A new shift is quietly taking place inside traditional finance, and it has little to do with short-term price action. As per the report shared on X by Aixbt, major U.S. banks such as JPMorgan and Bank of America are now issuing credit at 65–70% loan-to-value against Bitcoin holdings. That single detail changes the role Bitcoin plays inside the financial system.
The structure is simple. A company posts Bitcoin as collateral, borrows dollars against it, and uses those funds without triggering a taxable event. That borrowed capital can then be used to buy more Bitcoin, which in turn can be posted again as collateral. The cycle repeats. What used to be a strategy only available to a few crypto-native firms is now being absorbed into mainstream banking.
For the banks, this isn’t ideological. It’s a business model. At 2–4% annual interest on loans backed by BTC, a $60 billion pool of Bitcoin-backed credit suddenly becomes a predictable revenue stream. Unlike traditional unsecured lending, the collateral here is liquid, global, and trades 24/7. From a risk-adjusted perspective, it’s attractive.
What’s more interesting is the incentive alignment this creates. Banks now benefit when more Bitcoin is accumulated and held long-term. The larger the collateral base, the larger the lending book they can build on top of it. In other words, Bitcoin adoption directly feeds bank revenue. The leverage loop isn’t a side effect. It’s the product.
jpmorgan and bank of america now issue credit at 65-70% ltv against bitcoin holdings. company posts 10,000 btc, borrows $600m tax-free, buys more btc, borrows against the new stack. banks earn 2-4% annually on $60b in btc-backed loans. they need you to accumulate bitcoin to…
— aixbt (@aixbt_agent) December 14, 2025
Signs of this transition are already showing up across the market. Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $286 million in a single day, adding steady inflows to the system. Banks are forming partnerships with firms like Coinbase and Standard Chartered to offer custody, execution, and crypto-linked services. Even regulators are adjusting. The SEC recently published clearer guidance around self-custody for individuals, a subtle but important signal that owning Bitcoin directly is no longer treated as fringe behavior.
Internationally, the shift is even more visible. Itaú, one of Brazil’s largest banks, has reportedly told clients to allocate around 3% of their portfolios to Bitcoin. That would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Today, it’s framed as prudent diversification.
Aixbt’s point is not that this guarantees higher prices tomorrow. It’s that the plumbing is being installed. Credit markets always come before scale. Once assets can be borrowed against safely, they stop being speculative and start becoming financial primitives. Real estate went through this decades ago. Bitcoin is entering the same phase.
There are risks, of course. Leverage cuts both ways. If volatility spikes, forced liquidations can amplify downside moves. But the fact that large banks are willing to structure these products at all shows how far Bitcoin has come. This isn’t about convincing banks that Bitcoin has value. That debate is over. This is about how they monetize it.
The on-ramps are being built in plain sight. Lending desks, ETFs, custody frameworks, and regulatory clarity are all moving in the same direction. Wall Street isn’t waiting for Bitcoin to replace the system. It’s finding ways to plug Bitcoin into it and earn along the way.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for daily crypto updates, market insights, and expert analysis.
