On October 19, JPMorgan announced that its bank-issued digital dollar token was now operating on Ethereum, one of the world’s largest public blockchain networks.
Just three days earlier, Deutsche Bank revealed that it was preparing to launch cryptocurrency custody services for institutional clients, with plans to expand the service internationally.
And the day before that, Mastercard announced a new platform bringing conventional currencies and stablecoins together for business payments.
These aren’t small companies looking to attract attention with a trendy new technology (or adding bitcoin to their corporate treasuries). These are some of the world’s most established financial institutions, building services with digital assets and blockchain networks.
Taken together, their announcements suggest an important shift: Traditional finance isn’t content to stay traditional – they’re increasingly building businesses around crypto.
I’ve told you many times that the bigger a role crypto plays in the financial system, the better the future looks for crypto investors. Let’s dig into the details…
JPMorgan takes deposits on Ethereum
JPMorgan’s JPM Coin (JPMD) is a tokenized bank deposit: a digital representation of funds held at the bank for use by eligible institutional clients. It isn’t bitcoin, ether or a conventional stablecoin.
The bank expanded JPMD onto Ethereum’s main network after introducing it on Base, an Ethereum-based network, in 2025.
Why use a blockchain? When payments and tokenized financial assets operate on compatible infrastructure, institutions may be able to transfer funds and settle transactions around the clock, with fewer handoffs between separate systems.
The noteworthy choice is Ethereum’s public network, rather than an exclusively bank-operated private ledger. JPMorgan sees sufficient practical value in that infrastructure to make it part of its institutional payments offering.
That isn’t an endorsement of ether as an investment. It is evidence of a major bank using the network for a real financial service.
Deutsche Bank prepares to safeguard crypto
Deutsche Bank is approaching the market from another direction: Custody.
In September, the bank announced plans to safeguard digital assets for institutional and corporate clients. In an October 16 Reuters interview, an executive said the service was just “weeks” from launch, with Asian expansion planned for 2027.
Crypto custody involves securely managing access to digital assets, including private keys – the cryptographic credentials used to control them. Losing or exposing those keys can put assets at risk, which is one reason institutions may prefer specialized custody services.
Deutsche Bank’s plans suggest that enough institutions own digital assets to create enterprise-level custody demand. See, banks already offer custodial services for traditional financial assets (equities, bonds, mutual funds/ETFs, cash and so on). One of the major services that big commercial operators like Deutsche Bank provide is custody, transaction clearing and settlement across a wide variety of markets. By adding crypto custody, they’re essentially admitting that either the board of directors or their customers believe crypto custody simply belongs on the list of assets a comprehensive bank offers.
That’s kind of a big deal… Think about how far we’ve come from the days when individual banks like Kraken had to file multiple lawsuits against regulators just to get a rejection letter! Today, it’s increasingly the opposite: Clients expect their banks to offer crypto custody.
Now, that doesn’t mean the Deutsche Bank expects crypto prices to rise. A bank gets paid to safeguard assets whether their prices rise or fall. So I wouldn’t call this a bet on, say, bitcoin’s price going up. Rather, I read it as a bet on a bet on increasing demand for crypto custody.
And that’s a positive sign!
Meanwhile, Mastercard connects stablecoins with payments
Mastercard’s October 15 announcement adds a third piece: Moving money.
Together with BVNK (the stablecoin infrastructure company Mastercard acquired earlier this year), it launched Global Money Platform. The service helps businesses integrate conventional currencies and stablecoins into payment and transfer workflows.
Stablecoins are tokens designed to maintain a relatively stable value, usually in terms of a specific currency (usually the U.S. dollar). They have very different uses than free-floating cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
For payment companies, the appeal of stablecoins include faster, cheaper cross-border transfers and around-the-clock settlement. I discussed this when DoorDash started using stablecoins earlier this year.
Mastercard’s new product tells us they see commercial demand for those capabilities. However, the service isn’t fully in operation yet – some features along with international expansion remain in development. Regardless, it’s one more sign from the traditional finance sector that they see the benefits of crypto.
Every day, so-called TradFi is getting less and less trad, more and more crypto-friendly…
So what does this trend mean for crypto investors?
This isn’t speculative enthusiasm – it’s something much bigger
Viewed together, these announcements tell a more substantial story. One bigger than a survey of investor enthusiasm, more durable than investors’ intentions.
- JPMorgan is building on public blockchain infrastructure
- Deutsche Bank is offering custody for crypto assets
- Mastercard is integrating stablecoins into transaction and payment services
These are distinct business models, but they share a premise: Digital assets and blockchain technology are becoming a bigger part of the financial services sector.
That matters! Commercial adoption at scale is the difference between cool new technologies and cool new technologies that change the world. Commercial adoption of crypto as a tool is important. Over the long term, even when cryptocurrency prices are volatile, these new tools and services will keep introducing people to crypto. Every single one is a clear use case in the benefits of crypto – built by Fortune 500 companies with millions of customers!
Okay, I’m getting excited about this. Let me be clear, though, there’s a limit to what these examples tell us.
Some projects may underperform. Or be replaced. Or simply disappear, as JPMorgan and HSBC bank branches in the metaverse did. Banks can profit from custody without owning the assets they safeguard. Stablecoin adoption doesn’t necessarily create demand for bitcoin. And Ethereum usage does not translate mechanically into ether price appreciation (even though transactions on the network require ETH for fees).
More utility is not the same thing as guaranteed investment returns. It’s important to remember that, whether we’re talking about crypto or any other asset, there’s no such thing as a guaranteed return on investment.
Having said all that, let me explain why I’m still excited…
The question for long-term investors
For those of us evaluating cryptocurrency as a long-term investment, institutional activity is one piece of evidence – an encouraging one! But it’s not the entire investment case.
Other considerations remain: Time horizon, volatility, liquidity needs, fees, custody arrangements and how crypto complements with existing investments.
The recent announcements are encouraging evidence of practical use. They are not a substitute for evaluating those trade-offs. We shouldn’t use press releases from global banks as a substitute for our own due diligence.
Eligible investors can hold supported cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether and dozens of other types of crypto, in a Digital IRA. That’s what BitIRA is for. We work with specialized IRA custodians and digital-asset storage experts, so customers can gain exposure to crypto without the headaches. No transaction tracking, no worries about losing private keys and (best of all!) end-to-end insurance.
These are the best protections we could find at any price. However, they do not eliminate market volatility or investment losses.
The larger takeaway from Wall Street’s latest moves isn’t that crypto prices must inevitably rise. It’s that established financial institutions are seeing reasons to build digital assets and blockchain networks into their core services. They see the demand for crypto, and they’re positioning themselves to fill it. More importantly, they see a future in crypto.
I believe that gives long-term investors something more concrete than hype to consider and evaluate. Whether or not cryptocurrencies are suitable for your retirement strategy, well, that’s really up to you. You can learn more about the benefits of diversifying with crypto in the free Essential Guide to Digital IRAs.
And, if your due diligence is complete and a Digital IRA is a smart move for you, you can open your BitIRA account online right now – in less than 10 minutes.
