UK officials have said they expect banks to treat all companies fairly, including crypto service providers, as part of the government’s ambition to make the country an international digital asset hub.
The government has introduced legislation for the regulation of crypto assets to Parliament and expects the final rules to be confirmed this year, “giving cryptocurrency companies the certainty they need to invest and grow in the UK,” a spokesperson for HM Treasury, the country’s economy and finance ministry, told CoinDesk on Tuesday.
The statement comes after a crypto lobby group and Coinbase accused British banks of preventing millions of customers from accessing “perfectly” legal digital asset services.
“We hope that companies are treated fairly,” HM Treasury spokesperson told CoinDesk, adding that crypto companies authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should not be treated differently simply because of their sector.
“We would not expect such authorized businesses to be subject to account or transaction restrictions by banking service providers,” the spokesperson said.
Even as the UK’s crypto regulatory framework takes shape, many banks continue to block customer access to FCA-registered crypto exchanges, the UK Crypto Asset Business Council said in a report.
The report, based on a survey of 10 major cryptocurrency exchanges operating legally in the UK, 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 see cryptocurrencies as an “existential” threat to their businesses
The FCA’s register of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing compliant crypto asset firms now includes 59 firms, including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini.
Last week, the regulator began final consultations on the rules that will come into force in October 2027. Treasury legislation passed in late 2025 expanded existing financial rules to cover the sector.
Tom Duff Gordon, head of international policy at Coinbase, told CoinDesk that the report shows that British banks are preventing millions of customers from accessing “perfectly legal and compliant services, often without explanation or adequate risk assessment.”
Gordon accused banks of imposing blanket restrictions that do not distinguish between FCA-registered firms with low fraud rates and higher-risk traders. “This is not good for consumers,” he said, “and undermines the government’s ambition to make Britain a hub for digital finance.” He added: “We support strict regulation, but people who have completed all necessary checks should be able to access legitimate, regulated services without arbitrary barriers.”
