Barclays Tightens Grip: UK Banking Giant Blocks Credit Card Crypto Purchases
Another domino falls in Britain's banking crackdown on digital assets.
Barclays just slammed the brakes on crypto buys via credit cards—joining rivals in a risk-averse dance that treats Bitcoin like a Vegas weekend rather than the future of finance.
The irony? These same institutions happily approved subprime mortgages in 2008.
While regulators cheer the move as 'consumer protection,' crypto natives see yet another attempt to control capital flows in an increasingly decentralized world. The question remains: are banks shielding customers... or their own antiquated business models?
UK banks blocking crypto purchases
Indeed, some UK banks—such as Barclays and Lloyds—have prevented transfers of any kind to Binance for several years now, while TSB and Santander have banned all crypto purchases since 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Despite regarding such actions as examples of overreach, Goodman does caution against using debt to trade cryptocurrency, given the risks involved.
"Experienced crypto traders often borrow money to trade, just as advanced stock market traders do,” he says. “But it takes skill to manage your risk sensibly and a lot of traders go broke when they get it wrong.”
