Some providers that run mainly through an app, often called neobanks, let you trade crypto assets. Crypto assets are digital tokens bought and sold on open markets, and you can trade them from the same screen as your everyday account. Convenience is a clear benefit, but a crypto holding is usually held differently from a deposit. Understanding that gap is the most important step before you use the feature.
Why providers add crypto trading
Crypto trading keeps more of your activity inside a single app, which is why providers add it. A customer who already holds money with a provider has less reason to look elsewhere.
Consider someone who keeps spare money in an everyday account and wants some exposure to crypto assets. Rather than opening a separate service, they can move part of that money inside the app and trade from there. Providers often earn from trading through the terms they set, which helps explain why the feature exists.
How custody changes the picture
A deposit is a claim on the bank to return your money. Crypto assets are different, because they are usually held through custody. Custody means a provider holds the assets for you and controls the keys or records that prove ownership.
Providers differ in how they hold these assets. Some keep customer assets pooled together, while others keep them separate for each customer, and that choice affects what happens if the provider runs into trouble. This is a general pattern rather than a rule that holds everywhere, so confirm the arrangement for the provider you are using.
Your everyday money and your crypto holdings may therefore sit under different arrangements, even inside the same app.
What protection covers in concept
Deposit protection schemes are designed for eligible deposits held with a bank, and they are set up differently in each country. Crypto holdings are usually outside that design, so they tend not to share the same cover. Where the provider is an e-money institution rather than a bank, what applies to your everyday money changes as well.
Read the deposit protection entry for the general idea before you rely on any cover. Protection depends on where the provider is licensed, so treat any protection claim as something to confirm in writing. The provider's own terms, and the rules that apply in your country, are the places to check.
Limits and common mistakes
Crypto prices can move sharply in a short time, so a holding may be worth much less when you come to sell. Providers also set their own restrictions on which assets you can trade and how you can move money in and out. These terms change, so check them again from time to time.
Several mistakes come up again and again.
- Treating crypto holdings as if they sit under the same cover as everyday money.
- Assuming that a familiar app means the same rules apply to every product inside it.
- Putting in money you would need soon, before you understand how trades settle.
- Overlooking whether assets are kept separate for you or pooled with other customers.
- Trusting a protection claim without finding out which entity actually holds the assets.
What to check next
Before you use the feature, read the terms that cover crypto holdings separately from your everyday account. Check these points first.
- Who holds the crypto assets, and whether they are kept separate for you.
- Which legal entity you contract with, and which body in your country oversees it.
- What protection applies to deposits and what applies to crypto holdings, in writing.
- How each trade is priced, including any mark-up added to the market price.
- How you withdraw, whether you can move the assets to a wallet outside the app or only sell them back, and how long a transfer usually takes.
If you are still choosing a provider, this guide to choosing online banks sets out what to compare. Then use the wider set of online bank guides to see how crypto features sit beside everyday banking. Do these checks before you move any money.