PNC Bank is collaborating with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) to launch a bitcoin trading service for its wealthy clients. After announcing the partnership with Coinbase back in July, PNC’s high-net-worth customers can now trade Bitcoin directly through their investment accounts.
The line between crypto and traditional finance has dramatically thinned in 2025, with institutions diving into the digital assets industry. Coinbase has been at the heart of offering custody and trading services to institutions, making its exchange well-known in the finance industry. Furthermore, entering 2026, crypto is on a bull run, with several Wall Street experts and institutions predicting the industry to continue its dominant run into next year. Crypto ETF-offerer BlacRock has already suggested adoption will boom further in 2026.
PNC Bank’s BTC trading service is currently only available to its private bank clients, made up of high-net-worth investors and family offices. Customers can buy crypto through their investment management accounts funded by money in their PNC checking accounts. “Fintech broadly wants to pick off parts of our relationship with product offerings that effectively make banking, in the extreme, just back office, and there’s no reason they should be able to do that,” PNC Chief Executive Officer Bill Demchak said in an interview this week.
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PNC Bank has previously given customers access to passive crypto ETFs providing exposure to Bitcoin and Ether. The bank’s exploration in digital assets is still in “very early innings,” but it is an important venue for PNC in its goal of becoming a top asset management bank for crypto investors.
“It is not so much about our client base being big investors today, but they’re looking to us for an understanding of what these things are, how they work, and does it makes sense in the longer term,” PNC CIO Amanda Agati said. She added that PNC aims to make Bitcoin trading available to institutional investors in the new year, including nonprofits, endowments, and foundations.