anything large: a payment of roughly this amount is expected on this date, from this licensed provider, arising from this activity.

I have done it four times since and had no questions at all.

For a business

Ask the relationship manager, in writing, whether the bank accepts inbound payments from licensed crypto providers and whether advance notice is wanted above a threshold.

If the answer is no, the fix is a second banking relationship rather than an argument. Several European banks now publish that they accept this. If you want to see all of this in a real product rather than in my account of it, the list of countries covered publishes the terms.

The documents worth keeping

Purchase records, platform statements, conversion records, transfer confirmations. Filed together, per conversion.

It takes a minute at the time. Reconstructing it later took my colleague three weeks and did not work.