UK parliament group opens inquiry into bank restrictions on crypto firms

A cross-party group of UK lawmakers have opened a six-week investigation dedicated to finding out if banks are refusing accounts and blocking payments for crypto companies. 

Once the APPG publishes its report and recommendations at the end of August, the concerned parties will be watching to see if they translate into rules for how banks handle crypto customers.

Do banks restrict crypto companies? 

The Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has announced that it will gather written evidence between July 21 and August 31, regarding whether or not banks are refusing accounts and blocking payments for crypto companies, before handing its findings and recommendations to the government. 

Banks, payment providers, fintech companies and crypto businesses, are encouraged to submit whatever information they might have. 

Lord Vaizey of Didcot, a former minister for the digital economy, and Labour MP Gurinder Singh Josan CBE co-chair the APPG and have both pushed for faster crypto regulation in Parliament over the past year.

The group’s six-week investigation will first look into the shortage of bank accounts for crypto businesses. The APPG said this difficulty extends to related services such as insurance. 

The second issue is a practice that several large UK banks have adopted, which is limiting crypto-related payments, whether by blocking transfers to particular platforms or putting a limit on how much a customer can send.

Lawmakers said they want to find out how those measures are applied, whether they match the actual risk banks are managing, and what they cost consumers, competition and innovation. The group is deliberately seeking evidence from more than just crypto companies so it can hear how banks themselves assess digital-asset risk. 

“Access to banking services is fundamental for any legitimate business,” APPG wrote in its statement. It went on to add that unnecessary barriers can get in the way of growth, investment and innovation. 

The inquiry also covers how the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia and the EU handle the same question.

Why is the APPG investigating banks now? 

The APPG said it opened the review weeks after the UK published its final cryptoasset rules, which are scheduled to take effect on October 25, 2027. Firms must apply for FCA authorization between September 30, 2026, and February 28, 2027.

The probe also lands during a change of government. Labour’s Andy Burnham took office as prime minister on Monday and named John Healey as chancellor of the Exchequer. 

Crypto firms have complained about losing banking access for years across the world, and not only in Britain. In the U.S., allegations that regulators leaned on banks to drop digital-asset clients became known in the industry as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”

Cryptopolitan reported in January that the UK Cryptoasset Business Council’s “Locked Out” survey of ten major exchanges found that banks were blocking or delaying close to 40% of domestic crypto transactions, and 70% of the platforms surveyed described the banking environment as growing more hostile. 

One exchange even said it lost roughly £1 billion ($1.2 billion) in transactions over the period of a year to rejected transfers and card payments.

Cryptopolitan reported later in June that Stand With Crypto UK, an advocacy group backed by Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), urged its members to file formal complaints over blanket restrictions, arguing that lenders such as Chase UK, Starling and TSB block crypto exchange transfers completely while others impose strict limits. 

HM Treasury has said it does not expect that FCA-authorized firms will face account or transaction limits simply for operating in the sector.

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