Cryptocurrency specialist to push for UK banking licence

A UK start-up is applying to become the country’s first bank for cryptocurrency businesses, in what will be a test of regulators’ openness to the digital assets as they grapple with concerns over links to financial crime.

Companies that handle cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and those that provide services to them have long struggled to maintain relationships with mainstream banks because of their perceived links to money laundering and other forms of criminal activity.

However, DAG Global, a London-based start-up established in 2018, said it would resubmit its application for a banking licence next month with a view to providing bank accounts for crypto businesses from 2021.

“It’s a lack of understanding and reputation risk that has kept others away — we think it can be a cleaner sector [than mainstream finance],” said Sean Kiernan, chief executive.

He said that since the bank submitted a first application last May it had had several rounds of…