Australian Exchange Independent Reserve Partners with Paypal to Hedge Against Bank Restrictions on Crypto Payments

Updated: 25 August 2023

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Independent Reserve, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange in Australia, has partnered with PayPal in light of increasing restrictions by Australian banks against crypto exchange payments.

This partnership will enable Independent Reserve’s customers to fund their crypto accounts directly using fiat from their PayPal wallets and withdraw their funds from the exchange using PayPal.

The new partnership will offer crypto investors extra choice and help mitigate future risks if the rest of the “banks decide to close ranks against industry,” said Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny in an interview with CoinTelegraph.

Australian Banks Tightening Crypto Restrictions

In July this year, National Australian Bank joined multiple Australian banks, including Bendigo Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group), to tighten crypto restrictions and block payments to high-risk crypto exchanges.

This decision came in response to increased risks associated with crypto scams that transnational crime groups often organize. Criminals orchestrate such scams to facilitate anonymous transfer of stolen funds overseas, which are difficult to track.

Commonwealth Bank has imposed the strictest restrictions in Australia, capping deposits to $10,000 in all cryptocurrency exchanges. Other limits include blocking high-risk payments and removal of instant deposits.

It is Good to See PayPal Go Against the Grain – Independent Reserve CEO

Amid these rising restrictions, Prezlony said that the partnership between Independent Reserve and PayPal is the first example of a collaboration between PayPal and a crypto exchange in the APAC region.

Lauding the payments firm for its positive approach to interacting with the crypto sector, he said, “It’s really good to see a company like PayPal go against the grain and see the opportunity in the crypto industry — as opposed to what all the other banks are doing, which views the industry solely as a risk,”

Customers could only deposit $5,000 per day using PayPal or a debit card on Independent Reserve, which the CEO argues is far more generous than the limit imposed by other central banks.

Peter Cowan, Managing director of PayPal in Australia, echoed Prezlony’s sentiment, saying that the payments firm and cryptocurrency exchange partnership will decrease the complications of moving crypto assets from digital deals for Australian cryptocurrency investors.

Australian Investors Lost $221 Million in Crypto Scams in 2022 – Report

In April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a report that revealed that in 2022, Australians lost $3.1 billion to scams.

It highlighted that crypto scams skyrocketed by 162% in Australia, leading to a loss of $221 million.

Our latest Targeting Scams report has revealed Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022, as government, law enforcement and the private sector look to improve collaborative efforts to support the community in the fight against scams. https://t.co/3f9C3Uoltv pic.twitter.com/OGj6TkygnK

— ACCC (@acccgovau) April 16, 2023