banks

According to CoinDesk, as Wall Street and global financial institutions accelerate their entry into the digital asset space, the boundaries between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are gradually blurring. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated, "The era of 'going long on Bitcoin and shorting bankers' is over," as financial institutions are turning to the other side of the crypto industry, promoting the adoption of digital assets.Hunter Horsley mentioned that this summer, two financial institutions managing over $1 trillion in assets approved the launch of crypto products in a bear market environment, indicating that large institutions are expanding channels for clients to access digital assets. "This year, everyone is wearing the crypto industry's jersey. Now, everyone is working for the crypto industry," Horsley said. He pointed out that these financial institutions, which manage over a trillion dollars in client assets, previously would not have opened related services during the downturn of the crypto market in 2022, but now they are actively embracing this field.Sygnum Chief Investment Officer Fabian Dori also believes that the relationship between banks and the crypto industry has undergone a structural change. "The past trades of 'going long on Bitcoin and shorting bankers' are over; banks have shifted from resisting digital assets to building, supporting, and distributing digital assets through custody, tokenization, and compliant trading." This change is primarily driven by growing customer demand and gradually clarified regulatory rules, rather than short-term market cycle changes.Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley stated that over the past two years, its client structure increasingly reflects the trend of integration between traditional finance and crypto finance. Large financial institutions typically choose to collaborate with specialized crypto infrastructure companies rather than building their own technology systems.In recent years, more and more financial institutions have entered the crypto space, including Swissquote, DBS, BBVA, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse-related institutions, as well as Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab.

According to Bitcoin.com, Gurinder Singh Josan MP and Lord Vaizey, co-chairs of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Crypto and Digital Assets (APPG), have written to the CEOs of major UK banks requesting clarification on whether they provide account services to crypto businesses, what restrictions are placed on digital asset transactions, and whether these policies will be adjusted with the implementation of the new regulatory framework in the UK.The MPs pointed out that access to banking may be the single biggest obstacle to the development of crypto and digital asset businesses in the UK. If licensed crypto businesses are still unable to obtain basic banking services, the competitive goals of the new regulatory system will be difficult to achieve.Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, has previously stated that banking service restrictions should not be imposed on FCA-authorized crypto businesses solely due to the nature of the industry. The deadline for submitting written evidence for this inquiry is August 31, and the APPG will use this to make policy recommendations to the government.

According to bits.media citing RBC, several Russian banks focused on providing services to import and export businesses have begun to request cryptocurrency transaction explanations from their clients, requiring corporate clients to disclose the economic purpose of purchasing USDT and confirm that the counterparties providing the crypto assets are listed in the central bank's digital asset exchange operator registry.However, this registry has not yet been established, and the relevant regulatory laws only took effect on September 1. The central bank is still formulating the details, making the banks' requests practically impossible to fulfill. Experts believe such requests do not comply with current laws, and lawyer Elizaveta Lobuteva stated that they should be regarded as routine compliance checks and preparations for future regulatory changes, rather than new mandatory obligations.

The UK Parliament's Crypto and Digital Assets APPG co-chair Gurinder Singh Josan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot have written to the CEOs of all major UK banks, requesting clarification on how they treat cryptocurrency and digital asset businesses. The letter raises six questions regarding the banks' current policies, whether they provide services to crypto businesses, related transaction restrictions and their determining factors, and whether they have adjusted their practices since the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulatory regime came into effect.The group stated that many crypto businesses find it difficult to open bank accounts in the UK, and some banks restrict related payments. This letter stems from the parliamentary inquiry into access to banking services launched on July 21, with written submissions due by August 31. A January survey by the UK Crypto Asset Business Council indicated that the proportion of transactions blocked or delayed by banks when transferring to crypto exchanges is estimated to be as high as 40%. HSBC, NatWest, Monzo, and Nationwide limit the amount transferred to crypto exchanges each month to between £5,000 and £10,000, while Starling and Chase UK prohibit such transfers altogether. Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stated that the government does not want FCA-licensed businesses to be restricted by banks solely because of their industry; the FCA completed the relevant rules in June, and the regime will be enforced from October 2027.

As of the week ending July 31, foreign central banks held $25.534 billion less in U.S. Treasury securities, compared to a previous value of $33.902 billion.

According to Jinshi reports, the latest sanctions by the UK government target Russian ships and companies, including several banks and industrial groups.

According to Daum, the South Korean stock market has recently experienced increased volatility, with investors' risk appetite significantly cooling, and funds are flowing back from the stock market to safer assets such as banks. Due to adjustments in the semiconductor sector and stricter regulations on leveraged investments, the funds waiting to be invested in the South Korean stock market are rapidly withdrawing, leading to a phenomenon of "reverse capital migration."Data shows that by the end of July, the balance of time deposits at the five major banks in South Korea (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup) reached 973.49 trillion won, an increase of 24.09 trillion won compared to the end of the previous month, marking the largest monthly increase this year.There has also been a noticeable contraction in funds around the stock market. Data from the Korea Financial Investment Association shows that the deposits in investors' securities accounts (funds waiting to be invested in stock trading) reached a historical high of 139.69 trillion won on June 4, but had fallen to 107.20 trillion won by July 28, a decrease of over 32 trillion won in less than two months. The balance of credit trading financing, which represents the scale of market financing transactions, also dropped to 33.19 trillion won during the same period, down approximately 4.5 trillion won from the peak of 37.72 trillion won recorded on July 2, a decrease of about 12%.

According to Jinshi, multiple banks are in talks to provide a $15 billion loan to a data center developer collaborating with Anthropic, with Google providing financial guarantees and chip support.

According to Jinshi, the Bank of England is investigating the rapid growth of investment banks operating in London with exposure to Asian stocks, as officials hope to avoid highly concentrated bets on a few companies related to artificial intelligence.Hedge funds and other institutional investors are rushing to invest in companies providing key infrastructure for the artificial intelligence semiconductor industry in Asia, such as SK Hynix and TSMC. The Bank of England is concerned that these stocks are gradually becoming an increasingly important part of the positions held by major brokers, with holdings highly concentrated in a few companies.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are collaborating to build a shared tokenized deposit network, operated by The Clearing House, a payment company jointly owned by large banks. The plan is to convert commercial deposits into tokens that can be transferred around the clock between member banks, with a target launch in the first half of 2027.The first users of the network will be multinational corporations, with a product range that includes programmable treasury, real-time liquidity management, and cross-border payments. The Clearing House CEO David Watson stated that this project is a significant initiative for banks. JPMorgan's Kinexys platform currently processes an average daily volume of over $7 billion, having handled a total of over $40 trillion since its launch; Citi Token Services has been operating in the U.S., U.K., Singapore, and Hong Kong, transferring billions of dollars through Citigroup's own network.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov posted on X that the CLARITY Act will grant banks the legal authority to use digital assets and distributed ledgers without prior notice or approval, covering custody, staking, and lending, which represents a significant expansion of accessible market space for the crypto industry.Previously, he also stated that the bill is not perfect, and many aspects depend on the subsequent formulation of actual authorization rules, but it is the first regulatory framework to touch on DeFi, creating certainty for institutions, fintech companies, and banks to use on-chain business. He noted that once the CLARITY Act is passed, it will bring favorable conditions and investment for on-chain business similar to what the GENIUS Act has done for stablecoins.

According to the open-source dataset from NeobankBeat as of July 2026, there are 368 neobanks globally that are still actively operating, serving approximately 1.46 billion users. Among them, Asian users account for 817 million (with WeBank alone serving over 400 million people), and Brazil's Nubank has 131 million customers, surpassing the total of all U.S. neobanks. Out of the 368, only 127 hold a full banking license, with two-thirds relying on partner banks, electronic money licenses, or issuing institutions to operate, leaving customers largely unaware of the actual custodian of their funds.Among the neobanks established in the 2020s that are still alive today, 30% are Web3 native self-custody applications (compared to only 4% in the 2010s). This dataset audits the AI application status of the 368 one by one, revealing that only 67 (18%) have evidence of production-level AI deployment, with leaders mostly being lending institutions from emerging markets like Nigeria, the Philippines, and Mexico. The report warns that 106 infrastructure providers support 368 consumer brands, with a few partner banks and BaaS platforms each supporting dozens of brands, creating concentration risk that could lead to the next Synapse-like event.

According to South Korean media Daily NK, North Korean authorities arrested an elite hacker group on July 12, which is suspected of infiltrating the internal networks of the North Korean central bank and foreign trade bank, stealing national trade funds and laundering money through cryptocurrency. Sources say the group's leader is a veteran from the cyber warfare unit under the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau, who recruited talented IT graduates from Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, using encrypted communications and wireless devices to commit crimes.They split the stolen funds into small amounts and transferred them to overseas cryptocurrency wallets, exchanged them for cash through intermediaries, and then converted them into dollars and other currencies in border areas. Pyongyang officials launched an investigation after discovering anomalies in foreign currency payment approvals and records of overseas IP access, ultimately raiding a safe house and arresting suspects who were laundering money, seizing equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. This case has caused a stir among the elite and military circles in Pyongyang, with senior officials in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and the science and education sector worried about being implicated. North Korea has long been accused of stealing billions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets through hacker organizations like the Lazarus Group, but this incident rarely shows that its own financial system has also become a target of internal attacks.

According to Jinshi reports, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell stated that sanctions have been imposed on over 100 banks and cryptocurrency operators, more than 40 shadow fleet vessels, and several refineries in Russia and Belarus.

Strategy President and CEO Phong Le posted that over the past 4 years, driven by factors such as Bitcoin treasury companies, ETFs, institutional funds, and support from the United States, Bitcoin's dominance has continued to rise.CoinGecko charts show that BTC's dominance has steadily increased from about 39% at the beginning of 2023 to nearly 60% by mid-2025, and as of July 2026, it remains around 55%.Phong Le further pointed out that with the adoption of stablecoins, asset tokenization, large banks, and increased global support, the digital asset economy surrounding Bitcoin will continue to expand, and Bitcoin's dominance is expected to continue growing.

According to Cointelegraph, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated that the large-scale adoption of stablecoins could weaken the retail deposit base of commercial banks and alter the competitive landscape of the traditional banking system. Cipollone pointed out during a speech at the Italian Banking Association in Rome on Friday that digital payments are reshaping the banking industry while increasing Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructures.Banks are currently facing declining payment fee revenues and loss of transaction data due to the development of mobile payment service providers. As payment tools like stablecoins and other digital assets become more widespread, commercial banks may face increased pressure from deposit outflows. Cipollone emphasized that the digital euro will help maintain the status of public money and ensure that banks continue to participate in the payment ecosystem while meeting the evolving financial needs of customers."The digital euro can both maintain the role of public funds and ensure that banks retain an important role in the payment system," Cipollone stated. This Tuesday, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month pilot project for the digital euro, including banks, fintech companies, and payment firms.The pilot program is set to launch in the second half of 2027, aiming to test the feasibility of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) operating in the eurozone. The European Central Bank has previously stated that if relevant legislation and testing progress smoothly, the digital euro could be officially issued as early as 2029.

India imposes a uniform 30% tax on the income from virtual digital assets and an additional 1% withholding tax on the transfer amount. Approximately 54 cryptocurrency service providers in the country have registered with the financial intelligence department, serving 39 million verified users, who collectively hold about $2.1 billion in assets.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly expressed to Parliament its preference for a prohibitive policy towards private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, urging banks to avoid related exposures to protect financial stability. The long-promised cryptocurrency bill has yet to be completed.Indian government agencies are also using permissioned blockchain in non-trading scenarios. AIIMS Delhi uses blockchain to manage teacher recruitment records, the Cotton Corporation of India tracks cotton bales through a blockchain identification system, and the aviation regulator DGCA is building a digital service platform associated with blockchain.