EXCLUSIVE: Australian banks blocked or delayed $8 million in legitimate crypto payments to Melbourne-based broker Stormrake in the first two months of 2026, with affected client transactions ranging from as little as $5 to $751,000.
“It is embarrassing. It puts Australia in a bad place,” Stormrake CEO Michael Milmeister told Investor Daily.
“This is across the entire industry – it’s probably over $50 million industry wide that was blocked [in January and February].”
The claims come amid increasing scrutiny of banks’ treatment of digital asset businesses, as major institutions tighten fraud controls and reassess their risk appetite for crypto-related activity.
Macquarie Bank introduced restrictions in November 2024 that block payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, citing elevated scam and fraud risks.
Stormrake claims that on 16 January 2026, Macquarie blocked an entire BSB.
“No Macquarie clients could pay multiple payment providers – hundreds of legitimate businesses across many industries operating on Banking Circle infrastructure,” the broker claims.
Milmeister added: “Macquarie Bank’s blocking of a whole BSB that has hundreds of different businesses on there and so many different use cases, shows that they’re not doing it accurately, they’re not even following their own policies – they’re not doing a great job of it.”
A Macquarie Bank spokesperson told Investor Daily, “in line with our obligations to protect our customers from scams and fraud, we may block certain payments to BSBs assessed as being high risk, including some accounts belonging to cryptocurrency exchanges.”
The bank pointed to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s report, released on 30 March, which showed overall scam losses linked to cryptocurrency / Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) activity reached $121.3 million in 2025.
“It’s clear that our customers face elevated risks from the crypto sector. Criminals are clearly using crypto as their preferred attack vector, so it’s prudent for us to take steps to protect our customers,” the bank said in a statement.
However, Stormrake argues the approach runs counter to previous guidance from AUSTRAC, the regulator responsible for AML/CTF oversight, which it says has warned against industry-wide restrictions.
“AUSTRAC has sent guidance multiple times, saying, ‘please do not ban entire industries’, ‘you need to know specific cases as to why you blocked something,’” Milmeister said.
“Can an investor sue a bank because they blocked a legitimate transaction and it took longer to get in, and the price was worse?”
Despite banks’ risk management frameworks, Milmeister claims they are still unable to distinguish between legitimate and suspicious transaction flows, creating a risk that investors are pushed towards unregulated or cash-based channels.
“Banks need to be able to differentiate and need to be able to find actual problems, not just blanket ban the whole industry,” Milmeister said. “What the banks should be doing is whitelisting legitimate providers like ourselves and pushing clients towards it.”
Milmeister said the treatment is particularly frustrating given the sector’s increasing regulatory obligations, including the draft Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, which would require crypto exchanges and custodians to obtain an AFSL and fall under ASIC supervision.
“We’re being expected to come along with this new legislation, be fully regulated, have an AFSL and do everything that’s required. We’ll be getting our financial services license this year, we’re already listed in AUSTRAC’s list of VASPS (virtual asset service providers),” he told Investor Daily.
“It’s very easy for banks to look up who’s legitimate, who’s not right, and they’re still doing this sort of stuff, which is really, really bad. If you’re expected to do the regulatory part, you should be able to get free access to banking. It’s got to go hand in hand.”
He said two key issues are affecting clients – that they miss out at a price level or are too scared to participate altogether.
“Primarily, they could miss out on a price level – so they could have worse financial outcomes as a result of having a week delay or a month delay. The longest one we’ve seen is two months.”
But some investors miss out altogether, he said.
“They’ll get scared from that whole entire process – that’s an even bigger problem. That’s more of an impact on us, we never even see that flow,” he said.
When banks block payments, consumers and businesses are typically directed to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). However, Milmeister argues the complaints body lacks the power to force meaningful change.
“From the bank’s point of view, they know that AFCA has no teeth, and that means they can do whatever they want. Essentially, the banks become the policeman and their own kind of reviewer.”
According to Stormrake, debanking is now stifling broader industry development.
“It creates this barrier to entry – the number of companies in the ecosystem does not grow in Australia, which is not good for us. We don’t even worry about our competitors, because it’s such a growing market that there’s enough for everybody, and we want to see the ecosystem develop.”
The firm says Australia is increasingly out of step with international markets, particularly the United States.
“ETFs in the US as well are launching, it’s really open slather for everybody … And we have the big four banks slowing everything down – it’s the exact opposite,” Milmeister said.
“I’m going to a conference this month in Las Vegas. It’s going to be Bitcoin 2026, which is the largest Bitcoin Conference in the world. In that room will be everybody worldwide that’s in that ecosystem. There’ll be very, very few Australians and part of that reason is we’re just not as developed here as we should be and that’s because of banking regulatory issues … we need to be better.”
As for what needs to change, Stormrake argues access to banking should be treated as a fundamental operating right.
“If you need a banking license in Australia to operate, part of that banking license should say you cannot debank people without a reason, unless you’ve actually got an issue – banking has to be almost a right in Australia.”
In response to Investor Daily, a NAB spokesperson said: “To ensure NAB is a safe and sustainable bank for our customers and the broader financial system, we do not service customers who are outside our risk appetite.”
“NAB may make the decision not to offer or continue to provide banking services for a range of reasons, including commercial considerations, security and resilience, ESG or financial crime concerns, and product misuse.”
CBA told Investor Daily it applies a consistent, risk-based framework when assessing all prospective and existing business customers, including organisations involved in digital assets such as cryptocurrency and stablecoins.
“Rather than relying on a stand-alone policy for any single industry, we assess each application on its individual merits to ensure it aligns with our regulatory obligations and the bank’s overall risk appetite.
“Our appetite to participate in blockchain and crypto is determined by our risk appetite, which is shaped by several factors, including our regulatory requirements. Digital assets can be used for complex financial crimes, so we take particular care to ensure appropriate controls are in place.”
CBA said it supports financial innovation that can benefit customers and the broader Australian economy, provided appropriate safeguards are in place.
“We are supportive of additional regulatory clarity in this space to provide certainty, enhance consumer protection, and foster responsible innovation in Australia’s digital asset ecosystem.”
Bendigo Bank announced it would begin blocking high-risk cryptocurrency transactions in July 2023 as part of ongoing efforts to protect customers from fraud and financial crime.
“Bendigo Bank takes cyber security very seriously, employing a comprehensive suite of prevention methods to protect our customers and safeguard our systems,” the bank said in a statement.
ANZ declined to comment, while Westpac did not respond by deadline.
