Overreaching banks are locking millions out of the crypto market
Banks are locking millions out of the crypto market with arbitrary bans – this overreach needs to stop, writes Michael Healy
UK investors are embracing crypto, with the country ranking among the highest globally for adoption and awareness of digital assets. Yet instead of supporting this momentum, many UK banks are standing in the way of change – adopting blanket bans on payments to crypto providers that frustrate customers, create unnecessary hurdles and directly undermine the UK’s long-standing ambition to become a global hub for digital assets. It’s a serious overreach that must stop.
New IG research shows that two in five UK crypto investors have had payments blocked or delayed by their bank when trying to buy digital assets. Even by conservative estimates, that’s millions of people being shut out of or hindered from participating in one of the world’s fastest-growing and best performing asset classes. In recent months, one of the UK’s biggest banks introduced a full ban on crypto transactions.
While fraud prevention is often cited as the reason blanket bans feel lazy and paternalistic. At best, they’re anti-consumer. At worst, anti-competitive. The inconsistency is also hard to ignore, especially as some global banks have swiftly moved from blocking crypto activity to actively selling crypto products. It’s a shift that suggests these policies may be less about principle than they first appear.
The fact that many banks now block crypto payments is not a regulatory misstep – though the case for a clear and proportionate framework is strong. This is about banks choosing to limit access. Some institutions allow crypto transactions, others block them entirely. With no consistent standard in place, customers are subject to arbitrary decisions that vary wildly from one bank to the next. Crucially, the public doesn’t support this approach. Our research shows more UK adults oppose banks blocking crypto (42 per cent) than support it (33 per cent). People want the freedom to decide how they manage their own money, not have those decisions made for them.
Crypto bans look increasingly outdated
It’s also important to recognise that crypto is maturing. Our research shows most investors are integrating digital assets into diversified, long-term portfolios – a rational strategy that should be supported, not stigmatised. Yet when met with resistance from banks, many are being forced to take avoidable and disruptive steps just to participate.
More than a third of affected investors have switched banks solely to make crypto transactions. Nearly 30 per cent have filed formal complaints or appealed the decision in some way. Others are adjusting the size or timing of payments to work around restrictions. This kind of friction is becoming a hallmark of the UK crypto experience – and it comes on top of already lengthy, often stigmatising onboarding processes.
At the heart of this problem is a lack of accountability. In the absence of clear regulatory guidance, banks are free to dictate what customers can and cannot do with their own money. That must change. A fair and balanced regulatory framework would help prevent institutions from cutting off access to all crypto providers, regardless of their credibility, reputation or regulatory status.
If the UK is serious about becoming a global leader in digital assets, this approach cannot continue. We need regulation that provides clarity to banks, confidence to firms and freedom of choice to consumers. These blanket bans must end.
Michael Healy is UK managing director at IG