Crypto-friendly Banks: Top Banks that Support Crypto Trading

How Many of the Top 50 Banks in the World Support Crypto Trading?

37 of the 50 (74%) biggest global banks by assets under management in 2023 support crypto trading through connecting to regulated crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase – allowing the seamless transfer of funds from bank accounts. However, none currently support retail crypto trading or on-ramping from their respective native platforms.

The adoption of blockchain-based solutions by big banks has been relatively slow compared to other sectors. Strict regulations, market volatility, and recent high-profile failures of exchanges like FTX have hindered the integration of cryptocurrency trading into these large banks.

In 2023, the top 50 biggest banks in the world managed a combined $89.37 trillion worth of assets. The list is dominated by the two largest economies, US and China, with 19 banks ranking in the top 50. The top 4 banks are all Chinese and manage $19.87T worth of assets, over 20% of the total.

Neobanks and a new way of banking

As a result of the reluctance of big banks to implement native crypto trading, Neobanks like Revolut and Wirex have taken advantage and even have crypto cards that let customers pay for goods and services using crypto just like a regular debit card.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization currently stands at $1.22T, and with the rapid growth of some of these neobanks, it might not be too long before one breaks into the top 100.

Asia’s Hard Stance on Crypto

All the 13 banks that do not allow connections are based in China, a country with an infamously anti-crypto stance. In 2013 the People’s Bank of China banned financial institutions from making transactions in virtual currencies, and outlawed all forms of crypto transactions and mining in 2021.

The Chinese government is rumored to be introducing its own cryptocurrency to keep the crypto market under state control - a digital version of the yuan has already been trialed, with a national rollout being the next step.

China could be pulled back into the crypto market

Hong Kong appears to be more open to crypto trading, inviting Coinbase and other crypto exchanges to set up in the city.

There are other rumors that a crypto renaissance could spread to the rest of mainland China, with the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park Management Committee releasing a white paper on Web3 technologies at the end of May.  

India has bans too

India is another country with a hesitant view of the cryptocurrency market. The central bank repeatedly insisted on banning crypto outright and issued their own e-currency in an effort to deter crypto trading. They also banned banks from dealing with cryptocurrencies in 2018, although this was later overturned by the Supreme Court.  

Institutional trading is going strong

However, blockchain technology is still firmly in the scope of big banks. Institutional clients have been able to get exposure to cryptocurrencies natively for some years at several banks:

JPMorgan was the first bank to develop its own digital currency JPM Coin back in 2019 on an internally developed, private version of Ethereum.

Goldman Sachs announced the formation of a cryptocurrency trading desk in 2021 as part of the Global Currencies and Emerging Markets division. This allows them to trade in bitcoin futures and nondeliverable forwards, but they do not yet deal with actual bitcoin.

Société Générale launched their EURCV stablecoin on Ethereum in April of this year – the first on a public blockchain.

Crypto custodians

One way that banks use to begin edging towards full retail crypto trading is through partnerships with crypto custody firms. One firm that has signed deals with several banks in the top 50 is Swiss digital asset safekeeping company Metaco.

As of May 2023, Metaco has signed deals with BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Citigroup and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). The deals with Société Générale and Citigroup focus primarily on tokenized versions of stocks or other securities, so although cryptocurrencies are not included it is a substantial first step on the way to full integration.

Which Banks Are Crypto-Friendly?

The following table lists which of the top 50 biggest banks are connected through licensed crypto exchanges, in 2023:

Methodology

This study assesses how crypto-friendly each of the top 50 biggest banks are in 2023, in terms of ability to trade or facilitate on-ramping of cryptocurrencies natively or through licensed crypto exchanges.  

This was done so by examining the top 50 largest global banks by assets under management based on a S&P Global’s report published April 2023. The study distinguished whether a bank was crypto-friendly or not based on whether it:

• offered crypto trading or on-ramping services within the bank’s native platforms, OR
• the ability to connect a bank’s current account to a regulated crypto exchange. 

The world's top 3 largest crypto exchanges by trading volume and Trust Score are Binance, Coinbase and OKX, accurate as of July 21, 2023. Due to their global reach and compliance with crypto regulations in many countries, these were used to determine the ability of the banks in question to connect to a crypto exchange. For Japanese banks, the Binance-acquired Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) exchange was used, as none of the top 3 crypto exchanges were regulated in the country. 

Disclaimer: Several banks in the list do not have fixed policies regarding crypto-based transactions. The data curated therefore relies on secondary sources like DataWallet.

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Curious to learn more about the latest cryptocurrency industry trends and landscape? Check out our 2023 Q2 Crypto Industry Report.