Leading cryptocurrency companies, including #Ripple , #Circle , BitGo, and Kraken, have intensified efforts to enter the banking services market in the U.S. This trend is driven by a favorable regulatory climate forming under President Donald Trump's administration.
Applications for banking licenses and new products
Against the backdrop of a new political wave supporting digital assets, crypto companies are striving to secure a stable place in the traditional financial system.
Thus, companies like Ripple, Circle, and BitGo have already applied for a national trust charter, allowing them to hold client assets and process payments. At the same time, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is preparing to launch its own debit and credit cards by the end of this month. Fintech companies are also joining this race: the brokerage platform Robinhood, which earned over 50% of its revenue from crypto transactions last year, plans to launch banking services in the fall.
'Regulate us': a paradigm shift
Experts point to a fundamental change in the industry's own position.
'This is a complete turnaround: previously, crypto companies said, we don't need banks and laws. Now they are saying: regulate us,' noted lawyer Max Bonici from Davis Wright Tremaine.
Co-founder of Kraken, Arjun Sethi, called this process a 'natural convergence' of two worlds.
The role of new legislation and traditional banks
An important catalyst for this process is the GENIUS Act, a bill regulating stablecoins that was passed by the U.S. Senate in June. According to lawyers, it 'truly opens U.S. financial markets to stablecoins.'
Amid this, traditional banks have also intensified their efforts. In particular, Bank of America, in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, is preparing to launch its own stablecoin following the final adoption of regulations.
Why this matters
The lines between 'crypto' and 'traditional finance' (TradFi) are starting to blur. The new, more favorable cryptocurrency policy of the Trump administration has become the catalyst that initiated this process.
Industry leaders have realized that trust, legitimacy, and legal certainty—qualities that can only be provided by government regulation—are necessary for mass adoption and attracting significant institutional capital.