UK Parliament opens crypto banking access inquiry

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UK Parliament crypto banking inquiry

Highlights

UK's Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group launched a six-week inquiry examining bank account refusals and transaction limits imposed on crypto firms.
The APPG seeks evidence from banking, payments, fintech, and crypto sectors to inform a report with recommendations for the UK Government.
The inquiry assesses the proportionality of banking restrictions’ impact on UK crypto business access, innovation, professional services, and competition.

Inquiry scope and evidence timeline

As reported by CoinDesk, citing the APPG in a press release and statement, the UK’s Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group has launched a cross-party inquiry into banks that have refused accounts to crypto firms or imposed limits on crypto transactions.

The group is seeking written evidence over a six-week period from the banking, payments, fintech and crypto sectors. It then plans to publish a report with findings and recommendations for the UK Government.

The inquiry is focused on the shortage of bank accounts for crypto businesses and on restrictions some banks place on transfers linked to digital asset firms. It is also examining whether measures such as blocking payments to certain crypto companies or setting transfer caps are proportionate.

Potential impact on the UK crypto sector

The APPG says it wants to understand how banking restrictions affect businesses, consumers, innovation and competition. The review also extends to associated professional services, including insurance, where access constraints can add to operating difficulties for firms in the sector.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot, co-chair of the APPG and former UK Government minister for the digital economy, says the group has heard repeated concerns over several years from crypto and digital asset businesses about difficulties accessing bank accounts and banking services. The APPG is chaired by Lord Vaizey and Labour MP Gurinder Singh Josan CBE, according to the press release.

The issue mirrors wider complaints from the crypto industry about debanking, including in the U.S., where similar patterns have been described as Operation Chokepoint 2.0. In the UK, the parliamentary review could shape future policy discussion on how banks manage risk controls around digital assets without curbing sector growth.

In our earlier article on UK gilt market moves after Andy Burnham’s first day in office, we explained how investors pushed yields higher as they weighed signals of more interventionist policy and possible tax-and-spend shifts. We also noted that, with borrowing costs already elevated, markets and business groups were looking for clearer detail on how cost-of-living measures or tax changes would be funded to preserve fiscal credibility.

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