Banks | Crypto

Banks now represent nearly one in four providers on ESMA’s MiCA register after roughly doubling their presence since late June. Banks are rapidly expanding their presence in Europe’s regulated crypto market, with traditional lenders now accounting for nearly one in four providers listed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA). The number of banks on the EU’s MiCA crypto provider list doubled to about 80 from roughly 40 between June 26 and Sept. 16, according to a Cointelegraph analysis of MiCA register data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The overall number of listed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) rose from 243 to 349 over the period, but non-bank providers lost ground in relative terms, with their share falling from about 84% to 77%. Read more

OSFI’s final rule fixes a cross-exchange capital mismatch only for tightly matched, qualifying Group 2a positions. The post Banks get cross-exchange crypto hedge relief under Canada’s new 2027 capital rule appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Banks defend themselves against stablecoins by saying they are building tokenized deposits to modernize payments, with programmable money and around-the-clock settlement. Falcon Finance chief RWA officer Artem Tolkachev told CryptoSlate that the explanation covers only half the reason: “It is the balance sheet, not the technology.” A tokenized deposit keeps the money a stablecoin would […] The post Banks found a way to copy stablecoins without losing the money that funds their loans appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Participating banks will test post-quantum wallets and onchain transfers while regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan and Malta initially observe. Banks and financial regulators across Europe, the Middle East and Asia have joined a pilot testing quantum-resistant infrastructure for digital asset wallets and onchain transfers.  The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) and crypto custody infrastructure provider Safeheron announced the initiative on Monday.  The pilot uses a multiparty computation protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, a post-quantum digital signature standard published by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, on a quantum-resistant NEAR testnet. Read more

Strategy's new Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index gives 25 major banks and financial institutions an overall 32% score based on activity across custody, trading, investment products, lending, and leadership support. The figure is a depth score, measuring how far banks have built out Bitcoin-related services across the institutions Strategy tracked. Bitwise's Q3 2026 Crypto Market Review […] The post Banks are building the rails to profit from 13.9 million BTC they do not own appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The banks are finally buying the vaults. In May, BNY, the world's largest custodian with $59.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration, announced it would offer Bitcoin and Ethereum custody in Abu Dhabi. Weeks later, Standard Chartered confirmed it will fully acquire Zodia Custody, the digital asset custodian it incubated in 2020, with the […] The post Banks are buying Bitcoin vaults, but a quantum problem may be waiting inside appeared first on CryptoSlate.

For traditional US banks, the CLARITY Act was intended as a firewall that effectively barred crypto companies from offering “passive” interest on stablecoins. The legislation aimed to prevent a catastrophic deposit flight in which everyday checking account balances drain from the banking system into high-yield crypto exchanges. But as lawmakers prepare to finalize the framework, […] The post Banks pushed Congress to kill stablecoin yield with CLARITY Act – Coinbase may have found the loophole appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Inside a packed Senate hearing room on May 14, the air was heavy with the tension of a high-stakes jurisdictional brawl on the CLARITY Act. What was intended to be a routine legislative markup became a grueling “tick-tock” of procedural maneuvering, personal barbs, and a desperate search for a bipartisan middle ground. Ultimately, the bill […] The post How CLARITY Act survived a chaotic Senate markup after Warren, Banks and Democrats tried to slow it down appeared first on CryptoSlate.

A recent American Bankers Association (ABA) ad running across Washington shows a clear edge in a campaign that has been running for months. The ad reads: “Protect local lending while embracing innovation. Tell Senators to close the stablecoin loophole.” ABA's advertising archive documents Politico Morning Money placements during the week of Mar. 9, urging senators […] The post Banks fund crypto attack ads across Washington as over 3,000 banks unite to stop Clarity Act passing Senate appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The US Senate’s most significant effort to establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital asset markets, the CLARITY Act, is in imminent danger of slipping into May. Amid fierce pressure from traditional financial institutions, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is actively pressing Senate Banking Committee leadership to delay advancing the CLARITY Act. The delay turns what […] The post Banks lobbying efforts seek to ‘kill’ CLARITY Act before US Senate election window closes appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The American Bankers Association is concerned that stablecoin yields would lead to mass deposit outflows from smaller community banks. The American Bankers Association (ABA) has criticized a White House report that claimed banning stablecoin yields would only have a negligible impact on banks, arguing that the conclusion was reached by asking the “wrong question.” The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers claimed in a research paper on Wednesday, on the “Effects of Stablecoin Yield Prohibition on Bank Lending,” that under a baseline scenario, banning stablecoin yield may only increase bank lending by $2.1 billion, representing a marginal net increase of about 0.02%. ABA chief economist Sayee Srinivasan and vice president for banking and economic research Yikai Wang said in a statement on Monday that the “live policy concern” is not whether prohibiting yield on stablecoins would impact bank lending but whether allowing yield on stablecoins would encourage deposit outflows, particularly from community bank...

Strategy is one of the most aggressively promoted stocks on Wall Street, with a consensus “Strong Buy” rating and an average analyst price target that implies a 155% upside from recent prices. That's nearly double the implied upside for any other large-cap name in America. It's also, by a wide margin, the single largest issuer […] The post Banks rate Strategy a ‘buy’ while collecting $274M to issue stock for its Bitcoin purchases appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Stablecoin adoption in Europe is shifting from strategy to execution, with demand increasingly driven by real-world needs. Banks and corporates across Europe are moving beyond exploration and are now actively selecting infrastructure partners to support stablecoin adoption, according to Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner at crypto custody technology provider Taurus. Brahimi told Cointelegraph that 18 months ago, most conversations were still educational, focused on understanding stablecoins and their risks. Today, firms with board-level approval are preparing to go live. He said the introduction of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has accelerated that transition by replacing fragmented national rules with a single bloc-wide regulatory regime. “In the past 12 months alone some of Europe's most stringent financial institutions are all arriving at the same conclusion, digital assets, including stablecoins, belong inside the existing banking stack, not beside it,” he said. Read mor...

UK Finance said that tokenized deposits could play a “vital role” in a future multi-money system alongside other digital assets. Banks are exploring tokenized deposits as they test ways to move commercial bank money onto blockchain-based payment and settlement infrastructure, according to a new report from real-world asset data platform RWA.io The report, which was authored by RWA.io with contributions from industry participants including UK Finance, Citi, BNY, JPMorgan’s Kinexys, Standard Chartered, ABN Amro and Digital Asset, argues that tokenized deposits are emerging alongside stablecoins and central bank digital currencies as part of a broader onchain cash stack. Tokenized deposits are digital representations of traditional bank deposits on blockchain or other distributed ledger infrastructure. Unlike many stablecoins, they are direct liabilities of the issuing bank and sit within existing banking frameworks, including deposit insurance, capital requirements, and Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Custo...

US banks “reduced” their credit risk after 2008 by shifting more of it to nonbank lenders. Since 2008, banks have shifted a growing share of their lending to nonbanks like private credit funds, making it their fastest-growing loan category. That shift doesn’t signal another 2008-style crisis today, but it does show where trouble could surface […] The post Banks risk another 2008 crisis after moving the equivalent of 18 million BTC into shadow lenders appeared first on CryptoSlate.

RedStone co-founder Marcin Kaźmierczak says banks are splitting RWA infrastructure between private networks like Canton and public chains such as Ethereum. Institutional adoption of real-world assets (RWAs) is splitting between public and permissioned networks, exposing a divide between the liquidity advantages of blockchains like Ethereum and the privacy demands driving systems such as Canton Network. The divergence is becoming more pronounced as tokenized assets gain traction among major asset managers. Marcin Kaźmierczak, co-founder of blockchain oracle provider RedStone, said product development is likely to occur on public blockchains, while permissioned systems are better suited for institutional processes that require confidentiality. Read more

Ripple just made a move most traders missed.The XRP Ledger rolled out XLS 81. It adds a permissioned DEX directly on chain. Think members-only trading venues. Only approved players can trade and match orders.This is not for retail degens. It is built for banks and regulated firms. Full compliance. KYC. AML. Controlled access. The kind […] The post XRP Price Prediction: Ripple Just Built a “Fast Lane” for Banks – Why Big Money Is Choosing XRP Over Every Other Coin appeared first on Cryptonews.

Crypto’s reputation is improving, but investors still complain that their banks are blocking their accounts for interacting with digital assets. Across the globe, it remains common for crypto users to have their bank accounts frozen and transfers blocked, even as institutional adoption rises. Panos Mekras, co-founder and CEO of blockchain fintech Anodos Labs, began dealing with crypto in Greece in the late 2010s. Most Greek banks didn’t allow transfers to crypto exchanges back then. Mekras experienced blocked card payments until one bank finally permitted his transfers, but first, he was questioned to ensure he understood he was interacting with a “risky” counterparty. Mekras told Cointelegraph that those early rejections are symptomatic of how banks treat digital assets as inherently high risk. That label often led to account closures or sudden freezes without explanation, ultimately pushing his business to rely solely on onchain tools and payment rails. Read more

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says banks and crypto may begin to offer similar products, and pledged to prevent deposit flight concerns that are stalling a key crypto bill. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told Congress that traditional and crypto banking products and services may be more intertwined in the future.  Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Bessent was asked by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis whether there could come a time when conventional banks and crypto are offering the same types of products. “I think that can happen over time,” Bessent said. “We’ve actually been working with small and community banks to discuss how they can be part of the digital asset revolution.”  Read more

Fidelity announced the launch of a stablecoin on the Ethereum mainnet, positioning the token as a compliance-wrapped settlement dollar distributed through the firm's brokerage, custody, and wealth management channels. The move lands amid what looks like a stablecoin sprawl, as estimates suggest 59 new major stablecoins launched in 2025 alone, per third-party tracker Stablewatch. This […] The post Banks may lose up to $500B after Fidelity’s official token launches on Ethereum with freeze powers appeared first on CryptoSlate.