A survey targeting major cryptocurrency exchanges found that nearly half of customer payments heading to platforms processing billions of pounds in transactions each month are being blocked or delayed by UK banks.

The UK Cryptoasset Business Council conducted an investigation of 10 regulated exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini.

According to the report, it is estimated that 40% of transactions heading to cryptocurrency platforms encounter various restrictions, despite many recipients, including those registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), having received regulatory approval.

One exchange recorded that the amount of transactions rejected by UK banks over the past year reached nearly £1 billion. This figure only includes verifiable card payments and open banking transfers, so the actual volume of blocked transactions is likely to be significantly higher.

What Happened

Six UK banks have completely blocked transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. Virgin Money, Metro Bank, Starling Bank, TSB, Chase UK, and Wise have fully prohibited bank transfers while allowing Wise debit card payments.

Additionally, 8 financial institutions have transaction limits. Barclays and HSBC set a limit of £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 per month. NatWest allows up to £1,000 per day and £5,000 per month.

**Santander** limits transactions to £1,000 per transaction and a maximum of £3,000 per month.

Among the major UK banks investigated, only Revolut and Lloyds Group allow remittances without restrictions. Nationwide sets a daily limit of £5,000 but does not impose a monthly limit.

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Industry Impact

80% of the participating exchanges reported an increase in customer inconvenience over the past 12 months. None reported improvements in terms of banking accessibility.

70% of the platforms indicated that these restrictions are dampening investment intentions and hiring plans in the UK market. Exchanges rated the difficulty of accessing banking services in the UK at an average of 7.9 out of 10 compared to other jurisdictions, with 5 of them scoring above 8.

The companies under investigation together provide services to millions of UK customers, process transactions worth hundreds of billions of pounds, and employ thousands in the country.

Some of these are also global unicorn companies headquartered in the UK.

Regulatory Environment

According to exchanges, banks are applying blanket policies without distinguishing between FCA-registered platforms and unlicensed services. A common response was that no explanation was provided regarding payment blocks.

The UK Treasury enacted the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 regulations governing crypto assets in December 2025.

The regulations are scheduled to be fully implemented in October 2027, but current banking restrictions are already affecting businesses operating under the existing FCA registration system.

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