Wall Street Giants JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America Partner with Coinbase in Major Crypto Pilots
Traditional finance just placed its biggest bet yet on crypto's infrastructure.
The Pilots That Could Redefine Banking
Forget the cautious toe-dipping of years past. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America—three of the world's most powerful financial institutions—aren't just watching crypto anymore. They're building it. In a series of confidential pilots with Coinbase, these titans are stress-testing the very rails that could one day underpin a new financial system: stablecoins for instant settlement, institutional-grade custody for digital assets, and next-generation trading platforms.
Why This Time Is Different
This isn't about dipping a fund into Bitcoin ETFs. This is operational integration. It's about banks exploring how to move billions on-chain, settle transactions in minutes instead of days, and securely hold assets that exist only as code. The pilots target the core plumbing of finance—the boring, essential, and wildly profitable back-office functions that traditional systems have struggled to modernize. One cynical observer might note they're finally innovating because the profit margins on the old way are starting to look... traditional.
The Institutional On-Ramp Goes Live
The collaboration signals a seismic shift in strategy. Banks aren't fighting the crypto ecosystem; they're plugging into it. By partnering with a native giant like Coinbase, they bypass years of internal development hell and gain immediate access to battle-tested technology and regulatory navigation. It's a pragmatic, powerful move that could see digital asset services rolled out to millions of corporate and retail clients faster than anyone predicted.
The walls between Wall Street and Crypto Street aren't just crumbling—they're being dismantled, brick by brick, in a boardroom. The future of finance is being piloted today.
Banks test crypto as policy opens the door
Wall Street’s renewed contact with crypto has accelerated since President Donald TRUMP returned to the White House for a second term and Congress moved ahead with the first federal framework for stablecoins, the dollar‑pegged tokens used for fast payments.
The policy wins did not stop the recent selloff.
The drop followed a tariff announcement earlier in the fall and then spread as Leveraged trades were closed and confidence thinned. Tokens tied to Trump and companies linked to his circle took some of the hardest hits.
Brian said the current MOVE in prices does not change his long-term plan for the market. He told the DealBook audience that the value of shares, bonds, and property will one day exist as tokens used on open networks.
Larry supported that view with numbers from today’s wallets. He said about $4.1 trillion now sits in digital wallets around the world, mostly in stablecoins, and those funds could move more freely if other assets were turned into tokens.
He also defined bitcoin as “an asset of fear,” and said people hold it because they worry about both physical and financial security, and because deficits weaken paper money. The message landed hard inside the room there.
Lawmakers tie stablecoins to debt and global flows
The new stablecoin law reignited debate on Wall Street over whether these dollar‑based tokens can lift demand for short‑dated Treasury bills and support the U.S. currency. Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, said last month the market for dollar‑backed stablecoins could rise to $3 trillion by 2030 from about $300 billion today.
The statute forces issuers to fully back their tokens with Treasury bills and cash‑like reserves. Scott said heavier demand WOULD allow the Treasury to sell more bills, rely less on long bonds, and ease pressure on mortgage rates and other key borrowing costs.
Strategists at JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs say it is too soon to treat stablecoins as a cure for U.S. funding needs, no matter how confident the Trump team sounds. Stephen Miran, a Fed governor and WHITE House chief economist, said demand in the United States may stay limited. He said the wider opening sits overseas, where buyers may accept zero yield to hold dollar access. In a recent speech, he linked stablecoins to Fed bond buying and the global savings glut that once pushed rates down.
Standard Chartered warned that up to $1 trillion could leave banks in developing nations by 2028 if funds move into stablecoins. That risk has driven the European Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China to work on digital currencies.
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