Global Banks Push Ahead on Crypto Infrastructure Despite Policy Gridlocks

Launching financial blockchain products for their customers is becoming a major case of get ready, set and wait for the traditional financial sector.

From stablecoins to tokenized deposits, bitcoin ETFs and digital asset treasury solutions, global financial institutions have used 2025 to tee up the releases of some of their most forward-thinking 2026 advances. But as the 118th Congressional cycle nears its second half in the U.S., the regulatory landscape has failed to progress in step with the guidance needed for the success of many banks’ announcements.

The GENIUS Act regulating stablecoins was enacted on July 18 but has yet to be implemented, at least until the U.S. Department of the Treasury releases its regulations covering reserve composition, disclosures, affiliate relationships and the precise definition of “yield.”

Meanwhile, competing drafts of crypto markets regulations have yet to see a floor vote and remain in committee.

This legal backdrop is ultimately shrouding in uncertainty whether 2026 will shape up to be the year the world’s largest financial institutions finally flip the “on” switch when it comes to blockchain-based financial services.

But that doesn’t mean lenders are standing still. Both in the U.S. and in other markets and geographies banks are increasingly working to ensure that the next potential major iteration of global payments infrastructure is crafted by incumbents.

Read more: Why Banks Might Want to Have a Blockchain Strategy

Digital Asset Custody Becomes Crypto Banking Battleground

Custody may not have the headline excitement of bank-issued stablecoins or interoperable settlement networks, but it is the prerequisite for everything else. Without regulated, enterprise-grade digital asset custody, institutions cannot hold tokenized securities, participate in on-chain liquidity markets, or manage tokenized deposits at scale.

Deutsche Bank, for example, spent much of the past two years laying the institutional groundwork for digital asset custody, completing infrastructure integrations and regulatory filings across Europe and Asia. In 2026, the bank is expected to fully commercialize its custody service.

Citi is also reportedly planning to introduce a cryptocurrency custody service in 2026, a solution that Citi has also been working on for multiple years.  Citi is exploring the use of an in-house developed technology solution for custody, along with third-party partnerships, as highlighted by PYMNTS coverage.

Custody of crypto assets “is fast becoming one of the defining battlegrounds in the broader institutionalization of digital finance,” PYMNTS wrote Oct. 1 in the wake of a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

See also: Making Sense of Public Versus Private Blockchains for Banks

Stablecoin and Digital Asset Payments Target the Mainstream

Stablecoins have been the hottest 2025 crypto topic, and these tokens, meant to serve not just as a payment tool but as infrastructure by enabling fast cross-border transfers, supporting tokenized asset settlement and offering a regulated on-ramp into decentralized finance and digital commerce, have successfully caught the interest of traditional financial institutions.

Citi Institute’s Future of Finance think tank projected that the stablecoin market could jump to at least $1.6 trillion by 2030, assuming regulatory support and institutional integration continue apace.

On Monday (Dec. 1), news broke that Japan’s Sony Bank was reportedly readying the launch of a dollar-pegged stablecoin in 2026. A day later, on Tuesday (Dec. 2), 10 European banks announced they had formed a company to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin. The new venture, dubbed Qivalis, is a joint effort by BNP Paribas, Banca Sella, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB and UniCredit.

PYMNTS wrote in May about big U.S. banks’ entry into the stablecoin space following the news that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup were exploring the launch of a jointly operated digital dollar.

As for U.S. Bank itself, the lender is testing custom stablecoin issuance on the Stellar blockchain network, calling it “an alternative payment rail.” Meanwhile, Bank of New York Mellon is reportedly exploring tokenized deposits as a way to enable its clients to make payments using blockchain.

JPMorgan Chase said in June that it planned to launch a product called a “deposit token” that will serve as a digital representation of commercial bank money and will be available only to the bank’s institutional clients. The tokens, known as JPMD, are minted by JPMorgan and transmitted to participating institutional clients via smart contract transactions on the Base public blockchain.