Why Every Major Institution In The US Is Quietly Starting To Own Crypto
They didn’t shout it from rooftops. Step by slow step, something shifted behind the corporate doors — treasury ledgers once suffused with cash, bonds, and blue-chip equities now hold whispers of bitcoin and ether. The turn is subtle, but in its quiet momentum, it may signal a profound reordering.
That’s the picture painted most sharply by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who recently asserted: “every institution is now starting to hold crypto.” It’s an expansive claim, but where others see hype, a closer look reveals threads of truth: regulatory change, institutional trepidation, and a new confidence in digital assets are converging to open doors once thought sealed.
The Moment That Turned A Trickle Into A Stream
In the early days, crypto was a fringe play — speculative, exotic, and relegated to the realm of tech enthusiasts and high-risk traders. Institutions watched from a distance, wary of volatility, unclear regulation, and the specter of cybersecurity risk. That began to shift in 2023 and 2024, as headlines of bankruptcies and exchange failures faded, and markets steadied.
Reuters recently documented how public companies worldwide have doubled their bitcoin holdings in just over a year: corporate treasuries now hold more than 859,000 BTC — roughly 4 % of total bitcoin supply. Simultaneously, analysts warn we’re still in the “early innings” of institutional adoption. Less than 5 % of spot-bitcoin ETF assets are held by pension and endowment funds.
And yet, in the last quarter alone, global crypto ETFs saw a record inflow of $5.95 billion, largely driven by institutional interest. The data points converge to suggest not a distant future, but a slow crush of legitimacy taking shape.
How Armstrong’s Bold Phrase Reflects Reality — And Aspiration
Armstrong’s sweeping statement might strike skeptics as rhetorical ambition. But dissected, it reflects a strategy rooted in tides already pulling. When he says “every institution,” he is not claiming a literal majority overnight; he is asserting a trend, one that his company is well positioned to ride.
Coinbase, long focused on retail users, has significantly doubled down on its institutional business — from acquiring One River Digital Asset Management (ORDAM) to offering custody and trading services tailored to banks, hedge funds, and asset managers.
More recently, Coinbase sought SEC approval to offer tokenized equities — traditional stocks expressed on blockchains — a move that would deepen its integration into conventional financial infrastructure. Armstrong has also publicly expressed a desire for Coinbase to evolve into a “super app,” serving as a central hub for finance, including crypto assets.
In these actions, Armstrong is signaling that institutional adoption is not just a passive shift but a battleground: win the infrastructure, win the clients.
Across The Market, The Walls Are Shifting
Coinbase’s internal push is mirrored by external developments. Standard Chartered recently launched spot trading of bitcoin and ether for institutional clients, becoming the first globally systemically important bank to do so. In Asia, traditional financial institutions are increasingly partnering with crypto firms to offer custody and settlement services.
The result is a softer but real permeation: crypto moves not just sideways alongside finance, but into its infrastructure.
Still, experts temper the pace. Reuters described institutional interest as “warm … but demand still nascent,” urging caution that “there is room for demand… to grow.” In markets, bitcoin’s surge in mid-2025 to new records was driven largely by institutional flows and optimism about forthcoming U.S. regulation.
In essence: institutions are dipping toes, not diving. But over time, those toes may become firm footholds.
The Human Story Behind Institutional Wallets
One corporate treasurer once told me (off the record) that holding even 0.5 % of cash reserves in bitcoin was initially presented to their risk committee as a “hedge, not a bet.” Over months, that fraction crept to 1 %, then 2 %. Still cautious, but now viewed as a tool in a broader toolkit, not an exotic toy.
In boardrooms, the same conversations echo: What is the compliance framework? Which custodian? What counterparty risk? These are legitimate questions. The shift toward crypto isn’t propelled by blind faith; those advancing it often bring decades of financial experience and a demand for rigor.
For many institutions, the decision is also moral or philosophical: a belief in the decentralization of finance, an argument that access to global capital should not rest solely on legacy systems. In those narratives, digital assets become more than profit potential — they symbolize participation in a new model of economic inclusion.
Risks, Caveats, And The Path Ahead
Even as excitement rises, institutional crypto adoption faces obstacles.
- Regulation remains unresolved: Many jurisdictions still lack legal clarity on digital assets. Institutions often require greater certainty than retail investors can stomach.
- Volatility and liquidity stress: Dips in crypto markets can trigger cascade effects. Risk models haven’t yet matured.
- Fiduciary duty and conservative culture: Pension funds, endowments, and insurers operate under strict oversight; new assets require heavy justification.
- Security, custody, and operational risk: Holding crypto safely at scale remains non-trivial, especially for large sums.
Still, these challenges are already provoking solutions. Firms are building institutional-grade custody services. Regulators in the U.K., U.S., and Asia are drafting frameworks. And crypto-financial firms and banks are bridging operations to provide infrastructure.
Towards A Hopeful Horizon
If Armstrong is right, then the emergence we are witnessing is not a flash in the pan, but the slow birthing of a new financial paradigm: one where capital can flow with fewer intermediaries, where trust is embedded in code, and where the excluded may find pathways into global finance.
We do not yet live in that world. But we may be entering it. In boardrooms across the United States, in London trading floors, in Singapore wealth firms, a quiet question is echoing: Why don’t we hold some? As that question transforms into action, each fraction of a percent held is a vote of confidence — in possibility, not certainty.
And so, the story is not that “every institution now holds crypto.” Rather, the story is that every institution is slowly daring to consider it — and in that opening, a future is being sketched quietly, one small deposit at a time.
Sources:
Bitcoin
Reuters
Investopedia
