MASSIVE Bank Crypto Pivot Shocks Industry

Cryptocurrency coins on a trading screen background.

Major American banks are abandoning their decade-long skepticism and racing to integrate Bitcoin, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits as core financial infrastructure, marking the end of Wall Street’s internal crypto debate.

Story Highlights

Morgan Stanley becomes first top-10 U.S. bank to file for its own Bitcoin and Solana ETFs in early 2026
JPMorgan plans to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral while building tokenized deposit settlement systems
Trump administration’s GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act create comprehensive regulatory framework ending “regulation by enforcement”
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF suite generated over $245 million in annual fees, proving crypto’s revenue potential to banks

Regulatory Victory Unlocks Bank Crypto Integration

Trump’s administration delivered the regulatory clarity banks demanded through landmark legislation. The GENIUS Act established comprehensive federal standards for USD-pegged stablecoins in July 2025, while the CLARITY Act passed Congress and awaits Senate approval by January 2026. These laws replace years of hostile enforcement with clear compliance pathways. The SEC simultaneously revised commodity ETF listing rules, making crypto product approvals straightforward rather than adversarial battles.

Banks Transform From Crypto Skeptics to Manufacturers

Morgan Stanley’s SEC filing for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs represents a seismic shift from banks merely distributing others’ crypto products to manufacturing their own. Bank of America now allows wealth advisers to recommend crypto allocations to clients, embedding digital assets into mainstream portfolio management. This transition from cautious observers to active participants reflects crypto’s evolution from reputational risk to essential revenue stream, following BlackRock’s demonstration that Bitcoin ETFs could generate hundreds of millions in annual fees.

JPMorgan Leads Tokenized Banking Infrastructure

JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform pilots tokenized deposit and stablecoin settlement tools, transforming how institutions move money. The bank plans to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral through ETF exposures, with roadmaps for direct spot holdings. This infrastructure enables 24/7 settlement and reduces friction in value transfers, positioning tokenized deposits alongside regulated stablecoins as core banking rails rather than experimental side projects.

OCC Charters Bring Crypto Firms Into Banking Perimeter

December 2025’s conditional OCC trust charters for BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, and Ripple formally integrate crypto infrastructure within federal banking supervision. These approvals move stablecoin issuance and custody services from regulatory gray areas into established oversight frameworks. The integration creates regulated pathways for banks to partner with crypto-native firms while maintaining compliance standards, effectively absorbing digital asset infrastructure into traditional banking operations.

Industry analysts project that approximately 60% of top-25 U.S. banks are now building crypto custody and ETF servicing capabilities. This represents a fundamental shift from viewing cryptocurrency as a threat to recognizing it as necessary competitive infrastructure, similar to how banks previously adopted derivatives and traditional ETFs as standard offerings.