Are Bank of America Accounts Linked To Coinbase Being Shut Down? Crypto Exchange CEO Brian Armstrong Wants To Know

The relationship between the cryptocurrency and banking industries seems to be under strain once again, following a Twitter poll initiated by Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, questioning whether Bank of America Corp. BAC is closing accounts linked to transactions with the exchange.

Armstrong's curiosity was piqued by a claim from Muneeb Ali, co-founder of blockchain firm Stacks, who alleged that his personal account with the bank was closed after 15 years of use.

Ali suggested that the closure was due to his use of an account to purchase Bitcoin BTC/USD via Coinbase.

Armstrong's poll, which was launched late Wednesday in the U.S. and tagged Bank of America's Twitter handle, had garnered over 11,150 responses by Thursday morning.

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Approximately 9% of respondents indicated that their accounts had been closed due to transactions with Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, while around 19% voted in the negative.

Bank of America has yet to comment on the allegations or the poll.

The global banking sector has grown increasingly skeptical of the cryptocurrency industry in the wake of a $1.5 trillion market downturn last year, a series of digital asset failures, and heightened regulatory scrutiny.

U.S. regulators have been particularly stringent, taking action against crypto following the 2022 collapse of the FTX FTT/USD exchange.

Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, accusing it of operating an unregistered securities exchange.

Coinbase has dismissed the lawsuit as baseless.

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Photo: Coinbase