It's bank policy, not law
Buying and holding crypto is legal in the UK. When a bank blocks or caps a payment to an exchange, that's a risk decision the bank has made on its own (usually citing fraud and scam-prevention), not a legal restriction on you. You're not doing anything wrong.
| Bank | Crypto purchases | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Chase UK | Blocked | One of the strictest: no outgoing payments to crypto exchanges permitted. |
| Starling | Blocked | Outgoing payments to crypto exchanges blocked outright. |
| TSB | Blocked | Outgoing payments to crypto exchanges blocked outright. |
| Metro Bank | Blocked | Crypto-related payments blocked outright. |
| Virgin Money | Blocked | Crypto-related payments blocked outright. |
| Barclays | Capped | Card purchases blocked entirely. Bank transfers (Faster Payments) capped at £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 per calendar month. |
| HSBC | Capped | Bank transfers and debit cards capped at £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 in any rolling 30 days. Credit card purchases refused entirely. |
| Monzo | Generally allowed | Standard fraud checks apply, but exchange payments aren't blocked outright. |
| Revolut | Generally allowed | Standard fraud checks apply; Revolut also runs its own in-app crypto trading. |
If your bank blocks or delays the payment
- Don't retry the same payment repeatedly. Multiple rapid attempts can trigger a longer fraud review or a temporary account freeze.
- Call the number on the back of your card (not one from a text or email) and ask them to confirm it's a crypto-related block, not a compromised-account flag.
- Try Faster Payments instead of a card where the bank allows it. Several banks (see table) permit transfers under a cap even when card purchases are refused.
- Consider a second account with a bank that allows it (Monzo and Revolut currently do, per the table above) if this is a recurring problem. A full switch isn't required, a second account just for funding an exchange is usually enough.
- Never use a "workaround" a stranger suggests (a friend's account, a "verified" middleman, a different sender name) to get round a block. This is one of the most common scam setups, and it can also get your own account flagged for money laundering.
Why this keeps changing
The FCA's cryptoasset authorisation gateway opens on 30 September 2026, with the full regulatory regime coming into force in October 2027. As exchanges become formally FCA-authorised over that window, some banks are expected to ease restrictions for the exchanges that get approved, but nothing is confirmed, and bank policy can change with no notice either way. This page will be rechecked periodically rather than treated as a one-time snapshot.
Where this came from
- UK Cryptoasset Business Council (UKCBC) survey, January 2026: bank-blocking transfer statistics
- Individual bank policy summaries cross-checked across multiple current (2026) comparison sources, not pulled from a single bank's own published policy page, so treat exact limits as indicative and confirm with your bank before relying on them
- FCA: cryptoasset registration gateway timeline, fca.org.uk
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