Big banks are finally jumping on the crypto bandwagon

The year 2025 is turning out to be a big one for cryptocurrencies. Prices have surged, adoption has grown rapidly, and what was once a niche investment is now being taken seriously by major financial institutions.

The biggest sign of this shift is that global banks are starting to make crypto available for their clients — a move that could firmly place digital assets in the mainstream financial system.

One of the biggest developments comes from JPMorgan, which is reportedly planning to allow institutional clients to use Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for loans.

Until now, only traditional assets like gold, bonds, or US treasuries could be pledged as collateral. This would mark one of the most direct integrations of crypto into Wall Street’s credit system.

The new programme is expected to rely on a third-party custodian to hold the pledged crypto tokens securely — similar to how traditional assets are managed. It could launch by the end of 2025, and the crypto market has already reacted positively to the news, with digital assets seeing renewed strength.

This move builds on JPMorgan’s earlier decision in June 2025 to accept crypto ETFs as collateral, taking another step toward mainstream adoption by allowing direct use of digital currencies themselves.

But JPMorgan isn’t alone. Over the past few months, several other major banks and financial players have joined the trend:

BNY Mellon and Goldman Sachs teamed up in July 2025 to launch a tokenised money market product for institutional clients. Both have been working on digital asset custody and settlement services since 2021.

Morgan Stanley is preparing to enable retail clients to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana directly on its trading platform. This feature could go live as early as the second quarter of 2026.

The bank is also broadening access to crypto funds across different client segments — not just wealthy investors but also regular and retirement account holders.

These developments highlight a clear trend: traditional finance and crypto are coming together faster than ever before.

Also Read | Traditional banks deepen crypto integration with new services and partnerships