Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said some of the world’s largest financial institutions are running pilots with Coinbase in stablecoin, custody, and cryptocurrency trading.
Armstrong, while not naming the banks in question, said, “The best banks see this as an opportunity. Those who resist will be left behind.”
Armstrong appeared on stage with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the New York Times DealBook Summit. The two discussed crypto markets, tokenization, and the migration of traditional assets to digital wallets. The meeting came amid volatile price movements since October and growing questions about the future of traditional financial giants’ plans for crypto.
Larry Fink’s approach to crypto has changed dramatically in recent years. Fink, who called Bitcoin a “money launderer’s index” in 2017, now heads the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF. “I see a huge use case for Bitcoin,” Fink said, acknowledging a complete reversal of his previous views.
Major banking executives like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser are also reiterating their interest in crypto assets. Morgan Stanley has launched crypto trading on its retail investment platform, E*Trade.
This transformation, which accelerated during Donald Trump’s second term, appears to have accelerated with the more friendly political and regulatory environment in Washington. Congress and the White House are enacting the first federal stablecoin framework, which offers significant advantages to the crypto industry, and the industry is considering this a historic milestone.
These regulatory steps weren’t enough to stop the crypto sell-off that deepened after the tariff announcements in October. The market remains under pressure due to deleveraging and weakening investor confidence. Trump-linked tokens and companies, in particular, experienced sharp declines.
Larry Fink noted that the approximately $4.1 trillion held in digital wallets worldwide is largely in stablecoins, adding that these funds could be moved much more efficiently through tokenized assets. Fink also described Bitcoin as a “fear asset.”
“You own Bitcoin because you’re afraid for your physical security; you’re afraid for your financial security. The main reason people hold Bitcoin long-term is the risk of financial asset devaluation due to budget deficits.”
*This is not investment advice.
