Key Takeaways
- Major financial firms are widening crypto activity across custody, payments, funds, and tokenization.
- Regulated ETP access has become the broadest entry point for institutional crypto exposure.
- Tokenized funds and blockchain settlement tools could expand deeper into traditional finance.
Banks Move Crypto Deeper Into Regulated Finance
Wall Street’s crypto footprint is expanding across the financial system. Asset management firm Bitwise shared data on social media platform X on May 8 showing 24 major financial institutions active in crypto. The chart spans trading, custody, private funds, exchange-traded products, payments, and tokenization across banks, asset managers, exchanges, and payment networks.
Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have become the broadest point of entry. Bank of America now provides Merrill wealth management clients access to spot bitcoin ETPs, reflecting client demand for regulated exposure. Vanguard also allows brokerage clients to trade crypto ETPs after previously blocking bitcoin ETFs. Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wells Fargo are also listed in the ETP category.
Bitwise wrote on X on May 8:
“Banks and crypto: better together.”
Institutional infrastructure extends beyond investment access. BNY Mellon has integrated digital asset custody into core infrastructure, while Deutsche Bank has expanded into custody services through a partnership with Taurus. Cboe, Charles Schwab, CME Group, DBS, Deutsche Börse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Interactive Brokers, and the London Stock Exchange support trading venues, listed products, custody, or market infrastructure.
Tokenization and Payments Reshape Institutional Crypto Use
Tokenization appears across many listed firms. Blackrock uses its BUIDL fund to move institutional liquidity on-chain, while Franklin Templeton records fund activity on public blockchains. Bitwise announced its planned tokenized USCC fund rollout, which it described as its first tokenized fund. Citi Token Services, JPMorgan’s Kinexys, HSBC Orion, UBS uMINT, and Société Générale FORGE show how banks are testing blockchain-based settlement and asset issuance.
Crypto-enabled payments are concentrated among global banks and card networks. Citi, BNY Mellon, DBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Société Générale, UBS, and Visa are marked in that column. Visa has explored stablecoin settlement infrastructure, while Mastercard developed its Multi-Token Network for blockchain-based financial services. DBS also supports regulated digital asset services across trading, custody, and tokenization.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said on X on May 7:
“Eventually, every fund will be tokenized.”
Private crypto funds remain part of the institutional picture, though adoption is narrower than ETPs. Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo are listed in that category. Goldman Sachs focuses on institutional traders and private fund access, while JPMorgan Chase appears across all six categories in the Bitwise chart.
