The FCA’s cryptoasset authorisation gateway opened on September 30th. Firms will have until February 28th 2027 to submit their applications, before the mandatory regime comes into force on October 25th 2027. After years of consultation, exchanges, custodians, and intermediaries, stablecoin issuers will finally have both a framework and a deadline. That framework will decide which businesses can offer crypto in Britain. It will not decide where people choose to buy it.
bunq’s 2026 Crypto Trust Index found that 82% of British adults are actively trying to grow their wealth, while only 29% say they have never invested in crypto. When asked who they would trust to support them, 43% chose their bank: more than the proportion selecting exchanges and trading platforms combined. Another one in five simply wanted a familiar, regulated place to get started. In crypto, trust still matters more than innovation.
Access to Crypto
Yet consumer behaviour tells a different story. The FCA’s research shows that 73% of crypto users purchase through centralised exchanges. Our research found that just 7% of British crypto investors turn to their bank for information, compared with 12% who use online forums and 11% who rely on social media. People may say they want their bank involved, but many ultimately go elsewhere.
Much of this comes down to access. For many users, their bank is not only absent from the crypto journey. It actively complicates it. Around 40% of attempted payments to exchanges are blocked or delayed, while 80% of exchanges surveyed said this friction had increased over the past year. Some high street banks prohibit transfers to exchanges altogether; others impose low transaction limits or restrict crypto purchases by credit card. Too often, those restrictions treat FCA-registered providers the same as less reputable operators, with little explanation for the people affected.
It is a strange contradiction. The institution consumers say they trust most can end up sending them towards unfamiliar platforms, where they turn to Reddit and social media for guidance.
Barriers to Entry
The barriers are largely practical. Of Britons who have not invested in crypto, 65% cite a lack of understanding as their biggest obstacle, while 37% say clearer guidance would help them take the first step. The gap between men and women tells its own story. Just 21% of women have invested in crypto, compared with 37% of men. More than a third of women say they would not know where to start, versus 18% of men, and nearly a quarter describe crypto as a masculine space.
Banks are also running out of reasons to keep crypto at arm’s length. From October next year, authorised crypto firms will be subject to the Consumer Duty: the same standard that applies when banks provide products such as savings accounts. “It is unregulated” will no longer be a convincing reason to deny people a clear, supported route into the market. And regulation is clearly what users want: a quarter of existing crypto users say they would invest more in a more tightly regulated market, as does a similar share of those who have yet to invest.
Neobanking
Neither banks nor crypto native platforms have quite cracked it. Exchanges offer expertise and choice, but many were designed by experienced users for experienced users. For someone starting out, they can feel daunting. Traditional banks have the trust, but legacy technology and complex processes can make it difficult to create the simple experience consumers now expect.
That leaves an important space for neobanks. They offer the reassurance of being a licensed, regulated provider without the baggage of decades old technology. Investing should feel as straightforward and secure as any other action in your banking app. At bunq, that principle has shaped our approach from the start: listen to what users need, then build around it. When we introduced crypto, it was in response to users who wanted a way to explore investing within an environment they already knew and trusted, rather than creating another account with an unfamiliar exchange.
That is why crypto sits within the same app, security and Safety Shield that protect their everyday banking. The most common first crypto purchase on bunq is just €10 of bitcoin. It is a small amount, but an important signal showing that people are curious and looking for a trusted way to begin.
Britain’s gateway to crypto will be the provider that makes people feel confident without making things complicated. Without complexity. The FCA’s new framework means 2027 could be the moment that becomes possible.
Learn more at
- Blockchain & Crypto
- Neobanking