British banks could face criticism if they follow in the footsteps of JP Morgan’s Chase, which moved to block cryptocurrency payments for its UK customers, a banking lawyer has said. The outright ban by consumer bank Chase was a “brave call” unlikely to be echoed by high street banks, William Garner, the head of financial services and funds at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said. The move, which will see the bank decline all payments it thinks are related to crypto assets, such as bitcoin, from October 16, marks a step-up from other banks, which currently only restrict crypto-related transactions. Chase said it ... (full story)