Big Banks' Role in Web3 Adoption

Wall Street firms are doubling down on digital assets. Last week's Q2 2025 earnings season exposed a clear divide: while some major banks and firms were relatively silent on digital assets, others positioned themselves as crypto pioneers. Recent legislative developments created more regulatory clarity and running room for financial institutions to explore institutionalizing digital assets, and the market leaders have been front running investments and partnerships and are wasting no time staking leadership claims in the space. Which firms are positioning, partnering, and investing to establish a lead? BlackRock has positioned itself as a leader in shaping the future of finance, with increasing involvement in digital assets, tokenization, and managing stablecoin reserves. Beyond the earnings rhetoric, what is BlackRock doing to drive this innovation? BlackRock's business relationships reveal the depth of their digital asset strategy. Their partnerships span cryptocurrency custody (Coinbase, Anchorage Digital), stablecoin backing (Ethena), and blockchain infrastructure (Injective). They've also invested in digital asset trading platforms like Flowdesk and fintech innovators including Upvest, Texas Stock Exchange, and Sokin; creating a comprehensive ecosystem for digital asset integration across trading, custody, and tokenization. Insights on other major players' digital assets strategies from CB Insights' Earnings Analyst agent insights on their Q2 earnings calls: → Citigroup emerged as another aggressive adopter, with CEO Jane Fraser expressing "high confidence and enthusiasm" about Citi Token Services' ability to provide "multi-asset, multi-bank, cross-border, always-on solutions without needing to partner with other banks." → BNY Mellon and State Street focused heavily on stablecoin infrastructure, with BNY serving as "reserve custodian for Société Générale's first USD stablecoin in Europe" and "primary custodian for Ripple's US stablecoin reserves." State Street's CEO highlighted how "tokenization of money market funds enables uses of these assets in a different way than originally anticipated." CB Insights' Earnings Analyst agent help identify these strategic pivots immediately after calls. Want insights analysis on the major tech firms announcing earnings this week? Comment "Mag7" below for free access to CB Insights' Earnings Analyst breakdown of each Mag7 Q2 2025 quarter and where they are headed.

Are the US banks about to go big on staking? Many banks across the world have been running crypto PoCs and dipping their toes into the web3 waters for a few years now, even if they haven’t publicly spoken about it. Some of the most well known projects include: --JP Morgan’s stablecoin JPMcoin which they created to enable instant cross-border payments and settlements between institutional clients. --Santander’s $20m bond issuance on the Ethereum blockchain back in 2019 --UBS’ CBDC exploration alongside the Swiss National Bank and launching their Digital Cash pilot in 2024 And banks such as Bank of America, Standard Chartered and UnionBank in the Philippines have all expressed interest or are exploring what a stablecoin offering may look like for them. In general the banks have focussed on the topics of tokenisation, cross-border payments and CBDC’s (although mainly at the central bank rather than commercial bank level). However another growing area for banks is crypto custody and offering crypto services directly to clients. Just today, Spanish bank BBVA got regulatory clearance to provide BTC and ETH trading services to clients and this brings it alongside Standard Chartered in the EU and BNY Mellon in the US who have offered crypto custody since 2022. Offering crypto custody feels like it should be well within the comfort zone for banks since they keep your fiat money safe, so why not your digital assets? However with a well established crypto custodian ecosystem and an emphasis of self custody across both the retail and institutional space, plus a still developing regulatory environment, the banks have been cautious about jumping in with both feet. From a specific US angle, with Operation Chokepoint 2.0, aggressive SEC enforcement and pernicious approaches like SAB 121 it was no wonder that many US banks were sat on the crypto sidelines. However the SAB 121 bulletin has now been repealed; meaning that crypto holdings won't be recognised as a liability on a bank’s balance sheet, the SEC is under new management and has already dropped 11 pending litigations, and Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is being investigated - so the crypto environment for US banks is looking very different. What’s more the OCC recently published its Interpretive Letter 1183 that gives the official green light to US banks who want to engage in “crypto-asset custody, certain stablecoin activities, and participation in independent node verification networks”. If we start to see more banks offering crypto custody services to their client base then staking is likely to follow since it offers a low-risk way of generating additional yield - the crypto version of an interest bearing savings account! We may start to see banks wanting to run their own validators - although I suspect they will likely engage with staking providers rather than wanting to run the hardware and software for each chain, and to avoid needing to hire teams to keep up with the upgrades on the chains.

For all the billions in venture capital poured into crypto over the past decade, almost no one has built anything useful. DeFi? Mostly scams, speculation, and leverage loops. Web3 wallets? A UX nightmare. “Disrupt the banks”? Turns out, nobody wants to trust their money to Discord mods. Ironically, it might be the banks (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi) that actually deliver on crypto’s original promises. They’re building a joint stablecoin. A programmable “digital dollar” backed by fiat reserves. Not another coin. A new financial operating system. And here’s the twist: This is exactly how the internet evolved. In the early days, the web was supposed to decentralize everything. No gatekeepers. Total freedom. Libertarian idealism. But who made it actually work? Centralized players like Google, Amazon, and Apple who built centralized platforms others innovated on top of. That’s where we are with programmable money. Crypto laid the philosophical foundation. But it may be the banks that lay the infrastructure. Why is this different from everything crypto tried and failed to scale? 1. The programmability is institutional grade. This is smart contract logic with compliance, KYC, and regulatory alignment built in from day one. 2. It plugs into existing payment rails. Zelle, ACH, The Clearing House, FedNow. No need to reinvent trust or onboarding. 3. The settlement finality comes with brand-name credibility. JPMorgan and Citi are not rug-pulling your escrow flow. 4. Enterprises finally get programmable money they can use. For lending, tax withholding, insurance claims, payouts, SLAs. This makes composable finance safe for CFOs. 5. It opens up real global rails. A regulated, dollar-backed token issued by major US banks could become the preferred instrument for cross-border B2B payments. This isn’t crypto’s vaporware stage. This is what happens when programmable money hits compliance, capital, and scale. And that opens up the real opportunity for founders: 1. Build smart, embedded finance on top of a trusted programmable dollar 2. Simplify the payment UX layer for the next billion users 3. Build vertical applications in trade, insurance, tax, and treasury 4. Create privacy-preserving tools for users navigating digital currency systems 5. Build fintech infra for institutions that finally trust the rails The money is finally catching up to the software. The crypto revolution may be real after all. Just not in the way anyone expected. #fintech #stablecoins #crypto #digitaldollar #programmablemoney #defi #banking #futureofmoney #vc #financialinfrastructure

Banks should lead the crypto conversation, not step away from it. The prevailing assumption is that digital assets sit outside the perimeter of regulated finance and therefore introduce more risk than opportunity. In that view, distance is a form of prudence. That assumption weakens as client demand and regulatory frameworks begin to converge. Capital is already moving into digital rails through stablecoins, tokenized assets, and custody demand. At the same time, policymakers are defining clearer boundaries for participation. Frameworks such as the proposed GENIUS Act signal that integration, not exclusion, is the likely direction. The deeper mechanics are structural. Banks already possess what crypto markets lack at scale: trust, governance discipline, and regulatory alignment. These are not peripheral advantages. They are the foundation of institutional capital. When banks remain passive, market standards are shaped by non-bank actors. When banks engage, they influence custody norms, liquidity structures, compliance models, and client protections. The second-order effect is strategic positioning. If digital asset infrastructure matures outside the banking system, banks risk becoming downstream service providers rather than primary allocators of capital. If they participate early, they shape how value moves across both traditional and digital systems. For executives, the question is not whether crypto introduces new risks. It is whether banks are better positioned to manage those risks from inside the system, or to react to them after market structure is already defined.

Banks' greatest asset isn't capital—it's trust. The harsh reality for most Web3 staking projects: they exist in a temporary vacuum that will disappear when traditional institutions enter the space. 72% of retail investors would prefer staking through their existing bank if given the option. The clock is ticking. Banks are methodically building their crypto infrastructure while compliance teams navigate regulatory frameworks. J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and BNY aren't announcing their crypto plans — they're executing them. For Web3 projects to survive the coming institutional wave, bad UX and "better yields" won't cut it. You need: ➡️ Products that solve problems banks fundamentally cannot ➡️ User experiences that feel as secure as banking but more powerful ➡️ Clear differentiation beyond regulatory arbitrage The projects building genuinely superior products will thrive regardless of bank entry. The rest are simply placeholders until institutional staking arrives. What's your strategy to compete when Chase offers one-click ETH staking to 60+ million customers? Staking’s future isn’t just about tech—it’s about trust and usability. Banks will deliver trust. Web3 can deliver innovation. The great players—banks or projects—will dominate by mastering both.

Big moves this week point to a clear trend: traditional finance and crypto are merging in exciting ways. Deutsche Bank is preparing a crypto custody platform for 2026, built with heavyweights like Taurus and Bitpanda. Think of it as Wall Street meets Web3—a secure, compliant way for institutions to manage digital assets. With backing from MiCA (EU) and OCC (U.S.), it’s not just a pilot—it’s a statement that crypto custody is moving out of the shadows. On the startup side, Erebor Crypto Bank is launching for AI, blockchain, and defense firms—helping fill a void left by traditional banks. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks are gaining traction. Major names like Coinbase and Robinhood are tokenizing equities for easier, 24/7, blockchain-based trading. What ties all this together? It’s not hype—it’s utility. Crypto is transitioning from niche to foundational. When secure custody, tailored startup banking, and digital equity trading align, everyday finance starts changing. For people new to the space: this isn’t about flash—it’s about building safe, practical bridges between finance as it was and what it can become. How are these shifts showing up in your world? Whether it’s compliance, tech infrastructure, or new financial tools—share your experience or the impact you see coming.

Large American banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are said to be in initial talks to introduce a joint stablecoin—a move reflecting the significant change in the conventional finance sector’s strategy towards digital assets. The proposal behind the initiative from participants such as Early Warning Services (operator of Zelle) and The Clearing House is to establish a dollar-backed digital currency to simplify transactions, especially cross-border payments. This shift demonstrates increasing integration between legacy banks and the crypto industry, particularly since the U.S. Senate pushes forward the GENIUS Act—a bill providing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Should it pass, it could lead to wider adoption and innovation in the stablecoin ecosystem. Stablecoin demand is increasing as the overall market value rose 20% this year to $245 billion. This indicates the potential to revolutionize financial infrastructures through the use of stablecoins and streamline international money transfers. I view this progress as a turning point. This is a sign of wider adoption of digital currencies and the recognition of the need to incorporate new solutions to address the shifting financial needs. https://lnkd.in/gsDKpTri #payments #digitalcurrencies #financialservices #innovation

🚀 J.P. Morgan’s 2026 Roadmap: A Strong Signal for Institutional Blockchain Adoption J.P. Morgan’s plan to extend JPM Coin onto the Canton Network in 2026 is not just a technology update—it’s a strategic validation of blockchain for regulated financial ecosystems. What stands out to me as a blockchain Expert. 🔹 Blockchain is moving from pilots to production Near real-time settlement, 24/7 cash management, and tokenized USD deposits show that blockchain is now solving real banking problems, not just experimenting. 🔹 Privacy + Compliance = Enterprise Adoption Canton Network’s configurable privacy model addresses the biggest concern of institutions: data confidentiality while using shared infrastructure. This is exactly how enterprise blockchains should evolve. 🔹 Interoperability is the real game-changer Operating alongside ecosystems like DTCC signals a future where tokenized cash and tokenized securities move seamlessly together—reducing friction, delays, and operational risk. 🔹 This is not “crypto vs banks” This is blockchain enabling banks, strengthening trust, efficiency, and transparency within regulated frameworks. 💡 The future of blockchain lies in institutional-grade networks, policy-aligned design, and real economic utility. 2026 will be a defining year where blockchain quietly becomes part of core financial infrastructure. The question is no longer “Will banks adopt blockchain?” The real question is “How fast can institutions modernize without it?” #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #Tokenization #InstitutionalBlockchain #FinTech #Web3 #Leadership #FutureOfFinance #startup

Something big is happening in global finance. Ten of the world’s largest banks are working together to design a digital currency backed 1:1 by fiat reserves. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Barclays, UBS, MUFG, TD, and Santander. They call it a stable payment asset. It will live on public blockchains, backed by real reserves, verified by audits, and built to meet banking compliance standards. This is not a crypto experiment. This is the financial system re-architecting itself in real time. The motivation is simple. Stablecoins are now one of the deepest liquidity pools in the world. The market sits around $260bn. Tether alone holds nearly $100bn in US Treasuries. That makes it one of the largest non-sovereign holders of government debt anywhere. JPMorgan expects stablecoins to add $1.4T in global dollar demand by 2027. Standard Chartered sees up to $1T moving out of emerging market banks toward digital dollars within three years. This is not about crypto adoption. It is about monetary power and settlement control. If private issuers can move trillions in liquidity faster and cheaper than central banks, then global finance changes shape. The old guard cannot ignore that. For Europe, this is about sovereignty. For Asia, it is about speed and interoperability. For the West, it is about preserving influence in the era of programmable money. The banks want a seat at the table before someone else builds the rails without them. If they succeed, this new stable payment asset could become the foundation of international money movement. If they fail, decentralized systems will continue to dominate cross border settlement. The key will be transparency. Daily attestations. Shared standards for minting and redemption. Public visibility of reserves. Everything else is noise. If this succeeds, liquidity deepens across every major currency. Cross border trade becomes faster. Compliance becomes code. And crypto becomes the connective tissue of global finance. This is not an American story. It is a global one. It is the financial system admitting that public blockchains are the next frontier of trust.