Coinbase-backed advocacy group Stand With Crypto UK has instructed its 286,000 members to file formal complaints with their banks over sweeping restrictions on payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.
UK banks are restricting or completely denying service to cryptocurrency exchanges and users, despite building in-house digital asset teams, leading to questions about the intent of their actions.
Why would British banks block cryptocurrency payments if they were legal?
The UK Crypto Assets Business Council (UKCBC) recently reported that British banks are currently blocking or delaying approximately 40% of all domestic cryptocurrency transactions. The number of UK adults who currently own crypto assets has doubled to 8% from four years ago.
Now, the “Your Money. Your Choice” campaign, organized by the Coinbase-backed advocacy group, Standing with encryption in the UKmobilizing these thousands of customers to formally demand answers from their banks.
While owning cryptocurrencies is legal in the UK, banks claim the delay is aimed at protecting customers from fraud and financial crime. Critics argue that banks are implementing “blanket bans” that penalize all customers, even those who use fully legal and regulated exchanges. The policies also apply regardless of the risk profile of the individual customer.
The United Kingdom’s finance ministry, the Treasury, has said it expects all businesses to be treated fairly. A spokesperson recently told reporters that the government “does not expect such licensed companies (cryptocurrency companies) to be subject to account or transaction restrictions” simply because of the sector in which they operate.
Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, banks must execute payments that meet account conditions.
Despite this, data in the “Locked Out” report published in January 2026 shows that eight out of ten cryptocurrency platforms said the number of rejected bank transfers had increased over the previous 12 months. One exchange reported that banks rejected up to £1 million in customer transactions in one year.
Stand with the crypto statement It notes that eight out of ten major banks impose blanket bans or limits on transfers to crypto asset exchanges, even those authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Banks like Chase UK, Starling, TSB, Virgin Money and Metro Bank have imposed a complete ban and completely blocked all transfers and card payments to cryptocurrency exchanges while banks like Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide and Monzo allow transfers but impose strict limits on how much customers can send.
How does the UK controversy relate to the US Operation Choke Point battle?
The battle between cryptocurrency users and British banks is like a battle Choke Point Operation 2.0 Which happened in the United States
The situation is a little different because during… Choke Point Operation 2.0Cryptocurrency advocates have accused federal banking regulators under the Biden administration of pressuring banks to cut ties with digital asset companies through threats and informal guidance.
Subcommittee Chairman Dan Meuser revealed during a February 2025 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee that the FDIC had threatened formal supervisory action to pressure banks to deprive digital asset companies, their employees, and even their customer service.
But in the UK, the pressure is coming from the banks themselves as they claim to make independent business decisions based on risk assessments of fraud and money laundering.
Katie Harris, head of European policy at Coinbase, noted that the banks’ actions were contradictory because the government had already announced its intentions to make the UK a global hub for digital assets. “This vision requires people to participate. But banks are stifling the important path from fiat money to cryptocurrencies.” she said.
Advocates also point out that many of these same banks are building their own in-house digital asset teams to explore cryptocurrency products. Stand With Crypto UK has raised questions about whether these retail customer blocks are really about safety, or whether they are an anti-competitive strategy to eliminate competing services.
