A new survey by the UK Cryptoasset Business Council (UKCBC) found that transfers between United Kingdom bank accounts and crypto exchanges are frequently blocked, delayed or refused, even when customers are trying to use regulated platforms.
The survey, titled Locked Out: Debanking the UK’s Digital Asset Economy, draws on responses from 10 of the UK’s largest centralized exchanges, which collectively serve millions of UK consumers and have processed hundreds of billions of pounds in transactions.
It aims to replace anecdotes with hard numbers on how current banking practices affect the sector. The UKCBC argues that widespread restrictions are a major obstacle to growth and are already undermining the UK’s ambitions to be a leading hub for digital assets.
Eight in 10 exchanges reported a noticeable increase over the past 12 months in customers experiencing blocked or limited transfers, with none seeing a decrease, the survey found.
How hard is it to move money?
Based on the exchanges’ data, UKCBC estimates that 40% of transactions to crypto exchanges are either blocked or delayed by the banks in question.
Simon Jennings, executive director of the UKCBC, told Cointelegraph, “We acknowledge that fraud is a legitimate concern and we actively want to work towards a solution. However, there is a widespread concern within the industry that banks are using compliance posture as a proxy to hinder growth of the sector.”
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One leading UK‑founded exchange observed close to 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in declined UK transactions over the past year, attributable to bank‑side rejections of card payments and open‑banking transfers.
The pattern spans a wide range of providers, with most major high‑street banks now imposing strict limits or blocks on both bank transfers and card payments to exchanges, while several challengers allow payments but with tight caps or 30‑day limits.
Blanket policies and lack of transparency
The UKCBC stresses that almost all major UK banks and payment companies currently impose blanket transaction limits or complete blocks on crypto-asset exchanges, often without differentiating between Financial Conduct Authority‑registered UK businesses and higher‑risk platforms.
Qualitative feedback from exchanges highlighted inconsistent restrictions “even against FCA‑registered firms,” driven by blanket policies rather than evidence‑based risk assessment.
Jennings said that their engagement with UK exchanges showed that “payment blocks or limits are applied universally,” and that FCA registration “does not currently prevent these restrictions.”
The report also flags a near‑total lack of transparency around these decisions, with 100% of surveyed exchanges saying banks provide no clear explanations for payment blocks or account restrictions, leaving companies and their customers “in the dark.”
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One exchange quoted in the report said that 60% of its customers expressed anger at the resulting friction, while another described bank‑imposed limits and bans as “the single biggest problem” with growing or launching new crypto products in the UK.
UKCBC recommendations
For UKCBC, the concern goes beyond consumer inconvenience. The report concludes that anti‑competitive debanking practices are “undermining domestic innovation and driving competition overseas.”
It recommends that the government and FCA make clear that blanket bans are unacceptable, require banks to adopt more granular, risk‑based frameworks that distinguish between different exchanges and remove unnecessary frictions for FCA‑registered firms.
Jennings said that “constructive dialogue” was the vital first step, but that so far, “banks have not meaningfully engaged and have been unwilling to share data on fraud levels.” He added, “If the UK is going to lead the global race, this cannot continue.”
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