Lloyds Bank Group are the latest in a lengthening list of big banks to put a ban on cryptocurrency purchasing. Lloyds is believed to be the first UK banking conglomerate (the Group includes Bank of Scotland, MBNA and Halifax) to put the brakes on Bitcoin. Fearing that they might be left in debt, after a huge market plunge on cryptocurrencies last week, Lloyds has decided to ban its credit card customers from using their cards to buy crypto.

The news follows announcements last week that American corporate banking giants have also instigated similar bans. Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase have all expressed doubts about the volatility of the cryptocurrency market and the risks involved in purchasing them.

Since most credit cards charge an average interest rate of around 15% or 16%, it becomes impractical to use them to purchase a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, which suffered almost a 50% loss of value in the past month. People who borrowed on credit to purchase bitcoin when it was at $20,000 are going to find themselves in big trouble when it\'s only worth $8,000, as it is now. Using a credit card for online purchases insures customers against the risk, so it\'s no surprise that the banks aren\'t prepared to back them.