Around the globe, commercial banks are attempting to prevent new investors from entering the cryptocurrency market, by blocking the transfer of money from customers\' accounts to coin exchanges.

In Portugal, the DECO, an association for consumer protection is protesting against actions taken by Banco Santander Totta S.A., following reports that the bank has now blocked all money transfers which are linked to bitcoin exchanges. The association is claiming that there is no legal basis for the new policy under Portuguese or EU law.

The DECO was founded in 1974 as a non-profit organisation, and is known for taking action in cases where it feels that consumers are being treated unfairly. Portuguese cryptocurrency investors will be hoping that pressure from the DECO will make the bank reconsider its ban on money transfers to and from coin exchanges.

The transfer of funds via a coin exchange is a legal grey area. The bank argues that because cryptocurrency is unregulated, and not recognised by the Portuguese Central Bank, they could not complete transactions related to coin exchanges. However, other Portuguese banks, such as Novo Banco, currently have no restrictions in place, and continue to allow their customers to transfer funds to and from coin exchanges.