Once skeptical about Bitcoin, America’s biggest banks are now rushing to get a piece of the action. From JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs, these financial giants are moving into Bitcoin custody, trading, and rewards programs. The game has clearly changed.
Here’s what you must know.
Big Banks Move Into Bitcoin
A recent chart by River reveals how top firms are moving beyond the early stages of crypto involvement. Many have launched Bitcoin services or offer limited access to wealthy clients, reflecting digital assets’ growing integration into mainstream finance.
13 of the top 25 banks in the US are building bitcoin products for their customers.
Banks such as JPMorgan, PNC, Charles Schwab, and State Street have already launched or are preparing Bitcoin-related products. Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs provide limited Bitcoin access to select high-net-worth clients.
Even American Express has introduced a Bitcoin rewards card. Others, including Fifth Third and USAA, are exploring or integrating crypto services.
From Observers to Active Players
Since early 2024, major US banks have shifted from watching crypto to actively engaging in it.
Morgan Stanley considered letting thousands of brokers recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients
Charles Schwab plans to add Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to meet growing customer demand for a unified investment platform.
JPMorgan announced it is teaming up with Coinbase to let Chase credit card customers fund their wallets and buy crypto on the exchange starting fall 2025.
Work on custody and tokenization is also picking up. State Street, BNY Mellon, Citi, and JPMorgan are testing stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement systems.
Michael Saylor’s Vision for Bitcoin’s Future
Michael Saylor, Strategy’s CEO and a major Bitcoin advocate, had outlined four key points for Bitcoin’s future in a recent interview – banks will start lending against BTC, the US government will hold Bitcoin reserves, big tech will embrace BTC, and it will be easily accessible on devices like the iPhone.
Michael Saylor on the future of Bitcoin:
– Banks will start lending against your BTC – The US government will hold BTC – Big tech companies will embrace BTC – You will have Bitcoin on your iPhone pic.twitter.com/jYfvPCTm5M
Official Trump Coin (TRUMP) is forming a consolidation pattern below a key resistance level. A potential breakout from this setup hints at a revisit of $25. With US President Donald Trump’s ‘Crypto Dinner’ with $TRUMP Coin holders coming to an end, can this token break out and kickstart an explosive rally? TRUMP Coin Price Breakout Could Push it to $25 The one-day chart shows Trump Coin consolidating below $15.335, a level that has prevented an uptrend since its breakdown on February 24, 2025. Between March and May 2025, $TRUMP Coin has created two rounded bottoms, showing buyer strength. This recovery can be attributed to the spike in demand after Donald Trump announced the Crypto Dinner with the top $TRUMP token holders. A consolidated look of these two rounded bottoms reveals a Cup and Handle pattern. In the Official Trump Coin’s case, a decisive daily candlestick close above $15.335 coupled with… Read More at Coingape.com
In comparison, Ethereum (ETH)generated 46.28 million in fees in February, with 7.49 million as of March 7. While these numbers suggest Solana is ahead, Michael Nadeau, the founder of The DeFi Report, claims this comparison may be misleading.
Although Nadeau acknowledges Solana’s impressive growth, he cautions that it might be less organic than it seems.
“But if you look under the hood, it looks like a house of cards,” he wrote.
According to Nadeau, over the past 30 days, 17.31% of addresses have contributed to 95% of the total fees generated on Ethereum. For Solana, the figure is strikingly small, only 1.26%.
Nadeau added that Wintermute, a prominent market-making firm, is the primary driver behind this fee generation. The rest of the fee is attributed to bots.
He claimed that these wallets drive the network’s activity through practices such as sandwich attacks and pumping meme coins. This often comes at the expense of retail investors.
For context, a sandwich attack is a front-running strategy in which an attacker exploits large trades. The attacker buys the asset before the large trade, anticipating a price increase, and sells afterward, profiting from the price movement while negatively impacting the original trader.
Nadeau cautioned that the reliance on a small subset of users for fee generation creates vulnerabilities. If retail traders become aware of the extent of bot-driven manipulation, they may withdraw from the ecosystem. This, in turn, could significantly impact Solana’s revenue projections.
“Nothing against Solana. Massive comeback story. But my sense tells me another period of “chewing glass” is yet to come,” he concluded.
Solana’s speed and cost efficiency have made it a favorite among developers and traders. However, this concentration of fees has raised concerns among market analysts.
“When 95% of fees come from 1.26% of users, it’s less “decentralized finance” and more “exclusive finance,” Superchargd co-founder wrote on X.
Another user also warned that Solana may not thrive well as the industry matures and free market forces fully take effect.
“Solana doesn’t have a future; it’s a Ponzi scheme designed for grifting,” he said.
“Solana is a complete house of cards built on wash trading bots and centralized control,” a user remarked.
He also emphasized that validators profiting from failed transactions and the rise of Solana meme coins have harmed the space.
The criticism comes just after financial giant Franklin Templeton predicted in a report that Solana’s DeFi ecosystem could rival—and even surpass—Ethereum’s market valuation. The firm highlighted Solana’s scalability, low fees, and surging user activity as key factors driving its potential.
Amid the mounting criticism, Solana faces a pivotal moment. While its technological advancements and cost-efficiency have earned it a loyal following, its centralized fee-generation model and reliance on market manipulation tactics could pose significant risks to its future. How Solana adapts to these concerns will determine whether it can sustain its growth or struggle to maintain relevance.
Bitcoin price surges above $104K as April CPI cools to 2.3%, boosting Fed rate-cut bets and fueling bullish market sentiment.
Bitcoin Rises Above $104K as Inflation Cools
Bitcoin moved sharply higher on Monday after the release of April’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI). According to TradingEconomics data, US Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 320.80 points in April from 319.8 points in March of 2025.
The annual inflation rate in the US eased to 2.3% in April 2025, the lowest since February 2021, from 2.4% in March and below forecasts of 2.4%.
US CPI Data, May 13, 2025 | Source: TradingEconomics/US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Notably, annual inflation, which showed a year-over-year increase of just 2.1% attracted investors attention, as it reflected lowest increase in inflation recorded since 2021. This reinforces market expectations for a Federal Reserve policy rate cut during the next FOMC meeting.
Within two hours of the data release, BTC rose 2.9 % to $104,771 at press time, after plunging as low as $101,868 on Monday.
Bitcoin price action (BTCUSD) | Source: Coingecko
The move was accompanied by a 35% increase in Bitcoin spot volumes on Binance’s BTC/USDT pair.
TradFi market response was also visible as shares of Coinbase Global (COIN) gained 5.3% in pre-market trading to $215, reflecting positive sentiment building up around cryptocurrency-related stocks. S&P 500 futures also advanced 1.1% to 5,300, reflecting a synchronised recovery across global risk asset markets.
$68.6 billion BTC open interest re-inforces bullish dominances
BTC’s price action was supported by a decisive shift in derivatives markets, reflecting increasing bullish conviction from traders.
Open interest in Bitcoin futures rose by 2.38% to $68.57 billion. Options open interest increased by 2.50% to $39.89 billion. On Binance, the top trader long/short ratio reached 1.595. The broader market ratio stood at 0.9724, reflecting a clear directional tilt to the upside.
Liquidations trends recorded over the last 24 hours also confirm this bullish shift in short-term momentum. Since the CPI release, $84.61 million in leveraged positions were cleared.
Short positions accounted for $28.27 million of that total, with 81% of short liquidations occurring in the first hour. The CPI data caught a large portion of the market unhedged.
On the flip side, futures trading volume declined by 13.71% to $104.67 billion. Options volume also decreased by 9.64%.
This indicates that while bullish positions have been established, short-term traders are now cautiously watching for further macro confirmation before increasing leverage exposure further.
Looking Ahead: BTC Eyes $110,000 as Rate Cut Bets Firm Up
The combination of easing inflation, rising open interest, and strong spot demand points to a continued advance for Bitcoin.
Attention will now turn to upcoming comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the release of FOMC minutes. Clarity on the central bank’s stance will be critical to validating the market’s current rate cut expectations.
For now, Bitcoin is benefiting from macro relief, rising trading volumes, and increasing capital inflows all currently align positively for BTC sustain its upward momentum towards new all time highs around $110,000.
Bitcoin Technical Price Analysis: Bulls Eye $110K as RSI Holds Firm and Volume Delta Rebounds
In today’s Bitcoin price forecast, the confluence of expanding Bollinger Bands, positive volume delta, and elevated RSI supports a bullish outlook toward the $110,000 mark.
As seen in the TradingView chart below, Bitcoin is trading at $104,560 after surging nearly 18% over the past 12-hour session, signalling revived bullish momentum following a consolidation phase.
More so, BTC price has cleanly broken above the mid-$100K range, with sustained closes above both the Bollinger Basis Band ($100,182) and the upper Envelope Band ($100,614), suggesting strong directional conviction.
Bitcoin Technical Price Analysis
The Bollinger Band width is expanding, often a precursor to volatile upside movement, as candles hover near the upper band at $108,439, reinforcing bullish continuation potential.
Momentum strength is further confirmed by the RSI holding at 72.52, marginally above the 70 threshold that typically delineates overbought conditions.
However, the RSI’s sustained elevation without divergence hints at trend strength rather than exhaustion, especially as the RSI line maintains a gradual upward slope above its signal.
Notably, the recent positive Volume Delta spike to +1.27K marks the highest buyer dominance since early May, underscoring renewed spot demand.
Downside risks remain capped so long as BTC holds above the psychological $100,000 support, which aligns with both mid-band support and historical resistance now turned support. A clean break below $100,000 with weakening volume could re-open bids toward $92,850.
