Saylor Reveals: Wall Street Banks Now Issuing Credit Backed by Bitcoin Collateral
Wall Street's old guard is finally putting Bitcoin on its balance sheet—as loan collateral. The move signals a tectonic shift in institutional finance, where digital gold now greases the wheels of traditional credit.
The New Collateral Playbook
Forget real estate or stock portfolios. Major banks are quietly accepting Bitcoin as backing for corporate and high-net-worth credit lines. It's not a fringe experiment anymore—it's a new asset class entering the secured lending mainstream.
Why Banks Are Biting
Liquidity without liquidation. Clients unlock capital against their Bitcoin holdings without triggering tax events or selling their position. For banks, it's a lucrative fee business with what they now deem 'acceptable' risk—after a decade of due diligence, of course.
The Fine Print Reality
Loan-to-value ratios remain conservative. Custody solutions are hyper-regulated. But the dam has broken: once one major player offers Bitcoin-backed credit, the rest follow to avoid losing clients—a rare case of Wall Street innovation driven by fear of missing out.
Legacy finance finally found a use for crypto: propping up the very credit system it was designed to bypass. The revolution will be collateralized.
JPMorgan leads in BTC-backed lending
JPMorgan has been a leader in lending backed by BTC. CEO Jamie Dimon, once a Bitcoin skeptic, softened his stance on the crypto earlier this year. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the company launched a $10 billion credit facility against Bitcoin collateral in October.
This extended its June 2025 policy, allowing clients to use spot Bitcoin ETFs (e.g., BlackRock’s IBIT) as collateral for loans across trading and wealth management.
According to reports, the company has announced plans for potential 2026 direct lending against BTC/ETH. This facility exemplifies Saylor’s point on banks issuing USD loans at low rates against BTC.
Wells Fargo joined the BTC lending wave in Q4 2025. It offers credit against Bitcoin ETFs and holdings following Basel III updates. It is now listed among the top banks facilitating crypto loans. Exploratory discussions on stablecoins have evolved into active BTC collateral programs.
Saylor referenced Wells Fargo’s Q4 shift, noting it “followed suit” after JPMorgan’s facility, with internal blockchain tests upgraded for tokenized BTC deposits, enabling credit issuance.
BNY Mellon expanded Bitcoin custody to include lending in Q4 2025, holding BTC for ETFs and issuing credit against it. According to reports, the bank issued trials of blockchain deposits for $2.5 trillion in payments, tokenizing BTC holdings for instant settlement and collateral use. According to Saylor, BNY’s ETF custody is a gateway to $50 billion in new credit lines.
Citi, BOF, and Charles Schwab’s aggressive 2026 entry into BTC custody and credit
Other banks have outlined their plans for next year. Citi is actively preparing to launch Bitcoin custody and lending services in 2026. A report made this month revealed Citi’s integration of CIDAP (Crypto Infrastructure for Digital Asset Platforms) to enable BTC-backed credit.
Additionally, at the beginning of Q4, Citi’s global head of partnerships confirmed that the bank has spent 2-3 years developing in-house and third-party custody solutions for native crypto coins like Bitcoin, targeting asset managers.
Bank of America will allow all of its affluent clients to invest 1% to 4% of their portfolios in crypto coins through Merrill and Private Bank, with an emphasis on Bitcoin ETFs as a collateralized FORM of investment, starting January 5, 2026.
Charles Schwab announced an aggressive 2026 entry into BTC custody and credit. The bank is set up for spot Bitcoin/Ethereum trading, as well as stablecoin issuance. CEO Rick Wurster confirmed that the $11.8 trillion platform will offer direct BTC trading in H1 2026, with lending against holdings via integrated brokerage. Saylor called it a “major change” for 37 million accounts.
Still, none of the six banks Michael Saylor mentioned hold Bitcoin or any other crypto coin directly on their own corporate balance sheets. US banking regulations and Basel III capital rules still make direct spot crypto ownership highly restrictive and capital-intensive for regulated banks.
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