coinbase, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, obtained a bank account with U.K. lender Barclays, the company said Wednesday, in a move that will make it easier for British customers to use its product.
The deal marks the first major partnership between a U.K. bank and a cryptocurrency exchange
Coinbase, which has nearly 12 million users, also said it was granted an e-money license by the U.K. regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and adds support for the Faster Payments Scheme (FPS).
'Feroz said'
"we believe that this is an important step towards our commitment to making cryptocurrency accessible to everyone"
U.K. financial authorities and regulators have warned on cryptocurrencies. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney recently called for greater regulation of cryptocurrencies, calling the huge price moves and volatility "speculative mania."
Barclays has been one of the larger U.K. banks more open to engaging with cryptocurrencies. As early as last June, it's U.K. Chief Executive Ashok Vaswani told CNBC it was talking to financial technology firms and the regulator about bringing virtual currencies "into play."
Coinbase's Feroz said that the EU grew "twice as fast as any of our other markets in 2017" and the U.K. is its largest market in the bloc. He said that the company plans to grow its London team by roughly eight times by the end of the year.
Feroz did not reveal the number of U.K. users in his blog post.