Bitcoin adoption among major banks remains early, but more financial institutions now offer real services rather than just discussing digital assets. A new Strategy index gives the 25 largest banks and financial firms an average Bitcoin adoption score of 32%.
Important to Know
- Fidelity leads the index with a score of 71%.
- The average score across 25 large financial institutions sits at 32%.
- A higher score does not mean that a bank holds 71% of its money in Bitcoin.
Fidelity Leads New Bitcoin Banking Index
Strategy introduced the Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index to track how deeply large financial institutions support Bitcoin and related digital assets.
Fidelity ranks first with 71%, followed by BNY at 46% and Goldman Sachs at 45%. Citigroup, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley each reached about 43%.
For beginners, the percentages need some explanation. A 71% score does not show how much Bitcoin Fidelity owns. Instead, the score looks at the range of Bitcoin and crypto services available through each institution.
Strategy reviews four broad areas:
- Bitcoin and crypto trading or custody
- Products such as spot Bitcoin ETFs
- Loans backed by digital assets
- Public support from senior executives
Custody means safely holding Bitcoin or the private keys that control it. A spot Bitcoin ETF gives investors exposure to the Bitcoin price through a regular brokerage account without requiring them to store Bitcoin directly.
Fidelity has worked with digital assets for years. It launched Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018 and later introduced the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF. Those services helped Fidelity build a wide lead over many banks.
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said:
“investment in bitcoin by major banks is accelerating, but it’s still early: the overall index score is 32%.”
What a 32% Score Means for Bitcoin
An average score of 32% suggests that large banks have started building practical Bitcoin services, although most have not created a complete offering.
Banks once limited their crypto work to research teams, small pilot programs or private discussions with wealthy clients. Now, several institutions offer custody, ETF access, trading support or digital asset infrastructure.
However, adoption varies widely by region and company. Japanese bank SMBC and Royal Bank of Canada scored 13%, placing them at the bottom of the list. Royal Bank of Canada is Canadian, while SMBC is based in Japan.
The index also needs more transparency. Strategy has shared the categories and rankings, but detailed scoring methods had not yet been published when the first results appeared. Without a full methodology, we cannot independently confirm how Strategy calculated every score.
For new Bitcoin users, the report still offers a useful view of bank involvement. More banks now provide regulated routes into Bitcoin, especially through ETFs and custody services.
Still, banking support does not remove Bitcoin risk. Bitcoin prices can change quickly, and an ETF does not give you direct control over Bitcoin. When you buy Bitcoin yourself and withdraw it to a personal wallet, you control the private keys. When you buy an ETF, the fund holds the underlying Bitcoin on behalf of investors.