On August 31, Barclays, a major UK banking group, said it expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at both its September and December meetings this year. The bank had previously expected the Fed to hold rates steady.

Bitcoin Policy UK told a parliamentary inquiry that British banks are still applying broad restrictions to lawful bitcoin activity, despite the government’s stated position since 2023 that firms should be assessed case by case rather than restricted by sector. The group said its evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group, or APPG, shows no improvement over the past three years in how banks handle bitcoin-related payments and transfers. According to the submission, roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed. Bitcoin Policy UK said several banks, including Virgin Money, Metro Bank, Starling Bank, TSB and Chase UK, block transfers and card payments outright, while Barclays and HSBC cap transfers at £2,500, or about $3,400, per transaction. The group also cited earlier industry surveys that found widespread account refusals and closures for crypto and fintech firms, as well as rising restrictions reported by exchanges. The organization asked for four changes, including a regulatory statement that bitcoin activity through an FCA-registered exchange should not face blanket restrictions, a requirement for banks to provide specific reasons and an appeals path, confirmation that FCA registration can be used as a risk basis, and a published periodic measure of restriction levels.

The UK's Crypto and Digital Assets APPG has written to the CEOs of all major British banks, asking them to explain their treatment of crypto and digital asset firms. Co-chairs Gurinder Singh Josan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot signed the letter, which poses six questions about banks' current policies, whether they serve crypto firms, restrictions on related transactions and what determines those decisions. The group also asked whether banks will adjust their practices after the FCA's regulatory regime takes effect. The letter highlights that many crypto firms still struggle to open UK bank accounts, with some banks restricting payments. It follows a parliamentary inquiry into banking access launched on July 21, with written evidence accepted until August 31. A January survey by the UK Cryptoasset Business Council estimated that around 40% of transactions to crypto exchanges are blocked or delayed by banks. HSBC, NatWest, Monzo and Nationwide cap monthly transfers to crypto exchanges at £5,000 to £10,000, while Starling and Chase UK ban such transfers entirely. Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby said the government does not want FCA-regulated firms to face banking restrictions solely because of their industry. The FCA finished its rules in June; the regime becomes mandatory in October 2027.

Stand With Crypto UK launches campaign urging members to file formal complaints against banks that block or cap crypto transfers, citing FCA data showing 40% of domestic crypto transactions are blocked.

Stand With Crypto UK urges its 286,000 members to fight bank restrictions on crypto transfers. A report says 40% of crypto transactions are blocked, with one exchange seeing nearly £1 billion in declined transfers over a year.

SEPA remains a common route for moving euro balances from crypto exchanges to bank accounts in Europe. The guide covers supported countries, withdrawal steps, fees, timing, and common rejection issues.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon used a wide-ranging interview on the Master Investor Podcast to lay out a cautious view on markets, government debt, geopolitics, and artificial intelligence. Despite JPMorgan posting a record quarterly profit of $21.2 billion, up 41% year over year, Dimon said he personally would not buy the broad U.S. stock market at current prices and would also avoid long-dated government bonds. His concern, he said, is not centered on whether a few stocks look expensive, but on a wider set of risks that he does not believe markets have fully priced: geopolitics, persistent fiscal deficits, and the uncertain path of returns from massive AI spending. Dimon did not dismiss AI. He described it as real, powerful technology that could help cure cancer, extend lifespans, reduce medical errors, and cut accidents. Still, he argued that the size of current spending is enormous and that returns are unlikely to arrive in the way or on the schedule investors now expect. He compared the moment to the early internet era, noting that Yahoo and Netscape disappeared while later companies such as Google and Facebook emerged as dominant winners. The interview also moved into crisis management, leadership, bureaucracy, taxes, succession, and his personal reflections on illness and survival.

A broad set of market, security, regulatory, and infrastructure developments emerged between late July 22 and early July 23. Binance said it will add 10 tokenized bStocks securities as eligible collateral and open margin trading for their related pairs, while Upbit designated Zilliqa’s ZIL as a closely watched asset and suspended deposits and withdrawals after security concerns tied to its wallet or distributed ledger. Zilliqa then disclosed a serious Ledger app nonce flaw affecting native, non-EVM ZIL transactions, saying private keys could be recovered from around five affected signatures. Security incidents also hit B² Network and an AFX-operated bridge in the Arbitrum ecosystem. Elsewhere, Payward said xStocks is expanding tokenized equities beyond U.S. names, Sui launched the Hashi Bitcoin interoperability testnet, BNY Mellon outlined plans for round-the-clock Treasury settlement, and several firms including OpenAI, Alphabet, Revolut, Tesla, and Samsung disclosed major product, spending, or financial updates. The flow also included U.S. legislative movement on the Clarity bill, SEC commentary on on-chain vaults and lending strategies, whale ETH purchases, and fresh market views from Grayscale and Bitwise.