U.S. Bancorp Restarts Bitcoin Custody After SEC Rollback as ETF Demand Surges

U. S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States, has relaunched its institutional Bitcoin custody service after a three-year pause, citing renewed clarity from Washington and rising demand from ￰3￱ Minneapolis-based lender said the service will initially cover Bitcoin for registered investment funds and spot Bitcoin ETF providers, with plans to expand if conditions ￰4￱ Bitcoin Storage Market Heats Up as ￰5￱ Rejoins Race The bank first rolled out crypto custody in 2021 through a partnership with fintech firm ￰6￱ efforts were quickly put on hold when the Securities and Exchange Commission introduced rules requiring banks offering custody to hold equivalent capital on their balance ￰7￱ requirement proved too restrictive, pushing the bank to suspend the ￰8￱ changed this year when the SEC rescinded the rule shortly after President Donald Trump began his second term, opening the door for large banks to reenter the digital assets space.

“We had the playbook and it’s sort of opening it up and executing it again,” said Stephen Philipson, head of wealth, corporate, commercial, and institutional banking at ￰9￱ added that the bank expects to scale the business more broadly as demand grows, while also exploring possible applications of crypto and stablecoins across wealth management, payments, and consumer ￰10￱ relaunch places ￰11￱ among a growing list of major financial institutions reactivating or expanding digital custody ￰12￱ of New York Mellon, the country’s oldest bank, introduced a custody platform in 2022 to safeguard Bitcoin and Ether for select institutional ￰13￱ Investments also offers custody services, while crypto-native firms such as Coinbase, BitGo, and Anchorage Digital remain major ￰14￱ continues to stand out as the only federally chartered digital asset ￰15￱ regulatory guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in March further encouraged banks to participate in digital asset activities, stating that banks no longer need to seek prior approval to offer ￰16￱ observers expect the change to accelerate adoption among mainstream banks, providing institutional investors with more familiar and regulated options for safeguarding ￰17￱ said it will consider expanding custody services beyond Bitcoin, but only for assets that meet its risk and compliance ￰18￱ now, the decision to restart operations shows a renewed willingness by traditional finance to compete with specialized crypto ￰19￱ timing also coincides with heightened activity in spot Bitcoin ￰20￱ their approval earlier this year, the products have attracted billions of dollars in inflows, driving institutional demand for secure storage ￰21￱ is viewed as a key piece of infrastructure to support that growth, and ￰22￱ is positioning itself to capture part of the ￰23￱ Finance Firms Globally Shift Toward Crypto Integration Crypto is edging further into mainstream finance as ￰24￱ and regulators move toward deeper integration with digital ￰25￱ recent months, several large lenders have begun exploring crypto services, stablecoin issuance, and custody solutions once considered too ￰26￱ Bank, which manages $421 billion in client assets, became one of the largest ￰27￱ to launch crypto services after announcing a partnership with Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service ￰28￱ Bank to add Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service platform for trading of digital assets, and would offer banking services to Coinbase. #PNCBank #Coinbase #CryptoServices ￰0￱ — ￰29￱ (@cryptonews) July 23, 2025 Customers will soon be able to buy, hold, and sell digital assets directly through ￰30￱ Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America are also studying stablecoin offerings , while Deutsche Bank has confirmed plans to launch a crypto custody platform in 2026 in partnership with ￰31￱ institutions, including DZ Bank and Sparkassen, have indicated similar intentions, showing how traditional finance is rapidly adapting to ￰32￱ shift is partly driven by ￰33￱ July, the first federal stablecoin law was signed , providing a framework for banks to explore dollar-pegged ￰34￱ like USDT and USDC already support a $230 billion market, moving funds faster and cheaper than legacy ￰35￱ executive warns stablecoin interest payments could drain bank deposits like the 1980s crisis amid GENIUS Act loophole concerns. #Stablecoin #Banks ￰1￱ — ￰36￱ (@cryptonews) August 25, 2025 Analysts warn that widespread adoption could reduce deposits and payment revenues for banks, but lenders see opportunity in capturing new flows before tech-native competitors ￰37￱ Pushes Sweeping Crypto Reforms in Second Term The regulatory environment has become friendlier as ￰38￱ August, the SEC and CFTC issued a joint statement clarifying that registered exchanges may facilitate spot crypto trades , a step intended to improve investor protections and encourage development in the ￰39￱ everyday users, this means being able to buy and sell crypto directly, similar to stocks, on licensed platforms that follow compliance ￰40￱ growing institutional interest is unfolding against a broader political backdrop shaped by Donald Trump’s second ￰41￱ returning to the office, Trump has positioned himself as a champion of digital assets, in contrast to what he calls the “hostile” stance of his ￰42￱ White House has already pushed through the GENIUS Act , the country’s first stablecoin law, and is lobbying Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, a comprehensive framework for digital ￰43￱ administration has also introduced a strategic Bitcoin reserve and published a 160-page report outlining plans to support open-source infrastructure and safeguard user ￰44￱ Chairman Paul Atkins, a Trump appointee, announced “Project Crypto” in July , a sweeping effort to modernize securities rules and bring crypto asset distributions back ￰45￱ Chairman Paul Atkins launches 'Project Crypto' initiative to make America the 'crypto capital of the world' through comprehensive regulatory modernization. #SEC #Crypto #America ￰2￱ — ￰46￱ (@cryptonews) July 31, 2025 The project includes clearer categories for tokens, new disclosure standards, and safe harbors for coin offerings and airdrops, steps intended to make it easier for companies to include ￰47￱ the same time, tensions with banks ￰48￱ August, a coalition of crypto firms, including Gemini and Robinhood, urged Trump to block new “account access” fees proposed by lenders, arguing such charges would cripple ￰49￱ countered that the industry is asking for free services while profiting from user data.