Blockchain.com's New GBP Gateway Creates a Crypto-Hedge Against Brexit Uncertainty

Blockchain.com is adding a British pound gateway to its cryptocurrency exchange, The PIT, as it prepares for Britain's coming separation from the European Union, or Brexit.

Announced Thursday in a press release, the addition will utilize Britain's Faster Payments Service to let Blockchain.com's U.K.-based users buy cryptocurrencies almost instantly.

Blockchain.com Executive Vice President of Product Xen Baynham-Herd did not provide details around FPS, a U.K. banking initiative that drastically reduced settlement times between member banks.

Asked which bank Blockchain.com was utilizing, he declined to answer.

"We partner with multiple banks, but cannot disclose which," he told CoinDesk.

In 2015, Swedish crypto exchange Safello lost its FPS access after an undisclosed partner bank severed ties - just six weeks after the service launched.

More recently, Coinbase, one of only four exchanges who now have FPS access, temporarily disabled FPS service.

Its institutional banking partner, Barclays, had pulled the plug too.

Though it is not clear which banks Blockchain.com has partnered with, Baynham-Herd said the FPS service is already gaining traction among sterling-centric users.

"We're already seeing GBP deposits come through and clear in minutes via FPS," he said.