The UK government says banks need to stop blocking crypto firms if the country wants to become a digital hub

U.K. officials accidental banks indispensable dainty crypto businesses reasonably arsenic last regularisation nears. Strategy

Updated Jan 28, 2026, 5:27 p.m. Published Jan 28, 2026, 4:51 p.m.

U.K. officials person said they expect banks to dainty each businesses fairly, including crypto services providers, arsenic portion of the government’s ambition to marque the state an planetary integer assets hub.

The authorities has introduced authorities for cryptoasset regularisation to Parliament and that it expects last rules to beryllium confirmed this year, “giving crypto businesses the certainty they request to put and turn successful the U.K," a spokesperson for the HM Treasury, the country's economical and concern ministry, told CoinDesk connected Tuesday.

The connection comes aft a crypto lobbying radical and Coinbase accused British banks of blocking millions of customers from accessing “perfectly” ineligible integer plus services.

“We expect businesses to beryllium treated fairly,” the HM Treasury spokesperson told CoinDesk, adding that crypto firms authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should not beryllium treated otherwise simply due to the fact that of their sector.

“We would not expect specified licensed firms to beryllium taxable to relationship oregon transaction restrictions by banking services providers,” the spokesperson said.

Even arsenic the U.K.’s crypto regulatory model takes shape, galore banks proceed to artifact customers from accessing FCA-registered crypto exchanges, the U.K. Cryptoasset Business Council said successful a report.

The report, based connected a survey of 10 large cryptocurrency exchanges operating legally successful the U.K., recovered that 7 said the banking situation had go much hostile successful 2025, portion 3 said it remained unchanged.

Read more: Coinbase CEO says large banks present presumption crypto arsenic an ‘existential’ menace to their business

The FCA’s registry of crypto plus firms gathering anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules present includes 59 companies, including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini.

The regulator last week initiated last consultations connected rules acceptable to instrumentality effect by October 2027. Treasury authorities passed successful precocious 2025 extended existing fiscal rules to screen the sector.

Tom Duff Gordon, Coinbase Head of International Policy, told CoinDesk the study shows British banks are blocking millions of customers from accessing “perfectly ineligible and compliant services, often with nary mentation and nary due appraisal of risk.”

Gordon accused banks of imposing broad restrictions that neglect to separate betwixt FCA-registered firms with debased fraud rates and higher-risk operators. “This isn't bully for consumers,” helium said, “and it undermines the government's ambition to marque Britain a hub for integer finance.” He added: “We enactment beardown regulation, but radical who've completed each the required checks should beryllium capable to entree legitimate, regulated services without arbitrary barriers.”

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A ballot connected the authorities was delayed earlier this period aft hitting absorption implicit however it proposes regularisation regarding stablecoins.