Since the beginning of April, complaints from monobank customers who work with cryptocurrencies about their accounts being blocked unilaterally without prior notice have increased. At least six such public complaints have been filed on specialized financial websites.
For example, client Danylo reported that he trades on the P2P market via a Telegram bot and sells NFT collections on the Get Gems website (he receives funds in TON cryptocurrency from the sale). And he does not understand why the bank blocks his account, seizes his personal money, and then forcibly closes the account.
At the same time, most often the amounts of transactions do not even come close to UAH 400,000 - mandatory in Ukraine for control within the framework of financial monitoring, according to current legislation. Most often, we are talking about UAH 50-60,000.
“The day before yesterday, I withdrew the amount I earned on a crypto exchange, which is not taxed according to the laws of our country, and my account was simply blocked without any explanation. In response, I was told that I was a risky client,” the complaint, filed in Kyiv, states.
But a monobank client from Kremenchuk reported that he managed to withdraw his 48 thousand before the account was blocked after cryptocurrency transactions and confirmation of the source of the funds.
Artem, a monobank user in Kryvyi Rih, clarified that the bank freezes clients' personal funds for a period of 3 to 60 days, and then terminates service.
“Monobank blocks all users who make transfers or receive funds from people who may be related to cryptocurrency, and as a result, unilaterally terminates the contract. Accordingly, we understand that even if you did not carry out such operations, you may still be blocked,” his negative review states.
Each time, monobank managers explain their actions with the requirements of the National Bank, its financial monitoring rules. They say that they are simply obliged to check all payments, but do not explain why transactions related to cryptocurrencies fall under suspicion. Although they note that the criteria by which the checks are carried out are classified information.
“The bank makes a decision on the possibility of servicing by analyzing information from various verified sources. Colleagues also analyzed the additional documents provided. Based on this analysis, the bank may decide to refuse servicing. We cannot inform you of the exact reason for the refusal due to the bank's policy,” monobank said in its response.
Financiers are urging people to wait for the review to be completed and promise to return to their services over time. Although this may not happen.
“More than a year ago, due to the sale of cryptocurrency, my account was blocked. During this time, I have already become an adult and would really like to resume cooperation with your bank and open an individual entrepreneur, because you have the best conditions for both clients and sole proprietors,” says Andriy Dolgih in a public request to the bank. However, monobank’s response contains a refusal: “Unfortunately, we cannot continue your further service in our bank.”.
It must be said that blocking accounts after cryptocurrency transactions also occurs in other banks; similar cases, for example, are recorded in complaints from FUIB clients. However, there is also confirmation of unblocking, as, for example, in the story with a user under the nickname AkkermanChange from Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. He reported that to unblock the account, he appeared at the bank branch and “provided a full video recording with the entrance to the exchange application, where open transactions on orders are visible, showed the entire chat history and responses from the exchange support”. After that, the bank returned him access to the FUIB application and accounts. This proves the lack of uniform standards among different banks regarding financial monitoring and checks of cryptocurrency transactions. Everyone has different requirements and rules.
