crypto trading and selling is considered illegal by banks

So the bank is grilling me about where my income comes from. I told them it’s from selling crypto and running masternodes. They flipped out and said it’s illegal. Now I’m stuck trying to figure out how to convince them my income is legit. They want screenshots too. They might shut down my account soon... The bank’s got this whole anti-crypto vibe going on, saying transactions could stem from illegal activities. They want proof showing how I got the funds for crypto and want statements from the platform showing my money was invested and that I actually sold the crypto.

This is going to happen more and more often in my opinion. Money laundering and terrorism are the main problem for these banks. If you have the proof that you bought it from an exchange, you are ok It may take a few weeks or months but you will get your money.

is there a creative way to calm them down? EU banks are going crazy over crypto :/ How to show them other sources of income?

A bank asking for screenshots? I can't imagine that. A screenshot has no legal value. I can make any screenshot you want on Photoshop.

Which bank are you with, if you don't mind me asking? Would be nice to be aware of which banks tend to cause trouble with crypto. AFAIK there's no country in the EU where trading crypto itself is illegal, so I guess their main concern is the source of income. If you bought the coins on an exchange export your trade and transaction history and provide your bank with said file. If that's insufficient get in touch with the exchange and explain the situation. If it's a properly run exchange they'll have a bit of experience with what the banks require. If the income is from mining / staking / running a masternode I guess provide them with screenshots of the mining pool / staking / node interface, ideally linking them to blockchain transactions that can be linked to the coins that you sold on the exchange. If all they ask is for screenshots that should be easily solved. If screenshots are insufficient I guess you'll have to report the mining / staking / masternode profits for income tax purposes (get in touch with a tax advisor, if in doubt) and tell your bank that you have filed your income tax report and are waiting for your local financial authorities to confirm. For your bank it can't get much more official than that, but obviously you might have to proof your source of income to your local financial authorities further down the road. Note that while verifying income from mining / staking / running a masternode may be difficult for non-crypto-users it is not an illegal source of income in any EU member country (at least as far as I'm aware of) -- given that a proper income tax report has been reported (the nature of which varies wildly from EU country to EU country so you might want to get in touch a tax advisor).

Lol, they do That's what I told my bank too It shows banks are dinosaurs when it comes to technology. Think of it this way: the bank wants to comply with regulation, and wants to spend as little time on this as possible. If it's too much work, they'll prefer to just close your account. My suggestion is to give them evidence that can easily prove your funds have no criminal origin, so they can close your case.

Can you please mention your country? I am sure that more and more people will start receiving such notices because Banks are really worried about their business! Unless a government explicitly approves and legalizes cryptos! Since you have already informed them that the earning is from  cryptocurrency, now you have to produce a proof that your investment was made from a legal source and also need to provide the statement of your exchange.   We all know that, Four things never come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity! Yours is the first one!

There's only a tiny number of countries in the world where trading and selling crypto is illegal. Unless you're in one of them they're talking out of their arse. They're fully within their rights to shut you down just because they don't like the idea but it being illegal is not the case almost everywhere. They may not like it but there's no way they can say it's 'illegal'. If you can point to your buys and wallet movements then there's no question of anything not being above board.

seb group estonia lithuanian bank shaulai immediately closed account once they saw payward ltd

LHV bank in Estonia works with Coinbase and have continually made positive noises about Bitcoin. It is often the case that a bank will work with someone like Coinbase and reject private customers but it's worth asking at least.

Curious as to which bank you are talking about. Granted they might over time but right now they aren't fully observing movements of money related to bitcoin. I know ciphertrace is a cyber security company who is trying to take more reigns on this pressing issue by putting AML compliance technology in place for exchanges.

I do not think that what they mean by this is that bitcoin transactions are illegal per se, but rather the fact that their own bank policies dictate that they will not deal with crypto-related transactions due to the fact that they are assumed to be "high risk". Which is completely bogus, but it's what they're saying. I personally think just being honest will yield you the best results, if you really want to continue to bank with them. Just state your source of income which you got the funds to invest into the crypto, and provide the necessary screenshots. But to be honest, I would just go and bank with another institution, because of how draconian this one's policies are. Especially if you are planning on dealing with crypto transactions in the future, just switching banks will probably save you a ton of hassle in the future while preserving your privacy, for your own sake.

how about telling them you are doing IT business (=masternodes) and trading forex (crypto) then as soon as they unblock your account, start moving your fund discreetly to the bank mentioned by gentlemand if you don't mind me asking, how big transaction in/out of your account caused them to be alarmed and asked you such questions

The volume of transactions you are making usually are the catalyst for them to notice your account and apply a temporary ban to it unless you complied with what they are asking. Here in the Philippines, if you happened to trade with a daily volume of $2000 with a level 2 verification (they have it mostly the same on almost all exchanges I have worked with), they will need to ask you where does the funds come from and other KYC documents such as address etc. Personally I would avoid such service/exchange, but since they are the largest exchange here in the Philippines and they carry a huge volume with them, I'm forced to do what they say which sucks.

OP is European and his bank too. European banks have gone crazy for a decade now. Last week I visited my banker he asked me so many things. I told him he's asking too much it's none of his business. He told me they have no choice since 2008-2009 but basically, he doesn't care but he needs to write something lol. He figured I have several payments from Payward as well, I told him I convert BTC to fiat. He just replied: Nice, diversity is good. Another bank I asked to increase my ATM withdraws limit for 30 days and to my surprise, I needed to provide a reason, I replied it was my budget for prostitutes, 24 hours later the request was accepted <3

Weird. In the UK, which I presume has to abide by very similar rules, I was asked my very first ever source of funds thing a month or so ago. I was in the middle of paying for a car so I wrote a load of shit, or nothing at all, can't remember. Previous to that I've put tens of thousands of pounds through accounts that were dormant for years and they've never said anything. I have no identifiable source of income or anything else whatsoever.

Actually bank requires proof of source of the money you are depositing or transferring if it exceeds certain amount even in fiat and not just in cryptocurrency. When I deposited $1000 in my account they immediately ask for any document that will prove where did I get the money. It’s sad with cryptocurrency and we know they are going to be more and more tight when making transactions with it. Banks suck, i wish there could be ways where bank will not be needed at all.

Banks do abide with regulation,so its just normal for them to ask on where's the origin of those funds between incoming or outgoing. This isnt only limited to crypto alone but on all sorts of Fiat tx too.If there are activities that do triggers out their alarm ex. Unusual huge deposits then you wont have any choice but to comply on whats being asked.For op,just provide evidence that those funds arent come from illegal.Its your only option to have.

I don't believe in what you have said even for a minute, I have never seen a banked ask questions when you are putting money inside your account. If they said "it's illegal" then you are not right here posting this concern now cause the bank has already reported you to the authorities to be arrested. Maybe you are just clouding your real question and made a made up problem with a bank rejecting your deposit. They never ask questions when you are putting money inside your account it's when you withdraw them that raise some concerns.

That's really profound, I've never heard that saying before. Good one to remember.