Major US Banking Institutions Embrace Bitcoin: River Report Shows 60% Adoption
A new report from River reveals that more than 60% of America's largest banking institutions are either providing or investigating Bitcoin-related offerings, with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup among the participants.
A majority of America's leading banking institutions have now entered the Bitcoin space, either by launching services or publicly declaring intentions to provide Bitcoin-related offerings including trading platforms and custody solutions, according to Bitcoin financial services firm River.
River took to X on Monday to publish a comprehensive list featuring the nation's top 25 financial institutions, stating that "60% of the top US banks are into Bitcoin."
During the previous weekend, Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, revealed that one of his main observations from attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, held between Jan. 19 and Jan. 23, was the increasingly positive stance banking executives are taking toward cryptocurrency.
Among the various banking chief executives Armstrong encountered during his visit, he noted that "most of them are actually very pro crypto and are leaning into it as an opportunity, some aren't quite there yet. One CEO of a top 10 global bank told me crypto is their number one priority, and they view it as existential."
Certain American banking institutions had previously faced allegations of maintaining anti-cryptocurrency positions and were reportedly involved in initiatives such as the so-called Operation Chokepoint 2.0, a governmental campaign aimed at debanking cryptocurrency-related businesses.
Big Four banking group sees three members participating
UBS, the Swiss banking powerhouse that maintains significant operations within the United States, represents the most recent entrant on River's compilation. According to a Bloomberg report published on Friday, the institution is reportedly investigating the possibility of providing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading capabilities to its most affluent clientele.
Within the "Big Four" group of American banking institutions, JPMorgan Chase has publicly stated its consideration of incorporating cryptocurrency trading services, Wells Fargo currently provides offerings such as Bitcoin-collateralized lending products to institutional customers, and Citigroup is actively investigating institutional cryptocurrency custody solutions.
When combined, these three financial institutions control assets exceeding $7.3 trillion, based on Forbes data.
Despite this progress, banking institutions remain hesitant about embracing every facet of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. These institutions have emerged as among the most vocal opponents of yield-bearing stablecoins, expressing concerns that such products could introduce substantial risks to the broader financial infrastructure.
A group of ten major banks remains uncommitted
Bank of America, which represents the fourth member of the Big Four collection of US financial institutions and ranks as the nation's second-largest bank by total assets, has not yet made any public announcements regarding plans to offer Bitcoin-related services, based on River's assessment.
According to Forbes calculations, its total assets exceed $2.67 trillion. The subsequent two largest banking institutions on the Forbes ranking have similarly not disclosed any intentions regarding Bitcoin service offerings, with Capital One controlling $694 billion in assets, while Trust Bank maintains $536 billion in holdings.