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

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email The UK government says banks need to stop blocking crypto firms if the country wants to become a digital hub U.K. officials say banks must treat crypto businesses fairly as final regulation nears. Strategy By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Jamie Crawley Updated Jan 28, 2026, 5:27 p.m. Published Jan 28, 2026, 4:51 p.m. Make us preferred on Google The UK's ministry of finance said all firms, including crypto service providers, must be treated fairly. HM Treasury building London (Tilman2007 via Wikimedia Commons/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : The U.K. government says it expects banks to treat crypto businesses fairly as part of its push to make the country a global hub for digital assets. HM Treasury says crypto firms authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority should not face account or transaction restrictions solely because they operate in the sector. A report from the U.K. Cryptoasset Business Council and comments from Coinbase allege that major banks are blocking millions of customers from accessing legal, FCA-registered crypto services, despite new regulations moving toward full implementation by 2027. U.K. officials have said they expect banks to treat all businesses fairly, including crypto services providers, as part of the government’s ambition to make the country an international digital assets hub. The government has introduced legislation for cryptoasset regulation to Parliament and that it expects final rules to be confirmed this year, “giving crypto businesses the certainty they need to invest and grow in the U.K," a spokesperson for the HM Treasury, the country's economic and finance ministry, told CoinDesk on Tuesday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . The statement comes after a crypto lobbying group and Coinbase accused British banks of blocking millions of customers from accessing “perfectly” legal digital asset services. “We expect businesses to be treated fairly,” the HM Treasury spokesperson told CoinDesk, adding that crypto firms authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should not be treated differently simply because of their sector. “We would not expect such licensed firms to be subject to account or transaction restrictions by banking services providers,” the spokesperson said. Even as the U.K.’s crypto regulatory framework takes shape, many banks continue to block customers from accessing FCA-registered crypto exchanges, the U.K. Cryptoasset Business Council said in a report. The report, based on a survey of 10 major cryptocurrency exchanges operating legally in the U.K., found that seven said the banking environment had become more hostile in 2025, while three said it remained unchanged. Read more: Coinbase CEO says big banks now view crypto as an ‘existential’ threat to their business The FCA’s register of crypto asset firms meeting anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules now includes 59 companies, including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini. The regulator last week initiated final consultations on rules set to take effect by October 2027. Treasury legislation passed in late 2025 extended existing financial rules to cover the sector. Tom Duff Gordon, Coinbase Head of International Policy, told CoinDesk the report shows British banks are blocking millions of customers from accessing “perfectly legal and compliant services, often with no explanation and no proper assessment of risk.” Gordon accused banks of imposing blanket restrictions that fail to distinguish between FCA-registered firms with low fraud rates and higher-risk operators. “This isn't good for consumers,” he said, “and it undermines the government's ambition to make Britain a hub for digital finance.” He added: “We support strong regulation, but people who've completed all the required checks should be able to access legitimate, regulated services without arbitrary barriers.” United Kingdom HM Treasury FCA Coinbase More For You Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture By CoinDesk Research Dec 30, 2025 Commissioned by Pudgy Penguins Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale. What to know : Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token. The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility. 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