Bitcoin Policy UK has sharply criticized British banks for maintaining blanket restrictions on lawful bitcoin activity, telling a parliamentary inquiry that the treatment of bitcoin users has not improved in three years.

In an announcement on Friday, the organization said it had submitted evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)'s inquiry into banking access, showing that no improvements have been made over the past three years in how banks treat bitcoin activity. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal cross-party forums of MPs and members of the House of Lords; they can gather evidence and issue recommendations, but they cannot compel action by either the government or the banks.

At the core of the problem, the group argues, UK policy treats "crypto" as a single category, so bitcoin is caught by rules written for unbacked tokens and issuer-dependent stablecoins. The British government has said since 2023 that banks should assess customers case by case rather than restrict by sector. Bitcoin Policy UK says practice has not followed that guidance, and that the gap is widening as the UK moves toward full implementation of its cryptoasset regime in 2027.

"Almost three years after we first raised blanket banking restrictions with the City Minister, our evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG inquiry shows the problem hasn't improved," Bitcoin Policy UK said in a Sunday post on X. "Roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed."

Almost three years after we first raised blanket banking restrictions with the City Minister, our evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG inquiry shows the problem hasn't improved. Roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed. We're…

— Bitcoin Policy UK (@bitcoinpolicyuk), August 23, 2026 (post on X)

The organization filed its evidence with the APPG's inquiry and called on British banks to give specific reasons for rejecting bitcoin-related activity.

A joint survey by Startup Coalition, the UK Cryptoasset Business Council and Global Digital Finance, published in January 2025, found that half of the UK fintech and crypto firms canvassed had been refused a bank account or had one closed. Only 14% had opened and kept an account with one of the country's nine largest banks. Most of the affected firms were UK-based operations rather than companies with no domestic presence.

According to Bitcoin Policy UK, Virgin Money, Metro Bank, Starling Bank, TSB and Chase UK block transfers and card payments outright, while Barclays and HSBC cap transfers at £2,500 ($3,400) per transaction. The group added that 80% of the exchanges surveyed said restrictions had increased over the previous year, and none reported an improvement. Several of the named lenders have previously cited fraud and financial-crime risk when limiting crypto transactions — Chase UK pointed to scam levels when it barred retail customers from making crypto payments in 2023.

A separate survey by IG Group from August 2025 found that 40% of active crypto investors had a payment blocked or delayed by their own bank.

The group's submission makes four requests: a regulatory statement that bitcoin activity through an FCA-registered exchange should not face blanket restriction; a duty on banks to give specific reasons and provide an appeals route; confirmation that FCA registration can serve as a risk basis, as in Hong Kong; and a published periodic measure of restriction levels.

The requests build on existing practice elsewhere in the system. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has registered cryptoasset firms for anti-money-laundering purposes since 2021, and Hong Kong — the jurisdiction the group cites — has licensed retail-accessible virtual asset trading platforms under its Securities and Futures Commission since 2023. The demand for reasons and an appeals route also echoes UK debanking rules that took effect in September 2024, which require banks to give customers a detailed explanation and 30 days' notice before closing accounts, subject to limited legal exceptions.

In December, City Minister Lucy Rigby — the Treasury's minister responsible for financial services — said that Britain can "without a doubt" compete with the United States and become an international hub for cryptoassets.

APPG inquiries typically conclude with a published report of findings and recommendations, giving MPs and peers a vehicle to press banks and the regulator as the UK's cryptoasset rules move toward full force.

Bitcoin Policy UK's evidence submission is detailed on its official website.

This article is based on reporting by Mathew Di Salvo, originally published by Bitcoin Magazine.