60% of American banks secretly deploying Bitcoin! After years of denial, they are collectively shifting to insider information

According to River data, nearly 60% of the 25 largest banks in the United States are currently in some stage of direct sales, custody, or offering Bitcoin advisory services. This figure marks a historic shift in American banking attitudes, as these institutions have long regarded Bitcoin as a risk asset to stay away from, citing capital rules, custody issues, and reputational risks.

From Public Denials to Quiet Deployment: The Evolution of Attitudes

(Source: River)

For years, American banks have viewed Bitcoin as something best observed from afar. The asset exists on professional exchanges and trading apps, isolated from core banking systems due to capital rules, custody issues, and reputational risks. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has repeatedly called Bitcoin a “fraud,” and Goldman Sachs abandoned its crypto OTC trading plans in 2018. Wells Fargo has explicitly prohibited advisors from recommending any crypto-related products.

However, this attitude is ultimately changing. The turning point came in early 2024, after the SEC approved a Bitcoin spot ETF, leading to large-scale institutional capital inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT accumulated nearly $100 billion in assets in less than a year, demonstrating that institutional demand for Bitcoin is real and substantial. When clients began asking, “Why can’t I buy Bitcoin here?” banks realized that without offering services, clients and funds would permanently flow to crypto-native platforms like CEXs.

The story in 2025 is much calmer: cryptocurrencies are shifting from fringe asset allocations to routine items in mainstream wealth and custody workflows. This transition is not a radical revolution but a gradual infiltration. Banks start with their most mature client segments, launching niche products with strict quota limits, conservative margin rules, and tighter eligibility screening to control access.

If current plans come to fruition, 2026 will be the first year Bitcoin appears more like a standard product rather than an exception. By then, high-net-worth clients’ concerns will no longer be whether their bank offers Bitcoin trading but how they allocate their investments among ETF, direct holdings, and advisory service modes.

The Largest US Crypto Exchange’s White-Label Model Becomes Industry Standard

The key for banks embracing Bitcoin is finding a model that meets client needs without incurring excessive operational burdens. The answer is a white-label solution. PNC Financial Services Group’s private banking expansion is a prime example. PNC did not build its own crypto exchange but adopted the “Crypto-as-a-Service” technology stack from the largest compliant crypto exchange in the US.

This model features a clear division of labor: banks handle client relationships, suitability checks, and reporting, while the largest compliant crypto exchange in the US provides trading and key management services behind the scenes. For clients, they still operate through PNC’s interface, with assets displayed on the same account dashboard, but underlying trade execution, custody, and blockchain interactions are managed by the largest compliant crypto exchange in the US.

Three Major Advantages of the White-Label Model for US Banks

Avoiding Technical Barriers: No need to build wallet infrastructure or blockchain operations teams, greatly reducing initial investment costs

Shifting Operational Risks: Outsourcing complex functions like key management, trade execution, and regulatory compliance to specialized firms, reducing operational errors

Maintaining Brand Control: Clients interact only with the bank’s brand; service providers like the largest compliant crypto exchange in the US operate behind the scenes, allowing banks to retain client relationship dominance

Various variants of this “white-label” model are gradually becoming industry compromises. It enables banks to meet client needs without building their own wallet infrastructure or blockchain operations. Additionally, recent guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) clarifies how national banks can treat crypto transactions as riskless principal transactions, meaning banks can buy from liquidity providers and sell to clients almost simultaneously. This reduces capital losses from market risk and makes it easier to integrate Bitcoin trading with foreign exchange or fixed income businesses.

Planned Launch in 2026 and Improved Regulatory Framework

Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley aim to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading on their proprietary trading platforms in the first half of 2026. US Bank plans to start allowing Merrill Lynch (a private bank) and its Merrill Edge advisors to recommend crypto exchange-traded products from January 2026. This will make Bitcoin no longer an “active” asset class but one that can be incorporated into model portfolios.

U.S. Bancorp has restarted its institutional Bitcoin custody service, appointing NYDIG as a sub-custodian. Other large institutions, including BNY Mellon, are building digital asset platforms targeting clients who want their Bitcoin held under the same brand as their custody of government bonds and mutual funds.

Supporting this transition is the refinement of the regulatory and charter environment. The GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for stablecoin issuers, and the OCC has issued conditional national trust charters to crypto companies, creating a class of regulated counterparties that can be included within existing risk and capital regulation frameworks. This combination allows banks to build ready-to-deploy stacks.

However, this rapid expansion also introduces new systemic risks. Most institutions offering or planning to offer crypto access have not built their own vaults but rely on a few infrastructure providers, such as the largest compliant crypto exchange in the US, NYDIG, and Fireblocks. This concentration poses another systemic risk: if core sub-custodians experience major failures, network events, or law enforcement actions, multiple large institutions could be affected simultaneously.

Despite these risks, progress is ongoing. The US banks’ embrace of Bitcoin is not a voluntary choice but a response to client acceptance. The current transformation is about establishing sufficient mechanisms to prevent clients and their funds from flowing elsewhere permanently. From pilot projects to standard products, the path is already clear.