Big banks are increasingly getting more involved in Bitcoin—
Morgan Stanley (MS)
→ On January 27, 2026, Morgan Stanley appointed longtime executive Amy Oldenburg (with over 20 years at the firm, previously leading emerging-markets equity and digital-asset initiatives) as head of its newly created digital-asset strategy role to coordinate firm-wide crypto capabilities, engage with industry consortiums, and align product development across wealth management, brokerage (including upcoming ETrade crypto trading), and investment management.
→ On January 6-7, 2026, Morgan Stanley filed S-1 registration statements with the SEC for spot Bitcoin Trust (Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust), spot Solana Trust (with staking features), and later Ether-related products, marking the first major U.S. bank to pursue branded spot crypto ETFs sponsored by its investment management arm to track native asset prices via outsourced regulated custody.
→ Building on October 2025 expansions (widening crypto access to all clients/accounts), the bank plans direct crypto trading on ETrade in H1 2026 (starting with Bitcoin, Ether, Solana via Zerohash) and has set 2-4% allocation guardrails for Bitcoin (likened to "digital gold") in client portfolios.
BNY Mellon (BK)
→ On January 9, 2026, BNY Mellon launched a tokenized deposit service on its Digital Assets platform for institutional clients (initially six, including ICE and Citadel Securities), creating on-chain representations of traditional bank deposits for faster blockchain-based transfers, payments, and potential collateral use while keeping funds in regulated accounts—extending its role as a major crypto custodian (e.g., for spot Bitcoin/Ethereum ETFs via SEC-exempt balance-sheet treatment).
Goldman Sachs (GS)
→ In mid-January 2026 (Q4 earnings call around January 15-16), CEO David Solomon confirmed the firm is devoting significant internal resources and senior leadership to exploring tokenization (e.g., prior tokenized money-market funds with BNY Mellon via GS DAP), stablecoins, and regulated prediction markets, viewing them as durable trends that could accelerate core business operations amid expected U.S. regulatory reforms like market structure bills.
→ Analysts in early January 2026 forecasted bipartisan crypto legislation passing in 2026 to spark the next wave of institutional inflows, building on Goldman's ongoing research into blockchain tech without new direct Bitcoin custody/trading announcements.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
→ On December 22-23, 2025, JPMorgan began quietly exploring dedicated spot and derivatives crypto trading services for institutional clients (potentially expanding Coinbase partnerships for bank-to-wallet connectivity and rewards), with expectations of growing traditional finance Bitcoin allocations into 2026.
→ On November 25-26, 2025, JPMorgan filed for structured notes linked to BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF, providing a guaranteed minimum 16% return if IBIT meets preset price thresholds by December 21, 2026 (with early redemption), or uncapped 1.5x leveraged upside through 2028 if delayed—designed to align with Bitcoin's post-halving cycle patterns for potential amplified gains.
→ In October 2025 (with ongoing rollout), JPMorgan expanded institutional lending to accept spot Bitcoin and Ether directly as collateral for loans (via third-party custodians), evolving from prior ETF-based collateral to treat native holdings more like traditional assets in secured financing.
Bank of America
→ Starting January 5, 2026 (policy updated in December 2025), Bank of America authorized wealth advisers across Merrill, Private Bank, and Merrill Edge to proactively recommend 1-4% portfolio allocations to select spot Bitcoin ETFs (specifically IBIT, FBTC, BITB, and Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust/BTC), shifting from client-initiated access only to adviser-led guidance with training, research, and suitability guardrails—while limiting to Bitcoin products for now.
Citigroup (Citi)
→ From October 2025 preparations (ongoing into 2026), Citigroup is gearing up to launch institutional crypto custody services for native digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2026, following multi-year development to offer secure, regulated holding amid broader digital asset infrastructure builds.
Wells Fargo
→ Throughout 2025 (pilots continuing), Wells Fargo initiated Bitcoin-collateralized credit programs for private/wealth clients, partnering with compliant custodians to provide loans against Bitcoin holdings with managed risk controls, treating it as an emerging asset class for secured lending.
U.S. Bank
→ In September 2025 (relaunched and expanded), U.S. Bank revived its institutional crypto custody business in partnership with NYDIG as sub-custodian, supporting direct Bitcoin holdings alongside Bitcoin ETFs for clients.