Banks clear the way as Trump signs stablecoin law

PNC Bank just announced a partnership with Coinbase to bring crypto access directly to 9 million customers, according to a press announcement.

The collaboration will let PNC clients buy, hold, and sell crypto using Coinbase’s infrastructure, without ever leaving their PNC platform. It’s a direct response to rising demand across retail and institutional clients who’ve been moving funds to external crypto providers.

The two firms will also work in both directions. While PNC integrates Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform to power this offering, it’ll also deliver select banking services to Coinbase.

“Partnering with Coinbase accelerates our ability to bring innovative, crypto financial solutions to our clients,” said William S. Demchak, PNC’s chairman and CEO. “We will also provide PNC’s best-in-class banking services to Coinbase.”

Banks clear the way as Trump signs stablecoin law

This isn’t happening randomly. The regulatory environment under President Donald Trump has flipped the script on how banks engage with crypto. During Joe Biden’s term, federal regulators pushed back after 2022’s blowups in the industry.

That’s no longer the case. Trump’s team has been lowering the barriers between banks and crypto firms throughout 2025. And investors have responded.

Crypto’s market cap has surged by $680 billion this year, pushing total value just shy of $4 trillion. Bitcoin, the biggest crypto, crossed an all-time high above $122,000 earlier this month. Every major bank has been watching closely.

Coinbase’s Brett Tejpaul, head of institutional business, said:

“PNC is a market leader in delivering best-in-class products for their clients. We’re thrilled to support their entry into the digital asset market with our leading Crypto as a Service platform, which provides PNC with a powerful set of tools to develop a scalable, high-growth business, built on a foundation of uncompromising security.”

Demchak also made it clear in a recent earnings call that PNC intends to go beyond crypto exposure. When asked about stablecoins and the new legislation, he said:

“Now we are allowed to bank people in that business. Just given our raw capabilities, you would expect that we’ll get some meaningful clients there. Secondly, we will enable our clients in the very near term to be able to use crypto.”

That new legislation was signed into law Friday. For the first time ever, stablecoins now have a federal framework. And that’s opened the gates for banks like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America to start exploring products pegged to the U.S. dollar. Jamie Dimon, Jane Fraser, and Brian Moynihan each confirmed last week that they’re moving forward with stablecoin initiatives.

Banks have already begun meeting to discuss launching a shared stablecoin platform, something that could look a lot like Zelle. PNC’s Demchak is part of those talks.

PNC leans into crypto without changing its image

PNC isn’t new to financial services. The bank has been around since 1865. Last year, it ran a national campaign calling itself “Brilliantly Boring.” But that branding isn’t stopping it from integrating crypto into its core offerings. It’s just doing it in its own way.

Emma Loftus, head of treasury management at PNC, told Yahoo Finance the move is “absolutely on brand for us.” She said the goal isn’t to drive speculative trading but to help clients participate in the crypto space securely and conveniently. “It’s all about how do we support our clients who actually want to be able to participate in these markets?”

Loftus also pointed out that PNC clients have already been moving money into crypto platforms outside the bank. Now, PNC is trying to keep that flow within its own system, offering customers better visibility into their crypto activity through existing account dashboards.

Coinbase, on the other hand, keeps stacking deals with legacy financial players. With its security-first model and out-of-the-box infrastructure, it’s aiming to become the default engine behind traditional banks getting into crypto.

Meanwhile, some crypto companies are still trying to go it alone. Several have applied for national trust bank charters in a bid to onboard more users directly. But that’s stirred friction.

The American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America have asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to delay those approvals. They’re concerned that crypto firms might start offering banking services that fall outside what the charters were designed for.

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