Why banks are no longer sitting on the sidelines when it comes to digital assets
Dima Kats, Group Executive Chair and Founder of Clear Junction
I recently attended the CBC Summit Europe in London. It was a one-day event with banks, regulators, and companies working across digital assets. What stood out straight away was the presence of tier-one banks – not just sitting in the audience, but on the panels. And they weren’t in “innovation” or “digital evangelist” roles either. These were people responsible for actually building various banking services.
That’s a massive shift from even a year ago, when the same institutions would either not attend these events at all, or they would show up very quietly. No branding and no business cards. There was a clear reputational concern around being associated with crypto.
We saw that ourselves at Clear Junction, when we started working with crypto businesses around six or seven years ago. We weren’t just managing financial crime risk but also reputational risk. Being known to support that sector could affect relationships elsewhere. But that’s no longer the case.
Now, banks are openly talking about blockchain, tokenisation and stablecoins. They’re saying it out loud, on stage, using those words – and nothing happens… the sky doesn’t fall down. That alone tells you something has shifted.
A big part of this change hitting the industry is of course regulation. MiCA in Europe, the US GENIUS Act in the US – they’ve created enough clarity for banks to start moving. Not perfect, but enough structure to engage properly.
There’s also pressure at play here. The UK knows that it needs to keep up with both the EU and the US, and that’s pushing things forward locally.
At this point, banks can’t really ignore this technology anymore. They need to understand it and decide where they fit.
It’s also important to be clear about what this change actually means. It’s not really about “crypto” in the broad sense. Banks are not suddenly interested in speculative assets like Bitcoin. What they are interested in is tokenisation, stablecoins, and using blockchain to improve efficiency.
You hear that very clearly when they talk about settlement – moving from T+2 to T+1, or even T+0. That’s what the focus is on: making things work better, faster.
From a UK perspective, there’s an opportunity here. We have a single regulator in the FCA, which puts us in a simpler position than the EU or the US, where things are more fragmented. So, in theory, we can move more efficiently – if done properly.
But none of this will happen quickly. Banks are designed to be conservative – they’re meant to be stable, and changing how they operate takes time. Once they decide to move, they will move, but it’s more like turning a large ship than flipping a switch.
And that’s where things are now. Digital assets and tokenisation are no longer side projects. They’re on the roadmap, with real teams behind them. Nothing will happen overnight, but the direction is clearly set.