This article explains how to buy bitcoin through your limited company. It also explains how taxes work if you buy bitcoin through a limited company.
UK limited companies can invest in crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Also, HMRC has even given clarity on how cryptocurrencies are taxed (more on that later).
So how do you buy crypto using your business funds? You can do it in three different ways:
- Use a crypto exchange, like Kraken, suitable for limited companies
- Use a proxy stock
- Buy the Bitcoin ETF (not yet available)
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies are high risk and very volatile. See this warning issued by the FCA. Buy at your own risk.
With the disclaimers out of the way, let’s go!
1. Use Kraken to buy Bitcoin using your company funds
My go-to way for buying Bitcoin is to buy directly on a crypto exchange, like Kraken.
When it comes to cryptocurrencies there are so many platforms around. But not many platforms offer corporate crypto accounts.
My preferred choice is Kraken. On Kraken, you can open a company account and buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through your limited company.
The process is not very quick, due to the number of documents they need from your LTD company. If you’ve opened a corporate account for buying stocks & shares then you know what I’m talking about.
It’s not complicated, it just takes a bit of time to gather everything.
So why Kraken? I like that they are a big company and one of the leaders in the crypto space. They have an intuitive interface suitable for both novices and experts.
They also follow high-security standards, such as 2-factor authentication, and have a huge following in the crypto community. That doesn’t prevent them from being hacked but it’s always a good sign.
Note: Coinbase also offers company accounts but you need to get accepted as an “institutional investor”. Not sure they actually accept small businesses – I never heard back from them. I use them for buying crypto on my personal account and here’s my referral sign-up link where we both get a free £7 BTC bonus if you sign up (and thanks!). Kraken offer a lot more crypto pairs than Coinbase and they’re cheaper too.
So let’s see how we can buy some crypto using company money.
Here are the detailed steps and what to look out for.
Step 1: Open a Kraken Business account with Pro limits
Head over to Kraken and click the Create Account button. Make sure you use the Business option, as shown on the image below.
Use your company e-mail if you have one and a strong password.
Kraken will send you an email to activate your account. Once you click the link in the email, you can log in and view the interface.
You then need to verify your business account before you can buy or sell any crypto.
Click on Verify your Business account.
As a UK limited company, you can only sign up for the Kraken Pro account.
This requires full verification but also allows you to use all features that Kraken offers such as earning rewards with staking, NFT trading etc.
It’s free to hold a Kraken business account.
If you just want to buy Bitcoin, Kraken Pro offers that as well at no extra cost.
Step 2: Verify your Business Account
To buy crypto through your limited company you need to complete the verification process. This takes time but has to be done.
There’s nothing complicated about it, though.
Here’s how the verification screen looks like. I will go through the screens one by one.
In section 1, enter your business information, such as LTD company name and full address. In the company registration documents, you will need your Incorporation certificate, which you can find on the companies house page. Search for your company -> Filing History.
In section 2, choose Corporation if you are a UK limited company. Your government-issued business registration is your company number.
In Section 3, you need to provide the source of funds. In other words, where did this money come from?
Depending on your business, the source of funds will vary.
For example, one could say that ‘The business acts as a proprietary investing firm, investing its own funds. I am the sole director. The funds come from my technology consultancy services.‘.
Be specific about the "Source of funds", even specifying names of your other business (if so) that generated the funds. This will avoid unnecessary questions over email.
Section 4 asks why you want an account.
Spot means the plain crypto service for buying and selling coins. It’s called ‘spot’ to differentiate between other more complex products such as futures/options.
Section 5 wants to know your company structure and who controls the kraken account.
If you own 100% of the investment company and you declare you maintain control over the company, then the beneficial ownership info is redundant. You are the beneficial owner.
Well, that’s all you need to know about the Kraken business verification process.
You now submit everything and wait.
The Kraken verification process took 2 weeks for me. They asked a few more questions over email, such as ‘why is there no website for your business’. They also wanted to make sure I do not invest US client money, which I don’t.
After about 2 weeks I got an email saying my business account is ready to go.
Kraken pros and cons for limited companies
Pros:
- Fiat to crypto deposits (GBP)
- Easy to sign-up
- Low cost and well established
Cons:
- Risk of exchange hack or losing your keys (if you take coins to your own wallet)
- Another platform to maintain
- Risk of bank account getting frozen because crypto transactions can be easily flagged
2. Use a Bitcoin Proxy Stock
You can own a stock which behaves like Bitcoin if all you need is price action.
This is particularly useful if you already have a company account with Interactive Brokers or with another broker.
This method won’t give you self-custody. So you cannot own the coins. But you own a public stock which owns the coins.
The closest match to a public company with Bitcoin characteristics is MicroStrategy, on Nasdaq (ticker: MSTR). Since holding the majority of its reserves in actual Bitcoin, it behaves as if you’re investing in Bitcoin itself.
As you can see, owning MicroStrategy is similar but not exactly the same as owning Bitcoin. Some drift is expected. After all, you own an operating company with humans behind the driving wheel, some debt etc.
Note that this will only give you Bitcoin price characteristics, not altcoin exposure.
Other options include owning other crypto stocks like Coinbase or crypto mining stocks. But I found Microstrategy to be the closest match to Bitcoin for UK limited companies.
3. Use the Bitcoin ETF (not yet approved)
You can invest in Bitcoin through your limited company by buying the Bitcoin ETF.
The retail version of a Bitcoin ETF is not yet available.
I expect this will be the most popular way to own the bitcoin price action, but it will come with some fees versus self-custody. You pay some fees for convenience and you do not own the private keys to your coins.
Contrary to the common belief, I think it might actually be safer for the ordinary person to hold bitcoin. I have heard many stories of hardware wallet getting lost, passphrase lost or eaten by the dog, people getting hacked or scammed and as a result, losing their cold storage bitcoin.
How cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are taxed for UK limited companies
That’s the first question that comes to mind before purchasing. What tax do I pay on the bitcoin I bought through my limited company? What if I made a loss?
HMRC have now provided great clarity given how popular cryptos are lately! Perhaps HMRC employees are hodlers too. Reading.
If the activity concerning the exchange token is not a trading activity, and is not charged to Corporation Tax in another way (such as the non-trading loan relationship or intangible fixed asset rules) then the activity will be the disposal of a capital asset and any gain that arises from the disposal would typically be charged to Corporation Tax as a chargeable gain.
The main gist of it is that yes, you need to pay corporation tax on the profits. Similarly to most investments made through a limited company, only the tax gain part is subject to tax. In other words, if you bought £100 and sold £120, you need to pay 19% tax on £20 = £3.8.
You pay tax only in the tax year that you sold the investment, not if you just hold it.
Clever me thought: Ok, if I want out, I’ll just exchange BTC to USDT (the dollar equivalent “crypto”) and not pay any tax, ever, unless I withdraw fiat. USDT is crypto after all. But no, you need to pay tax even if you exchange crypto for another crypto. That’s considered disposal too!
Not bad if you’ve made a fortune on Bitcoin but still subject to tax.
There are some special rules for short-term trading (<30 days). See pooling rules – Exercise for the reader.
Reminder: If you are an individual, you’d still need to pay capital gains taxes on your crypto profits. That’s 10% tax (basic rate taxpayer) or 20% tax if you’re a higher/additional rate taxpayer.
Further reading:
- Cryptocurrency taxation for a UK limited company (HMRC, see corporation tax section)
- Cryptocurrency taxes for individuals (HMRC)
Happy crypto investing. I’d be interested in knowing your % of net worth allocated to crypto (before and after 2021!). Mine is just over 2%.
FAQ
No. Buy a hardware wallet like the wallet Nano Ledger S (£54.00) and transfer your Bitcoin and other coins there. This is like a USB stick but only for crypto. You hold your private keys, you hold your crypto. Not an exchange.
Kraken is a big well-known exchange. But there is always a small risk of getting hacked. It has happened before elsewhere. If you have a small allocation to Bitcoin, say <£1,000 perhaps it’s ok to leave it there. But for higher values, I would purchase a hardware wallet.
The last thing you want is to see your crypto get stolen as it happened with my Nano coins on another exchange (BitGrail) a few years back.
I use Coinbase which is the easiest and most straightforward way to buy crypto for beginners. You can use my referral link and we’ll both get £7 in BTC value for free if you sign up.
Kraken one of the cheapest ways to buy crypto as a limited company.
GBP Deposits and withdrawals are free. Trading fees are 0.26% (taker) or 0.16% (maker). That is £1.60 to £2.60 for every £1,000 purchase. Not bad at all.
No, this is treated as a director’s loan to you with all the negative effects this comes with. You can take a director’s loan up to £10,000 tax-free as long as you repay it within 9 months of the end of your Corporation Tax accounting period.
Be careful with crypto and as always, do your own research!
If you liked this article, feel free to share it with someone who owns a Limited Company and told you “I told you so” in 2017.
78 thoughts on “How to Buy Bitcoin through your Limited Company [Updated for 2024]”
I have been attempting to do this for a few months now, having setup a new LTD company with the purpose of investing funds in cryptocurrency. So far I have been unable to do this as a lot of banks offering business accounts do not allow “payments to cryptocurrency companies” within their terms and conditions. Starling, Revolut, and many others do not allow this. Totally crazy. They won’t let me send my businesses’ funds to an account registered in the same businesses’ name.
Warning to others! Make sure your bank allows such payments.
I had the same issue until I found Tide, they actually let you do this.
The main problem for me is that Coinbase and some other platforms didn’t like the idea that the funds I have for Crypto, came as a loan from another company I owned. I guess they’re being extra cautious as they’re now audited by the FCA (even though getting funds as a loan is completely legal).
Did you have any problems explaining the source of your funds for your investment company?
Thanks for the info RE Tide, I will reach out to them. Unfortunately so many banks are either facing massive delays with account openings, or have suspended new account openings entirely so the whole process is taking a long time.
Yes like you I have faced lots of suspicion and questions regarding one company loaning the money to the other investment company… Even though this is required under UK law and I am sole shareholder and director of both companies. Everyone in the crypto and banking space is being over cautious at the moment in my opinion.
I just checked Tide Ts & Cs: https://static.tide.co/Member%20terms.pdf
It states (18.2) that businesses actively involved in Crypto or virtual currencies are outside of their risk assessment.
Have you spoken to them about this? Have they asked you about any payments/involvement in crypto? Have you made large payments to crypto accounts from your Tide account?
Thanks
Tide eligibility criteria: https://www.tide.co/text/eligibility-criteria/
Thanks for uploading this article Michael.
Like you I have been buying crypto since last year personally and I started buying some through my investing LTD company in December (not through Binance).
The hype has been big in these past months, especially since BTC and ETH have skyrocketed in just 8 weeks. Governments had to communicate the negatives of Crypto since they’ve seen people jumping into it without any understanding of crypto, blockchains or anything related to it. I would advise anyone that wants to get into crypto, to at least understand the basics. Nothing to be afraid of, but it would be good to do your own research before jumping into the Bitcoin bandwagon due to FOMO.
Michael I’m curious to know if you’re using your trading or investment company to buy crypto. Also, are you planning on long term, trading or a bit of both?
I cannot second Mariano’s thoughts enough on understanding the basics when investing in crypto. It’s easy to think we’ll all get rich when seeing the price going up up up.
Link to the FCA warning and the risks associated with cryptocurrencies: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/fca-warns-consumers-risks-investments-advertising-high-returns-based-cryptoassets
I’m not here to tell you what to do but at least everyone should understand what they’re getting into when investing in crypto. For example, BTC had lost 80% of its value before going up 10x. 20k becomes 4k. Can you handle such a downturn again?
Mariano, I used my investment company to buy, and plan to buy and hold (not trade).
Hi Michael
Thank you for this very informative article. I already did the the personal verification so the “switch to enterprise account ” option is not showing only very briefly when i refresh but then disappears. Any guidance?
thank you somuch!
Marcel
Very strange, Marcel, haven’t seen it before. Keep us posted!
Same for me too.
It shows at first then disappears.
Do you know any UK business banks allowing crypto payments? Strugglig with Virgin Money, Starling and Tide. Thanks
UK business banks don’t like crypto at the moment. Most of them explicitly prohibit crypto transactions in their terms of service.
I’ve just opened a corporate account using Kraken. Was fairly straightforward and I’ve made a deposit and purchase.
Jon which bank did you use to transfer money to Kraken if you don’t mind me asking?
I use Starling.
Ah I see. Maybe you managed to get the payment through without them noticing then, as when I tried to make a payment from Starling to a Cryptocurrency company the payment was blocked and when I spoke to customer services they said this was against their Ts and Cs. Lucky you!
Interesting. Let’s hope they don’t notice.
Can this only be done with company profits (post-CT), or could I buy bitcoin using company cash flow?
You can always use funds in your bank account, Jane, but when the corporation tax bill is due you need to have enough funds to pay it. I can think of a nightmare scenario where people buy investments (doesn’t have to be crypto) using the company funds, then investment value goes down and they don’t have enough funds to pay the CT.
Personally, I set aside the tax money so I can pay the tax bill even if my investment value went to zero.
I’m with Santander bank by the way (£7.50/month).
Thanks for your reply.
What would be the benefit then of using a separate ‘investment Ltd’ vs the main ‘trading Ltd’ in that case?
A: you can either buy and hold bitcoin on the trading Ltd balance sheet, and pay CGT only on any BTC gain
B: or, you can pay CT on the trading company profit, and then transfer to the investment Ltd and then pay CGT on any BTC gain
So why would someone choose to do B in which you’ve already been taxed CT? Unless I am missing something?
You’re not saving on corporation tax, either way you do it. You first need to account for CT and then invest the retained earnings.
Now whether you decide to invest through your existing company or a separate one is a whole other topic!
Hi Michael, I am not clear on this, if you buy btc with company funds and the investment value of that goes down, you would not owe any tax on it would you?
Am I correct in that we only owe the tax on the profits in your corporation bill when du? So if I had sold the BTC at a profit (investment value up) surely there would then be enough from that profit to then pay the tax on it due anyway?
I am not clear on the scenario you mentioned if holding the btc and its at a loss without selling it, no tax is due so how do companies get in a muddle with this?
Thanks!
Hey Nick, your thinking is correct. I was referring to other company activities that the trading co might undertake which can trigger corporation tax. One should consider only the retained, after-tax earnings before investing in anything.
I think you missed a very important feature, you can loan yourself the crypto and as it doesn’t count as a money loan, the rules and caps on directors loans do not apply!
You cannot lend yourself crypto if all you’ve got in the company is fiat! The challenge is buying crypto in the first place (using company money) not withdrawing crypto from it.
What I’m saying is that buying crypto with the company has the advantage that you can then loan that crypto to the director, and because it’s a good/asset and not money as per HMRC guidelines, the directors loan rules don’t apply.
Ah! I thought you’re referring to the other way around. Yes, not 100% sure on this one but it sounds very attractive 🙂
As per HMRC site:
Loan relationships
The loan relationship rules (Corporation Tax Act 2009 Part 5) explain how Corporation Tax is charged on the profits and deficits a company makes from its loan relationships.
A company has a ‘loan relationship’ if it has a money debt that has arisen from a transaction for the lending of money. This will be the case where it has lent or borrowed money.
More information about the loan relationship rules is in HMRC’s Corporate Finance Manual (CFM30000)
HMRC does not consider exchange tokens to be money. In addition, there is typically no counterparty standing behind the token and, as such, it does not seem that the token constitutes a debt. This means that exchange tokens do not create a loan relationship.
In addition, there are rules (Corporation Tax Act 2009 Part 6) that bring certain other items into the loan relationship rules. These rules will not generally apply to exchange tokens. In particular no money debt will typically exist and it is HMRC’s view that exchange tokens do not constitute currency. More information about deemed loan relationships is in HMRC’s Corporate Finance Manual (CFM40000).
Interesting idea P.
How would a loan be reflected in the company’s accounts though? UK company accounts for Co House and HMRC purposes are produced in pounds sterling or
possibly other fiat currencies may be used like Euros but, as you said, HMRC do not recognise crypto as legal tender so I assume ‘1 bitcoin’ (or whatever) would never appear on a balance sheet, only the fiat value would appear. My company doesn’t have any cryto on the balance sheet yet but when it does I think my accountant will class it as an intangible asset and value the crypto in £, at market value, on the balance sheet date as they would with a commodity or an investment property. So if my company lent me a bitcoin now (current value about £36k) and the bitcoin was worth £60k on the balance sheet date, I wonder how that would be recorded? Maybe with a revaluation reserve? But then would HMRC want to tax that gain even though it hadn’t been technically crystalised at that point?
If the transaction escaped S455 (directors loans regs) would HMRC say it’s not a loan and want income tax and employee’s and employer’s NI on it?
Also would lending crypto to a director fall foul of benefit in kind (BIK) regs on the basis that the director was enjoying the benefit of the asset? A bit like having a company car for which directors are absolutely hammered unless it’s an all-electric vehicle? Maybe BIK could be avoided by paying interest on the loan but if HMRC don’t recognise crypto as a loan I’m not sure how that would work.
Would any of this make a difference as to whether the company was set up purely to trade or hold crypto or whether the company did other things or held other types of asset?
Sorry, a lot of questions, but trying to get my head around it.
Did you ever figure any of these questions out?
I’m very interested in this strategy myself!
Has anyone had any delays in opening a Binance account for their Limited Company?
I applied the day after this post went out and had the message setting expectations at 7 days, the same as above.
However as we approach the second week I’ve still received no response and just wondered if it’s due to uplift in demand, or whether there is an issue.
I’ve tried the support chat, although the automated response states to remain patient, but I’m unclear if it’s account specific or a generic response.
Has anybody else had any success in this timeframe, or is else awaiting a response please?
I’ve been waiting too. Only three days so far but no confirmation email, etc. saying it’s pending (just the “pending” status on my Binance dashboard).
Has yours finally been opened? I’d be very interested to hear the outcome…
Note: I already have a Kraken Business Account but they don’t support Trailing Stop Loss….it makes it much harder to swing trade over the course of, say, two to four days since who knows where the price moves when you go to sleep at night….
I did get there in the end, although it took a number of follow ups on the web chat, along with a subsequent exchange to get approval for transferring fiat currency into the account, as that was delayed too.
All good now though.
Ah great! Good news.
How long did it take from submitting the verification details to being up and running?
Also, would you say chasing them on web chat was instrumental to achieving the result?
Sounds like you would have caught it in time to take advantage of the “Musk-inspired” BTC spurt. hope you took it!
It was about 3 weeks or so in total, although it was frustrating as I could see the price creeping up over this time from the 22K I had hoped to buy in. Elon’s announcement landed after my initial test deposit, but a few hours before my final transfer of funds had arrived, so although I managed to buy some under 30K, the remainder were over 32K.
I do think that without the web chat, I may still be waiting, as I was told they would escalate and my approval came through a few hours later.
I’ve now been waiting 13 days for verification. The automated web chat has driven me mad with its stock answers so I’ve raised two support tickets but both have generated standardised responses. I have tried replying to one of the support emails for further clarification and am still waiting for a response. I’m used to jumping through KYC and AML hoops for my limited comapanies so I think there’s maybe a backlog rather than I’ve submitted insufficient information. It looks like I’m unable to make a deposit until the account is verified. Frustrating!
At 15 days I’ve received the following email but I have to go through more checks in order to be able to deposit fiat currency in my company’s Binance wallet so not there yet. It looks like my email to the support desk triggered the verification of my company’s account:
Thank you for your inquiry and it is our honor to assist you. We want to apologize for the amount of time it had taken for us to get back to you. Our team has been overwhelmed by a high number of inquiries and we’ve been answering them from the order received. We have reported your enterprise verification issue to our relevant team and now the enterprise verification is approved, please kindly log into the account and check the status now. Thanks for your understanding and continued support of our platform. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
how did you raise a support ticket?! cant seem to work it out… thanks
Hi,
Really interesting article , thanks for posting. I’ve opened a Binance account and intent to invest in bitcoin using profits in my trading Ltd Co account – its’ been a few days and the account verification is still ‘pending’. I’ve looked in to making a deposit and all the options for GBP show ‘sorry, this payment method is not available for corporate users’.
However, when I go to ‘Buy Crypto’ on the left hand bar in the Binance app, It looks as If I can buy Bitcoin using a credit/debit card now..?
Anyone know:
– Is bank transfer permitted after the account is verified, or just no longer available for GBP?
– Any issues if I purchase using the company debit card before the account verification is complete…?
I wasn’t given the bank card option. It was showing as not available. My bank transfer was unlocked only after the account was verified.
Thank you for the information. I’m I correct in saying if you’re not trading any gains could be transferred back into the company account then into your pension and no corporation tax will need to be paid?
Yes, pension contributions can be offset against corporation tax.
Hi there,
Can I ask is it essential to open a business account with a crypto exchange like Binance? Or could I just open a new ‘normal’ personal account, and only deposit funds into it from my business bank account? Therefore the crypto account has never been used for personal trades and only business trades.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ameet
The issue I see with this approach is that it might be seen as a director’s loan instead. Also, need to make sure the crypto company are happy to make withdrawals to a bank account different to the one they have in their KYC records (personal bank).
Hi Michael,
Quite an interesting and comprehensive article, thank you!
I wonder why companies struggle with buying through banks while there are quite legal options available (ex.: companies that offer transfer cash/Eurobonds into crypto and back to cash, via Malta), what do you think? Thanks!
Best regards,
Bulat
Hi everyone I really hope someone can advise me.
I have started trading crypto, but I have started as an individual. I want to switch to trading as a company. Can I just start a business on companies house, set up a corporate account, and then send my personal BTC to my corporate wallet and start trading?
Thanks
Hi Michael,
The information you provided was very helpful, thanks you very much!
Thanks,
Uri
I’ve gone through the process of setting up my corporate account and verified it. But it seems I am unable to buy anything. I can’t deposit GBP, I see a message saying corporate users cannot do that, and if I try to buy using my debit card I get a similar message. Binance support suggested I use P2P or third party payment methods. Sure this cannot be correct. How are you all managing to trade using GBP?
Same thing here, Alex. See Step 4 in the post. Look out for the “Fiat corporate onboarding” email or send them an email at `corporate-fiat at binance.com`
Thanks Michael, I have emailed them.
Nice article, my issue is I have already got cryptos in my personal account (transferred to my wallet), and now I have just realised that I will need a LTD company.
Cant I set up a new LTD company now, and then sell the cryptos I have been collecting in personal name over the last few months using this company account on Binance/Kraken?
Do you foresee any issues such as capital gains as I will be transferring the personal assets to the LTD company in order to sell/trade? Please advise. Thanks.
Great article, thank you!
I’m unclear as to whether or not you can legally do this sort of activity within your main Ltd company? Someone in the comments seems to have suggested the only legal way is to have a separate ‘trading’ Ltd company (I guess loaning the money to it from the main Ltd company)?
Also taking Binance as an example, how do you account to HMRC for what might be a great many different trading transactions (I believe it has to be at that specific), given they will frequently not be in GBP, rather crypto/crypto? It sounds complicated?
Hey Phil. It is legal for trading companies to hold crypto as long as they pay the appropriate tax and declare it as an asset on the balance sheet. There might be tax implications if you do this in a big way – there are pros and cons for opening a separate LTD Company. Check out the investing through your LTD company post from the archives or feel free to check out the company investing course where we discuss this particular topic from all angles.
To answer your 2nd question, when making crypto-to-crypto transactions, say BTC/NANO, then it becomes more complicated. It should be quoted in GBP for tax purposes and it’s a taxable event. People from the private community have mentioned Cointracker which might be helpful, I haven’t tried it – I prefer the manual approach for now. Yes, it is a pain but has to be done! Hope that helps.
Thank you Michael, much appreciated. 🙂
Can someone please advice me on what banks I can open a business account with as a crypto trading ltd company. I am at my wits end
Did you find one yet?
I have been wanting to invest some extra cash into the crypto markets for a while now but unsure as to how to go about it. With crypto way down today, I found this article and while it certainly got me off to the right start, it is missing a whole load of steps. If you are going to publish a step by step guide, a little advice, make sure it is complete, you do not necessarily need to fill it all in, but at least make mention of the steps and also you may want to revise your order of steps as they do not follow what Binance ask you to do. It was I think unnecessarily complicated and convoluted with questions that had no explanation attached and you sort of have to figure it out for yourself what they are asking, I hope I got it correct, we will see I suppose? I really hope they get back to me ASAP as I do not want to miss the market while they are down, great buying opportunity.
How about telling us what steps it’s missing instead of complaining about it?
Michael, great way to alienate prospects. This is your blog, maybe do your research properly first before publishing. Goodbye.
I’ve been working on setting up a company for my crypto business:
An example of my activity is:
1) i buy £1000 worth of btc in kraken
2) Then sell those at a price of £1100 on Localbitcoins.com (to one or many traders). So £100 profit.
3) I buy again on kraken and repeat the process.
The idea would be to re-invest the daily profits to increase capital, and once i feel confortable start taking profits.
I’ve been working like this on a personal basis for a while, and my personal banks are awesome in terms of service, but they warned me that they will not allow this transactions with exchanges anymore, that’s why i decided to incorporate.
I’ve talked to agents to incorporate in uk (for taxes advantages) and they all say there is no problem with the activity except for one: BANKING.
I would like to have a good bank to work with, but agents warn me that finding a good bank for this activity is very difficult (if not impossible), and that mostly i will have to rely on an EMI, however i’ve read horrible stories about EMIs, specially since they first block you and then lock your funds and you fall in a fight with horrible/non-responding online customer service for a crazy long amount of time sometimes resulting in your funds being lost.
My biggest fear is having funds blocked from one day to another and suddenly having to stop my activity and lose money because of that.
can your bank support my business activities , kindly let me know your requirements for opening an account thanks
I am in exactly the same scenario… Please let me know if you find a solution… Im banging my head against the wall on this subject…
Are you aware of any platforms other than Binance that allows this, as there seems to be a pretty concerted effort to close doors to Binance. Since Binance withdrew their application from the FCA, Barclays and pretty much every other UK bank is preventing deposits into Binance.
Indeed, Elom I’ve seen the news on Binance recently. Not sure if every UK bank has followed Barclays’ example but it’s not impossible.
I have seen people mentioning corporate accounts with Kraken in the comments. Perhaps they can share some info. It’s frustrating for sure what’s happening “for our own good”.
Yea, it was that ‘for your protection’ statement that had my eyes doing backflips in my head. I suppose however, no system, even a broken one wants to die without a fight.
Gemini maybe? They do offer corporate accounts. They offer 10 free withdrawals a month for a personal account, I do not know whether this is also the case with the corporate account.
Thanks Peter. I did actually take a look at Gemini. My problem with them is that they’re a US based company and considering the overbearing regulations and loose privacy policies, I’m reluctant to give them any more information than I have to. I’ll keep looking
Fantastic article! Guided me through the whole process.
Only problem now is that the Faster Payments deposit method (the only method available for GBP bank transfer) is now “closed for maintenance”. so… not sure how long i’ll have to wait with that.
I run an online business and get a lot of payments made to me in USD – which I keep in my Paypal account usd balance because I don’t want to have to needlessly convert the currency. Is there a way you know for someone in the UK to buy crypto on Binance with usd from Paypal? would P2P be an option here?
Hi Michael, many thanks for the simple to follow article. However what is your view regarding the UK FCA refusing to give them a licence? Perhaps the articel could include the registration of a business account using Kraken or other competing exchange to be balanced. Binance is registered (the last time I looked) in Cayman Islands whereas Kraken for example is located in the USA. Using a cold storage device does reduce the risk of course but its still a concern in using an entity like Binance?
Hey Steve, indeed, Kraken is on my to-do list. I will sign up soon and write about it. I don’t like the fact Binance gets a bad rep from the UK and keeping all our eggs there (or anywhere else for that matter) is not prudent.
Overall, I think using Binance just to buy and then transfer out the crypto is fine as a strategy. There is little risk in doing that, and trying with small amounts first should give you confidence the roundtrip works.
Regarding Kraken, the fact that the UK government haven’t talked about them yet doesn’t make it regulated though. I believe the same FCA warning will be issued if they become too popular as well. We will have to watch the regulatory space and adapt. Hopefully, the upcoming crypto ETFs will help the crypto universe become more accepted.
Agree with that completely. Even more reason to store offline such as in a ledger key as you suggest! Appreciate the reply.
Has anyone established the best bank to use for a crypto related UK business ?
Hello All. Great article.
I’ve recently gone through this process. A few things worth noting:
Bank
-Starling Bank turned me away. I think it’s because my new company is considered a holding company.
-I ended going with Revolut who seem good. Quick and accurate sign-up etc. No issues sending money to the exchange.
Exchange
-Binance. There was lots of back and forth due to signatures on the documents and incorrect filling in of forms. They wanted ticks rather than crosses in boxes etc. Eventually this went through but then I hit issues adding GBP. They never replied to my emails on this.
-Coinbase. Flat out rejected my application and did not tell me why. Very disappointing.
-Kraken-Easy sign up compared to the above. Had to do the usual ID verifications. Support was excellent.
Hope this helps those of you pursuing this.
What kind of issues did you hit trying to add GBP in Binance? Did they block the payments probably due to UK regulations giving them a hard time?
I might try Coinbase and Kraken in that case. Do they accept business accounts then? Kraken’s Trustpilot reviews are horrific though… this is the problem with Crypto. So many exchanges and companies have non-existent customer service.
hasn’t worked for me, I tried to set up an account, I even selected company account, but there are no options to add my company.
That’s their email: [email protected]
there must be a step missing from your process. Also there is absolutely no way to get in touch with Binance to find out why I don’t have the option to add a ltd company
Any world of wisdom here, my corp gets rejected with the article of association. I uploaded the same as in 1), they said I needed to get the directors to sign it, so we both did, and it’s still getting rejected.
Is there any downside to putting the companies money (not an investment company) into BTC?