Independent Banker - November 2023 - 20

PORTFOLIO
they're not confident in it, compared
with 71% of men.
These statistics track with what
Ohlendorf has seen among customers
at First Community Bank and Trust.
The few who are investing appear
to be young men. Ohlendorf has
also found that investments from
regular crypto investors have slowed
and become lower in value and
volume from crypto's financial and
reputational peak.
Still, that doesn't mean Americans
are done investing in crypto. Pew
found that, overall, 17% of U.S. adults
have invested in, traded or used
cryptocurrency, which is unchanged
from similar surveys done in 2021
and 2022. Of those, 69% still have
cryptocurrency today.
How can community banks
educate customers about
cryptocurrency?
While national and international
regulations for cryptocurrency are still
being hashed out, community bankers
continue to play an important role
in educating their customers. That's
especially needed as crypto companies
continue to try to make their products
look the same as those traditionally
offered by banks.
For example, some crypto
companies have claimed they're
FDIC insured, which is not the case,
especially as they're often regulated in
another country, says Susan Sullivan,
senior vice president, congressional
relations for ICBA. Community
bankers can help their customers see
through the marketing haze-and
sometimes flat-out lies.
" As trusted institutions, consumers
come to community banks with
questions about financial products
like cryptocurrency, " she says. " We
need to make it really clear to our
customers that these are not regulated
institutions like banks, and your
" A lot of entities that
presented themselves
as 'crypto banks' didn't
have the regulations
or protections you
would find with your
community bank. "
-BRIAN LAVERDURE, ICBA
Cryptocurrency theft's
ripple effect
In addition to talking to customers about
the near impossibility of recovering
stolen cryptocurrency, Brian Laverdure,
senior vice president, digital assets and
innovation policy for ICBA, says that
community bankers may also want to
talk to their customers about what stolen cryptocurrency is used for.
According to a United Nations report, North Korea stole crypto
assets valued between $630 million and more than $1 billion in
2022-more than any other year.
" It's not just consumers that are being harmed. It's not just
your aunt or uncle or cousins throwing a few bucks into crypto
every year, " he says. " There are very serious international security
implications to this. "
their PayPal account and turn it into
cryptocurrency.
It also may not be obvious to all
users that they are being presented
with an unregulated financial product.
" PayPal, by use of colors and graphics,
almost tricks you into leaving your
money in PayPal and then investing
it into cryptocurrency, " he says. " You
can catch yourself wanting to hit the
wrong button. "
Community bankers should
be aware of customers who are
purposefully investing in crypto and
those who may accidentally do so,
so that they can have conversations
with those customers if they have
money is not FDIC insured. "
First Community Bank and Trust
continues to track cryptocurrency
and monitor how nonregulated
entities are trying to push customers
into crypto investment. Ohlendorf is
especially concerned about entities
like PayPal giving their customers
the option to put real money into
questions or concerns.
" At this point, cryptocurrency is
not going away, " says Laverdure.
Community bankers are " going
to get more questions about this,
not less. It's really important for
community bankers to become part of
the conversation. "
Jen A. Miller is a writer in New Jersey.
20 // ICBA Independent Banker // November 2023
Illustration by Issaronow/Adobe
Independent Banker - November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - November 2023
