--- title: 'Crypto Investments Are Not Protected Like Bank Accounts: New FDIC Warning' description: Crypto investments are not protected like bank accounts, and crypto companies "may confuse" customers about protection, the FDIC warns. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true published: '2022-08-01T19:43:58.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:49:05.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Cryptocurrency - News word_count: 412 canonical: https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![FDIC Flag In Front Of Oversized Bitcoin](https://img.money.com/2022/08/News-FDIC-Issued-Warning-Crypto.jpg) Cryptocurrency is confusing, and prices for [bitcoin](https://money.com/what-is-bitcoin/) and other cryptos are [extremely volatile](https://money.com/is-crypto-crash-over-bitcoin-rising/). What's more, the federal government now feels it's necessary to reiterate that money invested in [cryptocurrency](https://money.com/what-is-cryptocurrency/) isn’t safeguarded the way cash at banks is protected. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a warning to banks on Friday to make sure the crypto companies they partner with are accurately representing the risks involved with digital assets. The FDIC, which is the regulator that insures cash kept in banks on behalf of consumers, is especially concerned about the confusion that might ensue when customers invest money at institutions that offer both cash deposit and crypto products. “Inaccurate representations about deposit insurance by non-banks, including crypto companies, may confuse the non-bank’s customers and cause those customers to mistakenly believe they are protected against any type of loss,” the FDIC’s [advisory](https://www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2022/fil22035b.pdf) reads. ## Is crypto protected by FDIC insurance? The FDIC will guarantee up to $250,000 in cash deposits at thousands of banks across the country. That means that if the bank goes under, customers are guaranteed to get their money back. This protection only applies to certain deposits like [checking accounts](https://money.com/best-checking-accounts/), [savings accounts](https://money.com/best-savings-accounts/) and [certificates of deposit (CDs)](https://money.com/best-cd-rates/) — not investment products like [stocks](https://money.com/how-to-buy-stocks/) or cryptocurrency. “When you're investing in stocks or crypto, you are taking risks that you may lose everything,” Richard Smith, chairman and chief executive of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles, a nonprofit that studies recurring patterns in the economy, science and the arts, [previously told Money](https://money.com/crypto-not-protected-fdic/). “There's no one to make sure that your losses are never above a certain level.” ## Crypto assets are risky The FDIC’s broad warning followed a [letter](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20220728a1.pdf) the FDIC and Federal Reserve sent on Thursday to the crypto broker Voyager Digital, warning the firm to stop claiming that its customers’ crypto deposits are protected by FDIC insurance — they aren’t. Voyager is one of several crypto companies that was forced to suspend withdrawals and trading (preventing customers from accessing their money) amid a [massive downturn](https://money.com/bitcoin-bottom-how-low-crypto-prices-drop/) in the cryptocurrency market. Other crypto companies have also temporarily suspended operations, and some cryptos have completely collapsed, wiping out billions of dollars of investments. That and the looming threat of a recession have helped lead to a [loss of confidence](https://money.com/why-bitcoin-is-down-panic-2022/) in the crypto market in general. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cryptocurrency", "item": "https://money.com/cryptocurrency/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Crypto Investments Are Not Protected Like Bank Accounts: New FDIC Warning" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/", "name": "Crypto Investments Are Not Protected Like Bank Accounts: New FDIC Warning", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-08-01T19:43:58.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/crypto-companies-protected-fdic-warning/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:49:05.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Crypto Investments Are Not Protected Like Bank Accounts: New FDIC Warning", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/08/News-FDIC-Issued-Warning-Crypto.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-FDIC-Issued-Warning-Crypto" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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