UK Banks Still Blocking Bitcoin, Policy Group Tells Parliament

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UK Banks Still Blocking Bitcoin, Policy Group Tells Parliament

Bitcoin Policy UK has slammed British banks for applying blanket restrictions to lawful bitcoin activity. 

The organization said in an announcement Friday that it had submitted evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG’s parliamentary inquiry into banking access, revealing that no improvements had been made over the past three years in how banks treat bitcoin activity. 

The issue: UK policy treats “crypto” as one thing, so bitcoin is caught by rules written for unbacked tokens and issuer-dependent stablecoins.

The British government has said since 2023 that banks should assess case by case rather than restrict by sector. The group says practice has not followed, and that the gap is widening as the UK moves toward full implementation of its cryptoasset regime in 2027. 

Bitcoin Policy UK called on British banks to give reasons for rejecting bitcoin-related activity. 

“Almost three years after we first raised blanket banking restrictions with the City Minister, our evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG inquiry shows the problem hasn’t improved,” Bitcoin Policy UK said in a Sunday post on X.  

“Roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed.”

The organization filed evidence with the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group’s inquiry into banking access. 

A joint survey by Startup Coalition, the UK Cryptoasset Business Council and Global Digital Finance, published in January 2025, found that half of the UK fintech and crypto firms it canvassed had been refused a bank account or had one closed, and that only 14% had opened and kept an account with one of the country’s nine largest banks. Most were UK-based operations rather than firms with no domestic presence.

Virgin Money, Metro Bank, Starling Bank, TSB and Chase UK block transfers and card payments outright, while Barclays and HSBC cap transfers at £2,500 ($3,400) per transaction, Bitcoin Policy UK said. 

It added that 80% of the exchanges said restrictions had increased over the previous year. None reported an improvement. An IG Group survey from August 2025 found 40% of active crypto investors had a payment blocked or delayed by their own bank.

The submission makes four requests: a regulatory statement that bitcoin activity through an FCA-registered exchange should not face blanket restriction; a duty on banks to give specific reasons and an appeals route; confirmation that FCA registration can serve as a risk basis, as in Hong Kong; and a published periodic measure of restriction levels.

In December, City Minister Lucy Rigby said that Britain can “without a doubt” compete with the United States and become an international hub for cryptoassets.

This post UK Banks Still Blocking Bitcoin, Policy Group Tells Parliament first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

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