Major banks running stablecoin, crypto-trading pilots with Coinbase, Armstrong says

At the DealBook Summit, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink acknowledged Bitcoin’s utility, as Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong said the exchange is running pilots with major US banks.

Major US banks are running early pilots involving stablecoins, crypto custody and digital-asset trading in partnership with Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong said onstage at The New York Times DealBook Summit.

According to Bloomberg, Armstrong didn’t name specific institutions but warned that banks slow to adopt crypto “are going to get left behind.” His remarks were made during a joint appearance with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on a panel at the event. Although Armstrong and Fink haven’t always aligned on crypto, the two struck a notably similar tone on Bitcoin.

Armstrong dismissed the idea that Bitcoin could ever fall to zero, while Fink said he now sees a significant “use case” for the asset, though he did caution that Bitcoin is “still heavily influenced by leveraged players.”

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), launched in January 2024, is now the largest spot Bitcoin ETF with a market cap of over $72 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. 

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