Which Banks Are Crypto-Friendly in 2024?

As the number of cryptocurrency users steadily grows, the demand for crypto friendly banks catering for their specific needs increases. Let’s look at the best options investors can turn to.

With the demise of three leading crypto friendly banks in the US last winter, crypto players had to find alternatives to carry out their banking operations, like on- and off-boarding of fiat payments and payroll services. They turned to the other regions. Last year Europe had 55 crypto friendly banks, Asia 24 and the Middle East 4, according to Coin Cub’s Crypto Banking Report 2023.

It’s worth noting that contrary to their name, most of these crypto friendly banks aren’t banks in the legal sense of the term. They are fintechs or crypto-focused “banks” that do not fall under the stringent capital and liquidity requirements, and strict risk management rules of financial regulators. The few crypto banks that actually hold proper bank licenses, such as Switzerland-based Amina Bank and Sygnum, are not allowed to serve retail clients with less than CHF 250,000 in assets under management($285,000).

Crypto friendly banks tap into demand of crypto services shunned by traditional banks

Crypto friendly banks (fintechs) tap into the unmet demand for crypto-related financial services that most traditional banks shun.Amongst others, theyoffer bank-like services such as the storage, transfer, sale and acquisition of crypto assets, the exchange of a crypto asset to and from another crypto asset, the exchange of crypto to and from fiat currencies (through collaborations with financial institutions holding a proper bank license).

Revolut is one of the fintechs [1] that has tapped into the crypto trend. With headquarters in the UK, this fully digital fintech offers crypto trading and staking through its mobile app for residents in 38 countries, including the US and the European Economic Area (EEA). More than 120 cryptocurrencies can be bought and sold. Revolut’s drawback: the crypto trading fees imposed. These are relatively pricey compared to competitors’ (1.49% or a minimum fee of €1.99 for its two cheapest plans, 0.99% for its mid-segment plans, and 0.49% for its premium plan).

 Cheaper crypto friendly banks exist

 Another crypto friendly fintech is Singapore-based Juno. It offers crypto trading of 38 cryptocurrencies and staking through its mobile app. Contrary to Revolut, Juno does not charge crypto trading fees, but a $0.99 fee for cash transferred or withdrawn from its app, crypto withdrawal fees, as well as an inactivity fee. For instance, it costs 0.00012 BTC ­– $6.28 based on Feb 19’s price to withdraw an investment in Bitcoin, and 0.0012 ETH – $3.5 to withdraw an investment in Ether.

Switzerland-based Lykke is yet another crypto friendly fintech. Like Juno, Lykke does not charge any crypto trading fees. But unlike its competitor, Lykke does not charge any withdrawal or inactivity fees. The Lykke exchange offers more than 20 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, staking, as well as the complimentary crypto forecasting tool ATTMO which generates trading signals that are very regularly updated. These signals, illustrated by weather-inspired icons, help investors to optimize the timing of their trades and generate higher returns. The crypto offering is available to investors around the globe. 

 It's worth underlining that crypto friendly banks, even though most don’t fall under stringent bank regulations, are under much greater scrutiny than just a few years ago. They are now subject to both know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

[1] Revolut holds a banking license in Lithuania, which covers the European Economic Area (EEA), but isn’t applicable in the UK and the US.