The Bank of England delays 40% of payments to cryptocurrency platforms

A new report from the UK Cryptoasset Business Council states that major retail and commercial banks in the UK are blocking approximately 40% of money transfer transactions to digital asset exchanges. The survey was conducted with 10 major centralized exchanges operating in the UK, such as Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Gemini, and Bitpanda.

One exchange reported that over the past year, UK banks have denied nearly £1 billion in transactions via card and bank transfer. Up to 80% of the exchanges surveyed noted a significant increase in customer payment issues, while 70% assessed the banking environment in the UK as increasingly “hostile.”

The report also highlights that many banks are implementing bans or strict transaction limits, even for exchanges registered with the FCA, raising concerns about violations of competition regulations and consumer protection. The council calls on regulators to require banks to adopt a risk-based approach, considering each case individually rather than imposing broad restrictions.