MicroStrategy Unveils Bitcoin Banking Index as Institutional Adoption Reaches 32%

MicroStrategy, rebranded Strategy, has unveiled a Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index scoring how far big banks embrace Bitcoin (BTC). It puts overall institutional adoption at 32%.

The index ranks 25 major banks by how deeply they offer Bitcoin services. Fidelity leads at 71%, far ahead of most European and Japanese lenders, which sit below 30%.

What the Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index measures

The index works like a report card for banks. MicroStrategy scores how much of the Bitcoin economy each firm has built in, then combines those marks into one percentage. For most readers, this measures how close everyday banking now sits to Bitcoin.

Strategy grades four areas. They cover:

• Trading and custody
• Products such as spot Bitcoin ETFs and the stablecoin market
• Lending, and
• Executive support.

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Many of those products are new, since US regulators approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs only in January 2024.

A 32% overall score means banks have taken on about a third of what MicroStrategy tracks. The score blends many services, so a firm can rank high on custody yet low on lending.

“Major-bank Bitcoin adoption is accelerating, but still early: 32% overall as measured by the index,” noted Strategy executive chair, Michael Saylor.

The company drew the numbers from public data as of July 10 and calls them approximate.

Fidelity Leads while Japanese Banks Lag

Fidelity’s lead is no accident. It set up Fidelity Digital Assets, an institutional custody and trading arm, in 2018. The firm now issues a spot Bitcoin ETF too.

Other American firms cluster behind it. BNY scores 46%, Goldman Sachs 45%, while JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup each land near 43%.

The gap widens by geography. European lenders such as Banco Santander and Société Générale sit mid-table near 35%. Japan’s SMBC and the Royal Bank of Canada trail at just 13%.

Strategy has a stake in the story it is telling. The company holds 843,775 Bitcoin, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, so wider adoption supports its core bet. It published the index itself, invited corrections, and stressed the data is approximate.

Strategy said methodology details and updates will follow. Whether banks accept or contest their scores will test how seriously Wall Street treats the ranking.

Bitcoin’s current price sat near $61,900, down more than 3% on the day. Saylor’s longer-term outlook still bets on far deeper adoption from the banks ranked here.

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