- Record Growth Despite Bans: The UK has the fastest crypto ownership growth among major economies, with approximately 7 million adults (12% of the population) now holding crypto, despite heavy regulatory restrictions.
- Regulatory Friction: The FCA maintains a cautious approach, highlighted by the retail ban on crypto derivatives, forcing Binance out of the market, and strict advertising rules.
- Fintech Enablement (Revolut): London-based Revolut is central to UK crypto access, offering extensive token support and crypto debit cards that enable spending at any contactless point of sale.
- Regulated Access Channels: Despite the crackdown on offshore exchanges, UK consumers utilize FCA-registered options like Coinbase, Kraken, eToro, and CoinJar.
- Traditional Bank Resistance: Traditional UK banks (HSBC, Lloyds) often block or delay transfers to crypto platforms, creating better access through newer digital institutions.
- Real-World Utility: Crypto is increasingly accepted by UK businesses, including Lush Cosmetics and Alternative Airlines, often via payment processors like BitPay.
- Gaming/Entertainment Grey Area: The sector has enthusiastically adopted crypto, with decentralized platforms and crypto casinos operating in regulatory gaps, posing enforcement challenges for the FCA.
There is something peculiar happening in Britain right now. The Financial Conduct Authority has spent years banning crypto derivatives for retail investors, blocking exchanges, slapping warning labels on advertisements, and making life generally difficult for anyone trying to operate a crypto business on these shores. Yet despite all that regulatory friction, the UK just recorded the fastest growth in crypto ownership of any major economy surveyed in 2025.
The numbers tell a story that does not quite match the headlines about crackdowns and restrictions. Roughly 7 million British adults now hold crypto—that is about 12% of the population, up from just 4% in 2021. The Gemini State of Crypto report found UK ownership jumped from 18% to 24% year-on-year, outpacing the United States, France, and even Singapore. We have become, almost accidentally, one of Europe’s most crypto-friendly populations while operating under one of its more cautious regulatory regimes.
It is a bit like being told you cannot swim in the pool while watching half the neighbourhood splash about in the deep end.
The Regulatory Reality
The FCA has not exactly rolled out the welcome mat for crypto businesses. Since January 2021, they banned the sale of crypto-backed exchange traded notes (cETNs) and derivatives to retail consumers entirely. Only in late 2025 did they finally lift the retail ETN ban, and even then crypto derivatives remain off limits for ordinary punters. The reasoning has always been consumer protection—these products are volatile, complex, and people could lose their shirts.
Meanwhile, Binance got the boot from the UK market entirely after the FCA pulled their registration over anti-money laundering concerns. The exchange formally suspended services for British customers in October 2023, and anyone trying to visit their website from a UK IP address gets blocked. Other exchanges have faced similar scrutiny, with the FCA rejecting more registration applications than it approves.
The advertising rules that came into force in January 2024 require high-risk warnings, cooling-off periods, and bans on incentives that might encourage people to invest. In 2024 alone, the FCA received 1,702 complaints about illegal crypto advertisements and only managed to take action on about half of them.
So where is everyone buying their Bitcoin then?
Where Crypto Actually Lives in Britain
The answer is that regulated options exist if you know where to look, and British fintech companies have been quietly building crypto infrastructure while the regulators wag their fingers at offshore exchanges.
Revolut sits at the centre of this ecosystem. The London-founded super app now has 65 million users globally and a valuation north of £75 billion. They finally landed their UK banking licence in 2024 and have been expanding crypto services ever since—supporting over 210 tokens through their Revolut X exchange, launching crypto debit cards that let you spend Bitcoin anywhere Visa is accepted, and recently partnering with Lightspark to roll out Bitcoin Lightning payments across the UK and Europe.
When I say you can pay for your morning coffee with crypto in Britain, I am not being hypothetical. Revolut’s crypto cards convert your holdings to pounds at point of sale, which means any merchant accepting contactless payments is technically accepting your Bitcoin whether they realise it or not.
Other FCA-registered options include:
- eToro UK for trading and social investing features
- Coinbase operating under UK registration
- Kraken with FCA approval for crypto services
- CoinJar offering a prepaid Mastercard that works with Apple and Google Pay
The traditional banks remain more cautious. Lloyds, HSBC, and NatWest still frequently block or delay transfers to crypto platforms, which creates this odd situation where a digital bank founded nine years ago offers better crypto access than institutions that have been around for centuries.
British Brands Actually Taking Crypto
Beyond the exchanges and fintech apps, there is a growing list of UK businesses that accept crypto directly or through payment processors like BitPay.
- Lush Cosmetics has been accepting Bitcoin through BitPay for purchases on their UK site. You can literally buy bath bombs with blockchain money, which feels very 2025.
- Alternative Airlines, a UK-based online travel agency, has been taking crypto payments since 2018—making them one of the early adopters. They work with multiple payment processors including CoinGate and Crypto.com Pay, accepting over 100 different cryptocurrencies for flight bookings across 650+ airlines.
- Shopify merchants operating in the UK can integrate crypto payments, which means thousands of smaller British businesses technically accept digital assets even if it is not their main selling point.
The luxury market has shown interest too. Premium retailers and high-end brands have started accepting crypto through payment processors, capitalising on the fact that crypto holders tend to skew toward higher-income demographics—the average UK holder has about £1,842 in crypto assets.
The Entertainment Grey Area
Here is where things get interesting, and where the regulatory picture becomes properly murky.
Gaming and entertainment platforms have embraced crypto with particular enthusiasm, partly because digital assets fit naturally into virtual economies and partly because some operators are playing in regulatory gaps that the FCA has not fully addressed.
Ethereum-based gambling platforms represent one of these grey areas. They operate using smart contracts and cryptocurrency payments, often from jurisdictions outside direct FCA oversight. The regulator has been issuing cease-and-desist notices and monitoring the space, but the decentralised nature of blockchain-based gaming makes enforcement genuinely difficult.
Crypto casinos have grown in popularity precisely because they circumvent certain traditional restrictions. Whether that is a feature or a bug depends on your perspective, but it represents a real use case for UK crypto holders looking to spend their digital assets on entertainment.
The broader gaming industry has been more above-board about integration. Xbox gift cards can be purchased with Bitcoin through BitPay. Various gaming platforms accept crypto for in-game purchases and subscriptions. The lines between gaming economies, NFTs, and traditional crypto have blurred considerably.
UK-Founded Companies Leading Globally
Perhaps the strangest part of the UK crypto paradox is that British entrepreneurs have built some of the most successful crypto companies in the world while operating in this restrictive environment.
London has become a genuine crypto hub with over 69 blockchain and web3 startups operating in the city alone. Beyond Revolut, the UK has produced:
- Blockchain.com — built the world’s most popular cryptocurrency wallet and a leading exchange
- Elliptic — provides blockchain security and analytics used by governments and financial institutions worldwide
- Copper — institutional-grade custody and trading infrastructure
- Komainu — backed by Nomura, providing digital asset custody for institutions
- MoonPay — payments infrastructure used by major crypto platforms globally
Many of these companies serve international markets while headquartered in London, which suggests the talent and capital exist here even if the domestic regulatory environment creates friction.
What You Can Actually Spend Crypto On
For UK holders wondering where their digital assets can go, the practical options have expanded considerably:
- Travel — Alternative Airlines and Travala both accept crypto for flights and hotels. You can book accommodation at millions of properties worldwide paying with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or dozens of other tokens.
- Retail — Through Revolut’s crypto cards or similar products from CoinJar, anywhere accepting Visa or Mastercard contactless payments will take your crypto. This covers groceries, petrol, clothes, restaurants—essentially everywhere.
- Gift Cards — BitPay and similar services let you convert crypto to gift cards for Amazon, Xbox, various retailers. Not quite direct spending but functionally similar.
- Charity — Several UK charities accept crypto donations, which can be tax-efficient depending on how your gains are structured.
- Services — Web hosting, VPNs, software subscriptions, and various online services commonly accept crypto payments.
Where We Go From Here
The UK government has signalled its intention to become a “global hub for cryptoasset technology and investment” which sits awkwardly next to the FCA’s historically cautious approach. Through 2025 and 2026, HM Treasury and the FCA are consulting on a comprehensive new regulatory framework that should bring more clarity—the aim is a fully regulated crypto sector by late 2026.
The FCA lifting the retail ETN ban marks a shift in tone if not in substance. Products still need to be traded on FCA-approved exchanges, derivatives remain banned for retail, and anyone investing will not be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if things go wrong.
What seems clear is that British demand for crypto is not waiting for regulatory clarity. Seven million people have already voted with their wallets. The question now is whether the framework catches up with the reality or continues playing catch-up with an industry that moves faster than consultation periods allow.
For now, the UK remains this curious contradiction—officially cautious, practically enthusiastic, and somehow producing world-leading crypto companies while telling retail investors to be very, very careful. The pool has a “no diving” sign but half the country brought their swimsuits anyway.
