Big banks talk about digital assets a lot, use them a little | PaymentsSource

• Key insights: Banks are keenly aware of digital assets, and some are testing and building products; but most are just talking about the nascent technology. 
• What’s at stake: Stablecoins could potentially revolutionize the infrastructure of banking, creating pressure on banks to have a plan. 
• Forward look: As banks develop stablecoin strategies, they are also adding services related to digital assets and the underlying technology. 

Citi CEO Jane Fraser is one of the biggest bulls among bankers when it comes to the promise of digital currencies and assets.

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“You’ve heard me talk a lot about Citi Token Services and a slew of other innovations,” Fraser said during Citi’s second-quarter earnings call. “What they do is they let us modernize our own business where needed. They grow new revenue streams for us and also allow us to acquire new clients.”

But for all the talk from Fraser and other banking executives – and there is a lot of talk – most banks are doing very little with digital assets and the technology behind them, according to new research from American Banker.

The research details how the banks are adopting stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other services tied to distributed ledgers, or the technology that supports cryptocurrency. While some of the banks seem keenly aware of the potential, even eager in some cases, they also seem to be moving very cautiously.

The research comes as banks are expected to become more active in digital assets following the passage of legislation that created a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Beyond Citi , other active banks include Banco Santander, JPMorganChase , U.S. Bank, BNY, HSBC and BMO.

BNY, for example, is forecasting that digital cash equivalents, including stablecoins, tokenized deposits and digital money market funds, could reach $3.6 trillion by 2030. BNY’s recent moves include launching a stablecoin reserve fund and enabling on-chain representation of clients’ deposit balances on the bank’s digital-assets platform.

“The key to the technology is its programmability, you can enable all sorts of things to happen,” Steve Marino, a senior manager at BNY, told American Banker. “People don’t have to worry about it being done, it’s happening in the background. You can use the tech to move assets at any time, regardless of where you are. A traditional system can’t do that.”

While none of these banks have issued their own stablecoins, the perception of an improving political environment has led banks to pay more attention to stablecoins. At the same time, banks are adopting services that stablecoin technology enables, such as faster settlement or removing friction from cross-border transactions.

Banks are under pressure, given their concern about stablecoins draining deposits and the dominance of nonbanks in the existing stablecoin market, giving fintechs a headstart. That has led to banks considering pooling their resources to issue stablecoins, and to sell supporting services.

What we did, and what we found

American Banker examined public documents and statements made by the largest 50 banks by assets under management as of the end of the third quarter of 2025. These statements, which were made during earnings calls, press releases and public presentations, covered distributed ledger-supported services.

Only 12% of the largest 50 banks have stablecoins “on their radar,” meaning they are piloting, planning or discussing stablecoin strategy, according to American Banker’s research. Eighteen percent are members of a stablecoin consortium, while 40% are members of a distributed ledger consortium. Fourteen percent of banks provide exchange services, while 22% are offering custody of public digital assets.

According to American Banker’s research, all of the bank stablecoin action has been limited to discussion or exploration. The only companies issuing stablecoins are either fintechs such as PayPal or crypto companies such as Tether and Circle. The latter two comprise 83% of the $316 billion worth of stablecoins in circulation, according to research site CoinMarketCap.

“I think we look at international transfers and then importantly, unrelated to kind of how it impacts PNC, I worry a lot about the dollarization of smaller countries because there is a real use case for individuals in foreign countries with volatile currencies who want to hold dollars to use stablecoin to do that,” William Demchak chairman & CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, said at Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in September.

PNC’s recent moves in digital assets include a December launch of cryptocurrency trading.

“We’re in the early innings of blockchain innovation, and crypto has a number of potential near-term catalysts on the regulatory front that should continue the positive momentum that we’ve seen to start the year,” Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC’s Asset Management Group, told American Banker.

Despite the regulatory and market progress for stablecoins in 2025, more is needed, according to Agati.

“Crypto investors enter 2026 still waiting for [legislation detailing regulatory authority]. Will most crypto tokens be deemed securities, commodities or something else entirely? Layers of ambiguity remain, from legal jurisdiction and money transmission to definitions and enforcement.”

But despite their growth, U.S. dollar-back stablecoins may also struggle to meet the buzz, creating a potential need for alternatives.

Writing for American Banker, Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, said “No doubt there will be some uptake, especially among early tech adopters. But leaders struggling to keep their economies moving forward will not be so enthusiastic. They need dollars to pay for imports but will want to minimize the risk of capital flight leading to a weaker domestic currency and higher inflation. Put simply, they won’t want their economies to be flooded with dollar stablecoins.”

Beyond stablecoins, banks are more active in tokenized deposits. This is a claim on a deposit at a licensed depository institution, such as a bank, that is recorded on a distributed ledger. Tokenized deposits have been pitched to banks as a less risky alternative to stablecoins. Five of the largest 50 banks enable transactions via tokenized deposits, according to American Banker, while 12 banks support tokenized real-world assets, or traditional assets represented as tokens on distributed ledgers.

In an earlier interview, Kara Kennedy, global co-head of JPMorgan’s blockchain unit, Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, told American Banker that it plans to support more currencies beyond U.S. dollars in its tokenized deposits to enhance its appeal beyond stablecoins.

“Blockchain can touch almost every part of the financial-services industry,” Kennedy said. “It opens the potential for speed, transparency and much greater programmability.”

What banks are doing

While Citi is exploring issuing its own stablecoin, the bank is also already active in several areas tied to digital assets, including custodial services for digital assets, enabling tokenized deposits and facilitating payments via disputed ledgers.

“It’s really important for us to ensure that our clients can leverage cutting-edge technologies and new developments and move their treasury management into the real-time world,” Ambrish Bansal, Citi’s global head of liquidity management products, said in an earlier interview.

Another active institution, U.S. Bank, is considering its own stablecoin and is custodying reserves for multiple stablecoin providers; it also launched a bitcoin custody service and a crypto ETF.

JPMorgan, which is also among the most active large banks, recently made its JPM Coin deposit token, or JPMD, available for the bank’s institutional clients on Base, a Coinbase-affiliated public blockchain. By adding another option beyond its private blockchain, JPMorgan hopes to reach a wider audience by appealing to bank partners that want an alternative to stablecoins. Kinexys currently processes on average more than $5 billion daily in transaction volume, while J.P. Morgan Payments processes $10 trillion payments daily, according to the bank.

“Our mandate is to accelerate the products we offer around tokenized assets through partnership with our internal teams and clients, specifically focused on the interaction between digital assets and cash settlement,” Kennedy told American Banker.

“The focus moving forward is on joining the dots and evolving solutions that solve particular client pain points, adding value through new on-chain functionality,” Kennedy said.