Access to banking has gotten so limited in the UK over the past few weeks that crypto companies had to complain directly to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government.
Per Simon Jennings, executive director at the advocacy group the UK CryptoAsset Business Council,
"When crypto started, the purists were saying crypto will bring down the banks. But ironically, it’s the banks that could bring down crypto."
According to Bloomberg, citing "two people who were present" at a March 8 meeting at the Treasury with Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith, crypto executives brought up the banking access issues, with Griffith responding that he would try to resolve the problem with lenders.
A Treasury spokesperson did not comment on the meeting, but they told Bloomberg that the government would continue to discuss "emerging issues" with stakeholders as its consultation progresses.
The meeting was part of the Treasury’s dialogue with digital asset industry representatives after it proposed a set of new rules for the sector in February of this year.
The UK government is encouraging crypto entrepreneurs to expand in the country, but this has turned out to be a very difficult task due to the cold reception they've been receiving from lenders.
The lender's cautious approach is generally presumed to be the result of the series of legal and regulatory challenges hitting the industry, mostly following the falls of a number of crypto companies, as well as several accompanying scandals.
However, Jeff Hancock, co-founder and chief executive of London-based crypto exchange Coinpass, was quoted as saying that,
The lack of access to banking "hampers any effort to make the UK a crypto hub, which is what Rishi and the government say they want."
As reported, over
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