Edward h.

The most prestigious banking relationship in crypto has ended.

Barclays, the London-based global bank, is no longer working with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, industry sources told CoinDesk. And while Coinbase found a replacement in U. K. upstart ClearBank, according to people familiar with the situation, the change has indirectly inconvenienced the exchange's users.

That's because, aside from the cachet of working with a household-name bank, Barclays connected San Francisco-based Coinbase to the U. K. Faster Payments Scheme (FPS), enabling users to instantly withdraw and deposit British pounds at the exchange. The end of the relationship disrupted Coinbase's access to FPS which in turn slowed deposits and withdrawals in GBP for U. K. customers, which now take days to process.

Barclays, ClearBank and Coinbase all declined to comment.