American Banker's 2025 On-Chain Finance Report
American Banker's On-Chain Finance survey was fielded online during August and September, 2025, among 142 employees of banks, credit unions or payments companies. All respondents are knowledgeable about their institution's plans for digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
Top findings from the report- General information about crypto is the top ask from interested clients.
- Public cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are likely permanent, but not NFTs.
- Desired changes to the GENIUS Act involve interest and reserve standards.
Results from the report are highlighted below using interactive charts. Mouse over each section for more detail, click on the chart labels to show or hide sections and use the arrows to cycle between chart views.
This item is the end of a series diving into new data from American Banker. Click the links below to read the other parts of the overall research.
- Part one:
Large banks lead the cryptocurrency pack, credit unions close behind - Part two:
Five challenges banks face when they consider crypto services - Part three:
Why some banks are saying yes to stablecoins, and others are saying no
Major asks from crypto-focused clients
As banks and credit unions
Forty-seven percent of respondents said that their institution's clients were asking for general information about these assets, followed by 35% who said clients were asking for the ability to make payments using cryptocurrencies. Twenty-seven percent said that customers were asking for institutionally provided custody of digital assets.
About a quarter of respondents (25%) said customers are looking for guidance on managing crypto funds. Nearly one-fifth (19%) said customers are asking their bank if it could host an exchange platform. Twenty-six percent of respondents said their clients aren't asking for anything related to digital assets.
Prior to the
Gary Fan, chief operating officer at Royal Business Bank, told American Banker that his organization is monitoring the digital asset space, but is unlikely to make any significant moves this year.
"We have to see how the regulatory agencies play out," Fan said. "We do have the regulatory agencies above us, and more or less those people are uncomfortable. It's very, very difficult for us to enter new areas like that. For us specifically, we're looking at it, but it's probably not one of the top one or two priorities that we're going to work on in the next 12 months."
Broken down by institution type, banks with more than $10 billion of assets recorded the highest share of respondents that said clients are asking for more information about digital assets, coming in at 65%. Fifty percent of credit union respondents said their members were asking for general information about digital assets.
In contrast, 42% of community banking respondents said their clients weren't asking for anything related to digital assets.
Key takeaway: Clients looking to engage with digital assets are mostly asking for more information about the class from their financial institution of choice.
Decoding the future of digital assets
The popularity of digital assets has given rise to a host of skeptics wondering which are here to stay and which are on their way out.
Sixty-four percent of respondents said public cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are here to stay as an asset class in the financial markets, followed by 56% who said the same for stablecoins such as Tether and USD Coin.
In September, U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bank's expanded offerings now include bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which allow the bank to "provide full-service solutions for managers seeking custody and administration services," Stephen Philipson, vice chair and the head of wealth, corporate, commercial and institutional banking, said in a press release.
Almost half (45%) of people surveyed predicted that tokenized deposits are here to stay; 42% said the same for tokenization of real world assets and 39% said the same for money market fund tokenization.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and memecoins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu drew the largest share of skeptics, with 42% and 57% of respondents respectively saying these asset classes are a passing fad.
On an institutional level, respondents working at credit unions were the most likely to say that public cryptocurrencies would be a permanent fixture, at 78%. Seventy-two percent of regional and national bankers said the same, as did 52% of community bankers.
Key takeaway: Bank and credit union executives say public cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are likely permanent, while NFTs and memecoins are on the chopping block.
Changes to the GENIUS Act
The recent passage of the GENIUS Act has laid the foundation for banks and credit unions to deepen their involvement in digital-asset markets. Executives are hoping that there is
The top issue for survey participants is that financial institutions currently can't pay interest on tokenized deposits and digital assets, while exchanges can.
In a recent panel discussion at American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking conference last month, banking leaders
Amanda Allexon, a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett who specializes in bank regulatory issues, said the Trump administration's embrace of digital assets is welcomed, so long as clear regulatory guidance comes with it.
"Finding the right balance between decreasing regulation and making sure that everything is appropriately accounted for with respect to these new technologies is really what's at stake," Allexon said. "Reasonable people are going to disagree. I think the positives are that this administration is the most open to new charters, new technologies of any that we've seen the last several … which is a change from the last four years."
Key takeaway: Bankers and credit union leaders identified changes around reserve requirements and interest payments as most important.
