CoinDesk
Two financial institutions managing more than $1 trillion each approved crypto products this summer, according to Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley, who called the move proof that large institutional players are expanding crypto access even during a bear market. "This year everyone just put on the crypto jersey," Horsley told CoinDesk. "Everyone works for crypto now." Bitwise did not name the firms or detail what the approvals allow.
Why it matters
Horsley framed the approvals as the end of crypto's old adversarial stance toward Wall Street, the "long bitcoin, short the bankers" trade that captured years of mutual suspicion between the asset class and the institutions that once refused to touch it. Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori said banks have moved from resisting digital assets to building, enabling and distributing them through custody, tokenization and regulated trading. Dori attributed the shift to client demand and clearer rules, calling it structural rather than cyclical.
The buildout has been years in the making. Swissquote added bitcoin trading in 2017, DBS followed in 2020 and BBVA in 2021. BNY Mellon launched institutional crypto custody in 2022 alongside Nubank and LGT, with St.Galler Kantonalbank and Santander joining in 2023 and Zürcher Kantonalbank opening retail trading in 2024. Standard Chartered, Charles Schwab, SoFi and Morgan Stanley have all since entered the space.
Market impact
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley described the convergence as nearly complete: large financial firms are partnering with specialist providers rather than building their own infrastructure. "We're quickly headed towards a world where there isn't 'traditional finance' and 'decentralized finance.' There's just 'finance,'" he said. Tokenized real-world assets and crypto wrappers built by large asset managers are pulling both worlds onto the same rails.
Dori added a caveat. Institutionalization has added infrastructure on top of crypto's reflexive, narrative-driven trading rather than replacing it. The market's character has not changed, even as the gatekeepers have.
Frequently asked questions
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Why is the 'long bitcoin, short the bankers' era ending now?
Two financial institutions managing more than $1 trillion each approved crypto products during the bear-market summer, according to Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori said the shift is driven by client demand and clearer rules, calling it structural rather than cyclical.
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Which major banks have entered the crypto space so far?
Swissquote added bitcoin trading in 2017, DBS in 2020, BBVA in 2021, and BNY Mellon launched institutional custody in 2022 alongside Nubank and LGT. St.Galler Kantonalbank and Santander followed in 2023, Zürcher Kantonalbank opened retail in 2024, and Standard Chartered, Charles Schwab, SoFi and Morgan Stanley have…
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Has institutional adoption changed how crypto markets behave?
Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori said institutionalization has added infrastructure on top of crypto's reflexive, narrative-driven trading rather than replacing it. The market's character has not changed, even as the gatekeepers have.
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What did Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley say about crypto adoption?
Horsley told CoinDesk that 'this year everyone just put on the crypto jersey. Everyone works for crypto now,' noting that trillion-dollar firms are expanding crypto access even during a bear market rather than retreating from it.
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What does TradFi-DeFi convergence look like in practice?
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said large financial firms are partnering with specialist providers rather than building their own infrastructure. 'We're quickly headed towards a world where there isn't traditional finance and decentralized finance. There's just finance,' he said.
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