PNC Becomes First Major U.S. Bank To Offer Clients Bitcoin Trading
Key Takeaways
- PNC becomes the first major U.S. bank to offer a direct spot Bitcoin trading service to clients. The seventh-largest bank by AUM has partnered with Coinbase to allow high and ultra-net-worth clients to buy, hold, and sell BTC via its digital banking platform.
- The bank will leverage Coinbase’s CaaS infrastructure for the service, which is designed to provide institutions with access to digital assets within existing banking channels.
- Coinbase and PNC Bank entered into a strategic partnership earlier this year. They plan to develop products and services that would offer crypto exposure to the bank’s 9 million customers.
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued new guidance that allows U.S. national banks to act as intermediaries on crypto transactions. Banks will act as brokers, buying crypto assets from one party while simultaneously entering into a transaction to sell those assets to another counterparty.
PNC Bank has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to offer direct Bitcoin (BTC) trading to customers through its private banking platform. The move makes the bank with $500 billion in assets under management the first major U.S. financial institution to support crypto services.
It also signals a pivotal step toward the institutional integration of crypto into mainstream finance as wealth clients seek regulated and seamless exposure to the digital asset class.
PNC Bank Partners With Coinbase to Offer Direct Bitcoin Trading Services to Private Clients
On December 9, PNC announced that it will utilize Coinbase’s crypto-as-a-service (CaaS) infrastructure to launch direct spot BTC trading for eligible private banking clients. This would allow the bank’s high and ultra-high-net-worth customers to buy, sell, and hold the alpha cryptocurrency directly through its digital banking platform.
Coinbase’s CaaS product is designed to let institutions offer digital asset access within existing banking channels. PNC says this infrastructure enables it to advance its crypto business division. The bank’s CEO, William S. Demchak, said it was a responsibility to offer “secure” and “well-designed” options as client interest in digital assets continues to grow globally.
Demchak added that the Coinbase partnership allows the bank to provide clients with access to bitcoin trading in a controlled and familiar environment. PNC also has plans to expand access to additional private client segments and introduce enhanced features and services in future phases of the current offering.
In a subsequent X post, Coinbase Institutional described the move as a major milestone for institutional crypto adoption. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said that it is exciting to see more banks “embrace” crypto. The crypto giant noted that embedding bitcoin access within traditional banking workflows may encourage broader adoption while ensuring security and usability.
Commenting on the partnership, Coinbase Institutional co-CEO Brett Tejpaul said the move demonstrates how traditional financial institutions and crypto-native companies can work together to expand access to digital assets in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner.
“PNC has taken a thoughtful, disciplined approach, and we’re pleased to support their efforts with our secure and institutional-grade infrastructure trusted by institutions around the world,” he added.
PNC began its strategic partnership with Coinbase in July, aimed at offering digital asset solutions for its banking clients and institutional investors. At the time, Demchek said they plan to work together to develop an initial offering that would allow the bank’s 9 million clients to trade crypto assets.
The seventh-largest U.S. bank now joins a growing list of major traditional financial institutions that are planning to offer direct crypto services to their clients. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by AUM, announced earlier this year that it is exploring options to accept bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) as collateral for loans.
OCC Releases New Guidance Allowing U.S. National Banks to Serve as Intermediaries on Crypto Transactions
A new guidance issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has announced that U.S. national banks will be allowed to act as intermediaries on crypto transactions.
The banking regulator said that banks can engage in “riskless principal” transactions that involve crypto assets without any scrutiny. In such transactions, banks effectively serve as brokers, buying assets from one counterparty and selling them to another counterparty. The OCC noted that the banks would not hold on to any crypto assets in inventory during the process, except in rare circumstances.
The OCC has already withdrawn several restrictions on crypto activities by banks that were established under the previous administration. In March, the regulator approved a range of crypto-related services.
National banks can hold specific crypto assets – BTC, ETH, Solana (SOL), and XRP – on their balance sheets to pay blockchain fees for purposes like transaction settlement and platform testing. Participation in independent node verification and maintaining the distributed ledger technology is also permitted, allowing banks to validate on-chain transactions. They are also authorized to engage in crypto asset custody services for clients, including secure storage and management of private keys.
This development is the latest step taken by the Trump administration to narrow the gap between the traditional financial sector and the crypto economy. Since President Trump took office in January 2025, the federal government has adopted a friendlier approach towards the crypto industry.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $92,862 – up 2.99% in 24 hours.
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