Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest bank, made a covert acquisition of $1 million worth of bitcoin at the beginning of January 2025. An internal bank memo revealed the move, which was not made public. CEO Carlo Messina said the purchase was only a “test” when questioned by reporters, implying that Intesa might eventually buy more bitcoin on behalf of some of its affluent customers.
It might be an indication of things to come. When it comes to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, influential figures in the conventional financial sector seem prepared to play ball after years of staying out of the way. Cryptocurrencies known as “stablecoins” are made to hold their value over time. They are usually 1:1 correlated with the value of more established currencies like the US dollar or the euro.
“The financial services industry is on the verge of entering the crypto economy,” said Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan in February 2025.
Additionally, it was reported a month later that one of the biggest asset managers in the world, Fidelity Investments, was testing its own stablecoin in advanced stages.
Increasing demand from customers, including corporations, and a changing macroeconomic environment characterised by tariff threats from the Donald Trump administration and scepticism about the stability of the global dollar system are the main drivers of competition and the need for a quick time to market.
Collectively, these factors are pressuring asset managers and banks to use digital assets to access new revenue streams and hedge geopolitical risk. Boerse Stuttgart Digital, which just became Europe’s first regulated exchange for trading digital assets under the EU’s new Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, made the Intesa purchase. The exchange is part of the illustrious Boerse Stuttgart Group, which is the sixth-largest exchange group in Europe.
“European institutions are adopting crypto assets at an increasing rate,” noted Joaquín Sastre Ibanez, chief revenue officer at Boerse Stuttgart Digital.
He anticipates that other European banks and institutional investors will emulate Intesa.
“We recently partnered with DekaBank in Germany to offer crypto trading to institutional clients,” Ibanez stated further.
A clear regulatory framework was something that many financial institutions had been waiting for before offering cryptocurrency to their clients, but MiCA now offers it.
The crypto trend is becoming more popular outside of Europe as well. Many American states, including Texas, may soon have their own bitcoin reserves after the US established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in early March.
“Pension funds, including those in the United Kingdom and Australia, are also dipping their toes into buying bitcoin,” according to a Financial Times article.
This shows that even traditionally conservative sectors of the financial industry are struggling to ignore the potentially massive returns from cryptocurrencies.
In the United States, stablecoin legislation is expected to pass soon after passing a crucial Senate committee in mid-March with bipartisan support. To protect consumers and uphold the dollar’s reputation internationally, the law establishes clear guidelines for stablecoin issuers, mandating full reserve backing and adherence to anti-money laundering regulations. Since stablecoins use the same blockchain technology as tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, they frequently serve as a link between cryptocurrencies and sovereign currencies.
“The US’s pro-crypto stance is reshaping the global financial landscape by integrating digital assets into the mainstream economic agenda,” said Federico Brokate, head of US Business at 21Shares, a Switzerland-based cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider.
He continued by saying that the establishment of the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the US Digital Asset Stockpile, which consists of tokens other than bitcoin, represents a dramatic change in institutional thinking, “positioning cryptocurrencies as essential financial instruments rather than speculative assets.” In addition to demonstrating sustained faith in digital assets, this action establishes a standard for other countries.
The State of Michigan Department of the Treasury and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board are two prominent US pension funds that have already made sizable investments in spot bitcoin ETFs. More than $300 million has been invested by the latter in BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT.
“We expect this trend to continue among pensions as regulatory clarity continues to progress in the US,” said Brokate, while adding, “Institutional interest extends to other regions as well. Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund has invested more than $450 million in IBIT.”
The future of money
Simon McLoughlin, CEO of the cryptocurrency trading platform UPHOLD, states that stablecoins are essential for the transformation of global finance.
“Stablecoins are the future of money, so much so that we won’t even call them stablecoins in ten years. All they will be is money,” he claimed.
“Stablecoin issuance has grown rapidly in recent years and has become a significant part of the financial system. Stablecoins could enable smoother transactions, faster settlements, and lower costs for cross-border payments—especially in areas that lack access to traditional banking infrastructure,” S&P Global Ratings concluded in a February 2025 report.
According to Bernstein analysts, the market capitalisation of stablecoins could surpass $500 billion by the end of 2025, having risen 56% from the previous year to $230 billion in mid-March. The issuance of stablecoins is being led by fintech companies such as Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), but other issuers might soon follow suit.
“There will be stablecoins run by municipalities, businesses, and other organisations. But most importantly of all, there will be stablecoins issued directly by banks. We will have branded money. CFOs may have to adjust their thinking accordingly. CFOs need to start preparing now for a future where some of the functions of corporate treasury and international accounting are fulfilled on the blockchain. When it comes to international payments, for instance, if one of your rivals is using stablecoins to move money around the world and your business is not, you will be at a distinct disadvantage,” McLoughlin said.
Are institutions making crypto safer?
In contrast to stablecoins, the market prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have always fluctuated. However, those erratic price swings might level out as more conventional financial institutions embrace the cryptocurrency market, according to Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research.
“Institutional buyers are less likely to sell on bad days than are leveraged retail buyers,” he added.
Furthermore, storing cryptocurrency may be simpler and safer with custody solutions from established financial firms like State Street or BNY Mellon than with those currently provided by fintechs with a focus on cryptocurrency.
Referring to the market-roiling collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange based in the Bahamas in November 2022, Kendrick says regulatory clarity in places like the US could also help to “remove FTX issues” and reduce volatility.
Today, more organisations are interested in diversifying their corporate treasuries and selling cryptocurrency to individual customers, according to Sastre Ibanez of Boerse Stuttgart Digital. For example, his group has partnered with DZ Bank in Germany to provide direct access to cryptocurrency trading and custody for its retail clients. Additional pension funds and insurance companies may invest in cryptocurrencies if they become less volatile.
One of the biggest providers of superannuation funds in Australia, AMP Limited, invested A$27 million ($16.04 million) in bitcoin futures in December. CIO Anna Shelley characterised this as a “cautious step” into bitcoin futures for members in a commentary posted on AMP’s website. Although it “offers no yield,” she wrote, Bitcoin might be used as a substitute for gold as a store of value.
However, Shelley pointed out in her commentary that many of Australia’s super funds, which include pension funds, “already invest in many assets that have no yield,” including commodities, foreign currencies, derivatives, and even some listed companies that make no profit and pay no dividends.
Blue-sky speculation and counterparty tisks
The goals of cryptocurrency are even higher, according to some partisans, who claim that central banks may eventually invest in them for diversification.
“Central banks considering investing in bitcoin could be emboldened by the fact that the US government is going to at least hold on to the 270,000 bitcoins it currently owns, and potentially buy more at some stage,” Kendrick wrote in a January note, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
In January, Ales Michl, the head of the Czech National Bank, told The Financial Times that he would propose to his board that the central bank diversify its reserves by investing in bitcoin. There were a lot of disdainful responses to this proposal.
Bloomberg was informed by Elias Haddad, senior market strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, that Michl is confusing the functions of a central banker and a portfolio manager. In fact, not all of the risks may be taken into account by some of this wild speculation.
“Stablecoins, issued by private entities, can fail like banks, risking de-pegging. Then, too, stablecoins are traded on blockchain networks, offering decentralisation and programmability but facing congestion risks and high costs,” said Hanna Halaburda, associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Furthermore, she pointed out that stablecoins are not very useful in the United States and some other nations where “traditional banking services are already efficient and reliable. Foreign countries have the highest demand for US-denominated stablecoins, especially those with expensive financial infrastructure or erratic currencies.”
“In many African countries, for example, stablecoins provide a way to hold digital dollars, preserving purchasing power in economies plagued by inflation. They are also widely used for cross-border transactions, offering a faster and often cheaper alternative to traditional remittance services. But if a US central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a digital dollar—were ever made accessible internationally, that could potentially serve these roles even more effectively,” Halaburda explained.
CBDCs vs stablecoins
Naturally, CBDCs are not cryptocurrencies, but they are digital currencies similar to stablecoins, and they might even compete with each other. The announcement of Facebook’s Libra stablecoin in 2019 raised central banks’ awareness of digital currencies.
According to the Atlantic Council’s Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker, 134 nations and currency unions, or 98% of the world’s GDP, were considering a CBDC as of February 2025, although the project was eventually shelved.
Despite their potential benefits, CBDCs remain contentious in Western nations due to privacy concerns. President Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 that prohibited US CBDC research and development.
It seems that the European Union has accelerated the implementation of its own CBDC project in response to Trump’s rejection of a digital dollar and support for stablecoins.
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, recently stated that Europe must move quickly toward the digital euro.
“Accelerating its implementation suggests that [EU] policymakers see strategic value in a CBDC, particularly in a rapidly evolving global financial landscape. However, its success will depend on striking the right balance between innovation, privacy, and financial stability,” said Annabelle Rau, an associate at McDermott Will & Emery in Germany.
According to Rau, the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU has established a high bar for privacy. Public trust will be essential, though, and lawmakers must communicate openly and provide clear legal protections to allay worries about data access, anonymity, and surveillance risks.
“Stablecoins and CBDCs may eventually coexist, though the relative significance of their roles may differ from nation to nation. China favours state-controlled rails and discourages blockchain-based finance, making the digital yuan likely to prevail. The EU is regulating stablecoins under MiCA while taking a cautious approach to the digital euro, allowing both to coexist. In the US, stablecoins thrive in the absence of a CBDC, though pending regulations could either strengthen their role or constrain them in favour of a digital dollar,” Halaburda remarked.
Here to stay?
According to Ibanez, there seems to be agreement that “digital assets are here to stay, with mainstream adoption accelerating as the convergence of traditional and digital finance advances every day,” regardless of whether they are cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, or digital currencies issued by central banks.
If this is the case, “corporate CFOs should be aware of the growing importance and adapt by integrating digital assets into their financial strategies while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.”
There are still fundamental issues, especially with risk management, governance, and regulatory supervision.
“Elements of both [crypto and traditional currency] systems are likely to continue to coexist rather than fully merge in the near future, even though some convergence is occurring, especially in areas like digital securities and asset tokenisation,” Rau noted.
McLoughlin argued that one must consider the trillions of dollars held in banks to facilitate global transactions. In fact, Bitso Business reported in December that $10 trillion is held in nostro/vostro accounts worldwide.