Various digital asset companies are experiencing difficulties accessing banking services in the United Kingdom. Some UK banks have started to ban cryptocurrency companies from conducting transactions and even freezing their accounts.
The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for cryptocurrency companies based in the UK, as UK banks have created numerous obstacles for these businesses, Bloomberg reports.
The main problems for crypto companies are that UK banks are rejecting their transactions “for no apparent reason,” demanding “more information” about the control of customer assets. Some representatives of the UK banking sector are even freezing the accounts of companies whose activities are related to cryptocurrency assets.
For example, representatives of the British startup SavingBlocks, which offers investors a set of digital asset portfolios for passive income, have not been able to open a corporate account with any UK bank for almost a year. According to Edouard Daunizeau, the company’s CEO, their lawyers applied to nine different banking institutions, seven of which immediately refused to cooperate “without even giving a reason.” The remaining two banks began inundating SavingBlocks with “requests for additional documentation” and “buried the company in paperwork.” Daunizeau says the company is considering getting a license in another country, such as France, which in his words “would be a lot easier” than getting approval from banks in the United Kingdom.
The situation has become so bad recently that many UK cryptocurrency companies can’t access banking services. Representatives of the crypto-business even complained to members of the government, which, on the one hand, encourages their development and seeks to make England a global crypto hub, but on the other hand, prevents their interaction with the traditional banking system.
To recall, a few days ago, the UK government announced plans to increase cryptocurrency market regulation as part of an overall program to combat economic crime.
