Major UK banks are blocking or restricting customers' transfers to crypto platforms, with more than 10,000 complaints filed over a three-month period.
According to a report by Coinbase-backed (NASDAQ: $COIN) advocacy group Stand With Crypto UK, 10,092 complaints were filed between May and August 2026 from customers who said their banks had restricted or refused transfers to crypto platforms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The complaints involved all major UK retail banks and came from every one of the country's 650 parliamentary constituencies.
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Lloyds Banking Group (LON: LLOY) received the most complaints, at 2,297, followed by Barclays (LON: BARC) with 1,569 and NatWest Group (LON: NWG) with 1,278. Lloyds, which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland, accounted for more than 22% of the total complaints.
HSBC UK (LSE: HSBA) and Monzo were also among the banks named in the report, which found that restrictions were not limited to institutions with explicit crypto bans.
Banks that impose transfer limits received 6,198 complaints, while those without a published policy restricting crypto transfers received 2,842. Banks with outright bans accounted for 989 complaints.
Stand With Crypto said the figures suggest customers cannot reliably predict whether their bank will allow them to transfer money to regulated crypto platforms, even when the bank does not publicly prohibit such payments.
"The FCA is preparing to implement a comprehensive regime for crypto assets next year, and the Government has a clear ambition to become a global leader in digital assets and financial innovation," the report wrote.
"If left unaddressed, bank blocks risk undermining the success of this work," it added.
Last month, more than 50,000 Europeans urged the European Commission to allow stablecoins to offer rewards such as cashback, loyalty benefits and fee reductions during its review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
