Banks will embrace crypto payments under Trump, per Bank of America CEO

The news: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the US banking industry will embrace crypto payments if the proper regulations are in place, per CNBC.

• “If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan stated.
• Moynihan also said crypto could become “another form of payment” just like paying with a credit/debit card or mobile wallet.

Bank of America already has “hundreds of patents on blockchain" and “know[s] how to enter the field,” he added.

Why this matters: We predicted that crypto payments will take off under the Trump administration. This enthusiasm from a large financial institution solidifies crypto’s expected momentum for the next four years.

And regulations could take form quickly.

• Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said he expects executive orders will come “imminently” that open the door for banks to trade crypto and offer crypto investment to their clients, per Reuters.
• President Donald Trump will also reportedly sign an executive order establishing a crypto advisory council to advocate for the industry's policy priorities, per Bloomberg.

The bigger picture: While Trump is trying to rally the crypto industry, he’s also involving himself in exploits that crypto executives aren’t ready to get behind.

• Both Trump and First Lady Melania Trump rolled out crypto meme coins ($TRUMP and $MELANIA).
• But crypto executives are worried these coins will fuel criticism of the industry and erode the trust they were hoping Trump’s regulatory agenda would establish, per Bloomberg.

After Trump’s inauguration, his coin was down 45% from its peak—exactly what many crypto executives are afraid of.

Our take: Enacting crypto regulation will help to boost adoption. But while momentum will grow, crypto payment use won’t jump overnight. We expect just 19.4% of crypto owners will actually transact with crypto in 2026, versus 13.4% in 2024, per our forecast.

Especially if meme coins further damage public opinion of crypto, it will take time for consumers to trust the assets and for players like Bank of America to launch and scale their payment offerings.

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