Banking giants use legislative tailwind to roll out crypto projects

Major banks are rolling out stablecoin and other cryptocurrency projects, riding a “legislative tailwind” in the US and Hong Kong. These initiatives signal growing institutional confidence in blockchain-based finance, from stablecoins to tokenisation.

Compliance Corylated looks at the regulatory approaches taken by 29 global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) in their digital assets projects.

Special supervision

The GENIUS Act has now become law in the US, while Hong Kong’s stablecoin legislation is set to take effect this Friday, August 1. As legislation progresses, several major financial institutions — including Citigroup and Bank of America (BofA) — have expressed interest in the stablecoin market.

In the US, the GENIUS Act allows stablecoins issued by banks to be exclusively supervised by their current regulators, while those issued by non-bank entities (below the $10 billion threshold) are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

However, our analysis revealed that the majority of projects that have recently kicked off are focused primarily on tokenisation. For example, HSBC launched a tokenised deposit service under the oversight of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in May 2025.

HSBC’s tokenised deposit service offers around-the-clock, real-time Hong Kong dollar and US dollar payments between corporate wallets for treasury management. Ant International was the first client to adopt and complete the instant intra-group fund transfer using this service on the day it launched.

The service operates under the HKMA’s supervisory incubator, a “one-stop supervisory platform” for banks’ initiatives using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

“Banks will have access to a dedicated team from the HKMA for obtaining supervisory feedback and [they] may opt to conduct live trials to validate and refine specific aspects of their risk management implementation under a hands-on and iterative approach,” the HKMA said in a statement.

Other banks also launched tokenisation projects between 2022 and 2023, which focused on tokenised bonds and money market funds (MMFs).

Separating entities

Another key trend is major banks creating “independent entities” to advance their digital currency projects — such as forming crypto subsidiaries, or partnering and backing digital assets companies.

JPMorganChase leads the way with its Kinexys business unit — formerly known as Onyx — which spearheads the bank’s digital asset initiatives. The entity, which was initially founded in 2015 as a team dedicated to exploring blockchain, previously worked on the JPM Coin stablecoin project and now focuses on developing the bank’s tokenised deposit, JPMD.

However, Kinexys remains a part of JPMorgan Chase. In an interview, Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys, described his team as “a considerable franchise” for institutional clients.

Meanwhile, French banking group BPCE has chosen a different regulatory approach by establishing Hexarq as its “regulated crypto subsidiary” under the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

According to its registration, Hexarq is authorised under the enhanced regime (no. E2024-116) and approved to offer digital asset custody, fiat-crypto trading and crypto-to-crypto exchange services. It received authorisation on December 19, 2024.

Meanwhile Deutsche Bank has focused on partnering with well-established crypto firms such as Bitpanda and Taurus. The bank reportedly plans to launch crypto custody services in 2026, using Bitpanda’s trading infrastructure and Taurus’s custody technology, according to Bloomberg.

Taurus has also partnered with State Street to expand its custody services, according to a statement from the bank.

BIS-led project

While there are a growing number of projects from individual banks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has also led an initiative to develop a unified multi-currency ledger using on-chain technology. Project Agora aims to develop seamless cross-border payments and promote harmonised cross-jurisdiction rules. 

The project started in May 2024, with participants from central banks and 14 G-SIBs.

The BIS is now analysing legal and regulatory gaps across seven jurisdictions related to tokenised commercial and wholesale central bank money, settlement finality, and compliance, according to its FAQ sheet.