Wall Street Giants JPMorgan & Goldman Sachs in Bitcoin Land Grab—Who Will Dominate?
Bitcoin's siren song lures another batch of Wall Street titans—this time it's JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs leading the charge. Forget 'crypto winter'—these banks smell blood in the water.
The Gold Rush 2.0
No pickaxes or shovels here. America's top banks are deploying armies of quants and lawyers to stake their claim. The prize? Control over the $1T+ Bitcoin ecosystem. Because nothing says 'decentralized' like a Goldman Sachs custody solution.
Regulatory Tug-of-War
Watch the SEC scramble as traditional finance muscles in. Jamie Dimon once called Bitcoin 'a fraud'—now JPM's blockchain division has more headcount than most crypto startups. The irony's thicker than a Wall Street bonus.
One thing's clear: When banks start playing with fire, someone's going to get burned—and it won't be the guys in pinstripes. Place your bets on who'll be first to turn Satoshi's vision into another profit center.
Once skeptical about Bitcoin, America’s biggest banks are now rushing to get a piece of the action. From JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs, these financial giants are moving into Bitcoin custody, trading, and rewards programs. The game has clearly changed.
Here’s what you must know.
Big Banks Move Into Bitcoin
A recent chart by River reveals how top firms are moving beyond the early stages of crypto involvement. Many have launched bitcoin services or offer limited access to wealthy clients, reflecting digital assets’ growing integration into mainstream finance.
13 of the top 25 banks in the US are building bitcoin products for their customers.
First they ignore it. Then they fight it.
Now they’re starting to embrace Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/pvFU9OWzYY
Banks such as JPMorgan, PNC, Charles Schwab, and State Street have already launched or are preparing Bitcoin-related products. Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs provide limited Bitcoin access to select high-net-worth clients.
Even American Express has introduced a Bitcoin rewards card. Others, including Fifth Third and USAA, are exploring or integrating crypto services.
From Observers to Active Players
Since early 2024, major US banks have shifted from watching crypto to actively engaging in it.
- Morgan Stanley considered letting thousands of brokers recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients
- Charles Schwab plans to add Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to meet growing customer demand for a unified investment platform.
- PNC also partnered with Coinbase to allow clients to trade crypto directly through their bank accounts.
- JPMorgan announced it is teaming up with Coinbase to let Chase credit card customers fund their wallets and buy crypto on the exchange starting fall 2025.
Work on custody and tokenization is also picking up. State Street, BNY Mellon, Citi, and JPMorgan are testing stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement systems.
Michael Saylor’s Vision for Bitcoin’s Future
Michael Saylor, Strategy’s CEO and a major Bitcoin advocate, had outlined four key points for Bitcoin’s future in a recent interview – banks will start lending against BTC, the US government will hold Bitcoin reserves, big tech will embrace BTC, and it will be easily accessible on devices like the iPhone.
Michael Saylor on the future of Bitcoin:
– Banks will start lending against your BTC
– The US government will hold BTC
– Big tech companies will embrace BTC
– You will have Bitcoin on your iPhone pic.twitter.com/jYfvPCTm5M
Saylor believes these developments will put the United States at the center of the global crypto industry.
