Bitcoin’s price explosion this year has Wall Street scrambling like never before. The big banks, who once rolled their eyes at crypto and left it to the small fry, are now elbowing their way into the market.
They see the dollar signs, and apparently, they’ve decided that reputation be damned. The fees are too good to ignore. Bitcoin’s transformation from “hyped-up fraud” (thanks Jamie Dimon) to a cash cow has been nothing short of wild.
The SEC approved Bitcoin spot ETFs. Add Trump’s return to office and his administration’s apparent crypto-friendliness, and you’ve got Wall Street rolling up its sleeves and getting dirty.
Big money and bigger risks for Wall Street
Barclays and Citigroup are leading the charge, underwriting multiple convertible bond offerings for MicroStrategy. JPMorgan’s also in the mix, doing the same thing for big Bitcoin miners like Core Scientific and Mara.
Even Goldman Sachs is cashing in, raising funds for Applied Digital, a company that builds data centers for Bitcoin miners. More than $13 billion in crypto-related convertible bonds have been issued this year, most of it in just the past few months.
Fees? Banks are raking in at least $200 million from these deals, according to estimates. MicroStrategy alone has handed over 2% fees on its mind-blowing $21 billion equity offering.
But don’t think Wall Street’s gone full crypto fanboy. The big players are still picky. Coinbase, a well-established exchange, is a safer bet than, say, a startup Bitcoin miner.
Even among similar companies, reputational baggage matters. MicroStrategy might be a Bitcoin darling, but Michael Saylor’s legal history isn’t exactly squeaky clean. Still, when the fees are this fat, banks seem willing to hold their noses.
And since a few big banks jump in, the rest can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Competition is fierce, and no banker wants to explain to their boss why they’re slipping in the league tables.
That said, Wall Street’s love for crypto has its limits. The banks still draw the line with certain industries. Adult entertainment and cannabis—legal but taboo sectors—are still no-go zones for many. Crypto straddles that line, a gray area where respectability clashes with profit potential.
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