UK Banks Are Blocking Crypto Payments—and Redefining Access
That headline is trending because it captures a quiet shift that’s been building for months: for a lot of everyday customers, the “on-ramp” into crypto is no longer the exchange app, it’s their own bank saying no. A recent industry survey says roughly 40% of attempted transfers to crypto platforms are being blocked or slowed, and several major exchanges claim the problem has intensified over the past year. I get why banks are doing it. Fraud is ugly, scams are constant, and regulators have made it clear they expect tighter controls. But the bluntness is the point. When protection turns into blanket friction, it doesn’t just stop criminals, it also nudges legitimate users out of the mainstream and into workarounds. And that’s where the title really lands: blocking payments becomes a form of policy by default. If access can be cut easily, what does “regulated” actually mean in day-to-day life?