British banking giant Barclays discontinues cooperation with Coinbase

The British banking giant Barclays has ceased cooperation with the American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, according to Coindesk, citing its own sources.

Barclays began providing its services to the U.S. exchange in March 2018, however, it seems that the cooperation was terminated. Now Coinbase users may have difficulty withdrawing funds to bank accounts, as Barclays provided the exchange with access to the FPS quick payment system and instantly transferred British pounds to user accounts.

The CEO of one of the British cryptocurrency companies, who wished to remain anonymous, noted:

“As I understand it, Barclays has somewhat reduced its risk appetite, which is why it was decided to stop working with Coinbase. I can’t say why and what led to such a decision, maybe there were some actions on the part of the exchange that the bank did not like. But, most likely, we are talking about the fact that Barclays is not too comfortable with the cryptocurrency industry. ”

Other sources report that cooperation with Coinbase was concluded as part of a pilot program, the term of which simply came to an end. However, Coinbase has already agreed to start a partnership with Clearbank banking startup. It is reported that due to this, access to the FPS system should be restored by the end of the third quarter of 2019.

Note that this is not the first time that Barclays Bank has changed its attitude towards cryptocurrencies. So, last fall, the banking giant announced the suspension of work on a cryptocurrency trading project.