How Coinbase is putting a crypto spin on old-school finance
- Coinbase, once a Silicon Valley outsider pitching crypto as an alternative to the banking system, is now doing business with the very institutions it was supposed to 'disrupt'.
- The roles are shifting: banks are moving closer to the chain, and Coinbase is evolving beyond being just a crypto trading platform.
For banks, it’s a way to modernize without blowing up the ‘trust’ model
Coinbase, once a Silicon Valley outsider pitching crypto as an alternative to the banking system, is now doing business with the very institutions it was supposed to disrupt.
In recent weeks, two of the most prominent names in American finance — PNC and J.P. Morgan — have formally partnered with the exchange. It’s not a headline grab so much as a quiet redrawing of boundaries. The roles are shifting: banks are moving closer to the chain, and Coinbase is evolving beyond being just a crypto trading platform.
The partnerships, while distinct in purpose, point to the same broader trend: crypto is no longer relegated to the kids’ table. PNC is using Coinbase to bring crypto access directly into its digital banking experience. J.P. Morgan is embedding Coinbase integrations into consumer rewards and funding flows, and piloting tokenized deposit infrastructure on Coinbase’s Base chain.
We explore the specifics of each partnership.
Coinbase and PNC: From branches to blockchains
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