The co-chairs of Parliament's Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group have written to the chief executives of every major UK bank, asking them to explain how they treat crypto and digital asset firms.
"Access to banking services could be one of the single biggest barriers to growth for UK crypto and digital asset businesses, and could potentially undermine the success of the UK's forthcoming crypto regime," the co-chairs wrote, adding that limited access could sway the decisions of firms weighing whether to invest in the country.
The letter puts six questions to each bank: what its policy is, whether it currently serves crypto firms and why not if it does not, what limits it applies to crypto-related transactions, what factors drive that approach, whether the incoming regime will change it, and what the Government or regulators could do to help.
Banks point to a rise in crypto-related scams and the risk of retail customers losing large sums to volatile prices, according to the FT, which reported that HSBC, NatWest, Monzo and Nationwide cap monthly transfers to crypto exchanges at between £5,000 and £10,000, while Starling and Chase UK bar them outright. Crypto losses are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
What the Government has said
