US Bancorp’s Bitcoin Comeback: Banks + Crypto? You Won’t Believe What Happened! 🚀💰

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Ah, the illustrious Minneapolis institution-boasting a modest $685 billion in assets-has, in a move nobody saw coming (or at least pretended not to), decided once more to cradle Bitcoin custody for the dear old investment managers.

After an intermission longer than some celebrity marriages, and now blessed by a world oddly more enamoured with digital coins than confused by them, this peculiar revival is finally upon us.

A Glorious Return from Crypto Exile

Announced with all the subtlety of a brass band at dawn via press release, U.S. Bank-because mere ‘bank’ is a bit too pedestrian-revealed yesterday that it will reinstate a service first flirted with in 2021. Naturally, this privilege is only extended to those Global Fund Services clients who politely filled out the correct paperwork and begged for early admittance.

As originally intended by some very serious folks, the service is reserved for institutional investment managers who either own a fund or an entity that enjoys sweating over safeguarding their Bitcoin. The sub-custodian, that ever-reliable NYDIG, remains steadfastly the same-presumably because changing horses midstream is so dreadfully gauche.

The chairperson of Wealth, Corporate, Commercial, and Institutional Banking, no less, deigned to offer the following pearls of wisdom:

“We’re ever so proud to have been among the pioneering banks offering crypto custody back in 2021, and-hurrah!-we are now resuming this exquisitely niche service.

Thanks to regulatory clarity-that elusive chimera-we’ve broadened our scope to include Bitcoin ETFs, thus enabling us to provide managers the full buffet of custody and administration delights.”

The Curious Case of the Suspended Service

Just a year post-launch, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) waved its SAB 121 sceptre, decreeing that banks must treat held crypto as on‑balance‑sheet liabilities. The result? Suddenly, holding Bitcoin required enough capital to fund a modest country and turned custody into a sort of regulatory maze no sane banker would dare enter.

The bulletin enumerated the usual perils: technical glitches, legal entanglements, and a regulatory mood sourer than damp biscuit. Not to mention the Biden administration’s invigorated watchfulness in 2022, which involved determining precisely how one should store a currency that eludes even the savviest vault.

“These risks may profoundly influence the operations and financial standing of the entities in question.

The staff proffer that their stern guidance will enlighten investors and other financial statement readers, so they may make, with less befuddlement, their capital allocations and other investment decisions.”

Since then, the landscape has transformed with the grace of a ballroom dancer on speed: laws, regulations, and the curious appointment of a crypto-favouring President Trump have conspired to ease Bitcoin’s hitherto Sisyphean climb toward acceptance.

The result? SAB 121 was summarily rescinded, permitting institutions to clutch their cryptos on the balance sheet without fainting from regulatory dread. But don’t cheer too loudly-they must still whisper cautionary tales of crypto’s risks via the new SAB 122 policy. Because, dear reader, where’s the fun without a little bureaucratic drama?

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2025-09-05 06:52