Crypto News
The UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cryptoassets has opened an inquiry into the persistent difficulty crypto firms face obtaining traditional banking services, aiming to surface solutions before the Financial Conduct Authority's incoming regulatory regime takes effect in 2027.
Why it matters
UK crypto firms have spent years locked out of basic banking rails even when fully FCA-registered, a pattern known as debanking that has pushed activity offshore and slowed institutional adoption. The APPG's probe puts parliamentary weight behind a complaint the industry has raised without legislative traction since at least the 2023 base interest rate consultations.
Market impact
A pre-2027 legislative answer would align UK crypto firms with the same payment and settlement access their EU counterparts are gaining under MiCA. UK-based venues and stablecoin issuers are the most immediate beneficiaries if banks reopen accounts; the FCA regime itself becomes more workable when firms can transact in sterling without correspondent workarounds.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the APPG inquiry into crypto firm banking access?
It is a formal probe by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cryptoassets into why crypto firms struggle to obtain and keep traditional bank accounts, with the aim of producing legislative answers before the FCA's 2027 regulatory regime takes effect.
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Why are UK crypto firms being debanked?
Fully FCA-registered crypto firms have reported account closures, document fatigue, and flat refusals from high-street banks, often tied to AML risk-aversion rather than any specific compliance failure.
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How does debanking affect UK crypto growth?
Limited sterling payment and settlement access has pushed trading volume and stablecoin issuance offshore and slowed institutional adoption, since firms cannot transact cleanly in pounds without correspondent-bank workarounds.
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What changes when the FCA regime arrives in 2027?
The incoming regime will set the rules crypto firms must meet; if banking access is resolved beforehand, those firms can operate inside the UK on normal rails rather than routing activity through overseas counterparties.
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How does this compare with EU crypto rules under MiCA?
EU firms already operate under MiCA's harmonised regime with clearer banking access; the APPG inquiry is effectively asking whether the UK can match that footing before its own 2027 deadline.
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