Banks Need Bitcoin for Clients, Rochard Says

Bitcoin advocate Pierre Rochard has predicted that banks increasingly need Bitcoin exposure to serve clients and strengthen their own balance sheets. 

He is convinced that global banks will eventually integrate with the network now that the institutional adoption of the flagship cryptocurrency is accelerating.

This echoes the forecast of Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor about banks becoming active participants in Bitcoin-related products. 

Coinbase’s new partnership 

Earlier this week, Coinbase and Standard Chartered announced an expanded partnership aimed at developing institutional-grade digital asset services globally. 

The collaboration expands beyond their previous work in Singapore (real-time SGD transfers for Coinbase users).

It aims to develop end-to-end digital asset services for institutions that include trading, custody, lending, staking, and so on.

Crypto and banking 

PNC Bank has also teamed with Coinbase to allow direct Bitcoin trading for its private banking clients through the bank’s platform, marking a structural shift in how mainstream banks provide access to crypto.  

Ripple expanded its partnership with AMINA Bank, enabling the bank to integrate Ripple’s payments solution. 

In Europe and the Middle East, similar collaborations are taking shape. Bullish and Deutsche Bank teamed up to deliver seamless fiat integration for institutional crypto trading. 

In the meantime, regulatory approval by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has opened the door for crypto firms like Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity to pursue national trust bank charters.