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

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.

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.

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.”