PNC Bank to Support User-Selected Coins Through Wallet

PNC Bank may soon step into the world of crypto wallets, according to CEO Bill Demchak. In a recent CNBC interview, Demchak shared that the company is moving forward with its long-standing relationship with Coinbase and could soon offer wallet services for clients looking to use digital tokens.

Good to know

• PNC is not planning to create its own stablecoin.
• The bank wants to provide wallet support for tokens its clients choose to use.
• Regulatory changes helped revive its paused partnership with Coinbase.

The relationship between PNC and Coinbase began years ago but was mostly shelved during the crypto winter. Demchak explained that regulatory pressure at the time made it nearly impossible for banks to be involved with crypto in any form.

“We actually went down the path with Coinbase several years ago to do something similar,” Demchak said. “And then we kind of had the crypto winter. And we had prohibitions from regulators to, you know, even spell crypto. And everything went on hold.”

Things have changed recently. With the Genius Act passing and regulatory attitudes shifting, banks like PNC are now able to re-enter the digital asset space. Demchak said that restrictions have been relaxed, which has allowed PNC to pick up where it left off with Coinbase.

The bank is currently enabling digital payments through Coinbase’s systems and also providing treasury and fiat services to the platform. While it does not plan to create a branded stablecoin, Demchak made it clear that PNC will focus on serving as a crypto wallet provider.

“Coinbase is our backbone,” he said. “If there is an industry-led stablecoin, it could be traded in that wallet or any of the other ones. So we’re not making a decision. We’re not going to produce a stablecoin per se, certainly not in our own name, but we’ll be a wallet, a provider for any coin that any of our clients want to use.”