Coinbase wins Wall Street over

What happened

On 30 July 2025, Coinbase Global Inc and JPMorgan announced a strategic partnership that makes crypto access frictionless for >84 million customers. The collaboration includes three features:

1. Chase credit card support for Coinbase: starting Fall 2025, customers can use Chase credit cards to directly fund Coinbase accounts.
2. Reward points to crypto: in 2026, Chase Ultimate Rewards, credit card rewards points, will become convertible into the stablecoin USDC on Coinbase.
3. Bank-to-wallet linking: also launching in 2026, customers will be able to link Chase bank accounts to Coinbase via secure APIs, making buying crypto a seamless experience.

The partnership marks the first time a U.S. megabank has offered such deep integration with a crypto platform. It is an inflection point for digital asset adoption in the mainstream.

Impact on our Investment Case

Coinbase is the key partner

For years, skeptics argued that once regulations arrived, traditional finance (TradFi) would dominate crypto by sheer scale. This partnership disproves that narrative. JPMorgan is not replacing Coinbase: it’s integrating with it.

This signals that even the most sophisticated banks lack the internal capabilities to build secure, compliant, and scalable crypto infrastructure. Instead, they are turning to established platforms like Coinbase to provide access. The partnership affirms Coinbase’s role as more than just a trading venue; it is increasingly the foundational layer through which TradFi enters digital assets.

As we previously wrote, regulatory clarity is removing a major overhang. This new phase of collaboration, with banks now joining forces rather than competing, further cements Coinbase as critical infrastructure in the emerging financial stack.

JPM gives the green light for all TradFi to integrate cryptos

This JPMorgan partnership is unlikely to remain an isolated case. In fact, other large U.S. banks have already taken steps toward crypto integration. PNC Financial Services Group Inc also recently announced a deal with Coinbase, and Morgan Stanley plans to offer retail crypto trading through its online platofrm E*Trade in 2026.

A broader adoption wave is in motion globally. However, the speed of adoption remains unequal. For instance, close to us, most Swiss private banks are still reluctant to add crypto to their offerings. With the move of JPM, they may need to accelerate or risk losing relevance. As we previously argued, crypto is shifting from niche to norm. Coinbase, sitting at the intersection of regulation and usability, is best positioned to capitalize on this shift.

Further collaboration?

The inclusion of USDC in the rewards conversion scheme is more than a gimmick: it’s a signal. JPMorgan will indirectly start onboarding users into the stablecoin ecosystem co-founded by Coinbase and Circle Internet Group. At the same time, the bank is developing its own digital rail: JPMorgan Deposit Tokens (JPMD), which is now being piloted on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2.

This dual approach (supporting third-party stablecoins while developing its own solutions) suggests that JPMorgan sees value in public blockchain infrastructure. The fact that its tokenized deposits are being tested on a Coinbase-run network is telling. It points toward a future where USDC, JPMD, and other forms of digital money coexist on interoperable rails. For a bank whose CEO once called Bitcoin “a fraud,” this is a radical pivot, while Coinbase’s ecosystem gets validated.

We would not be surprised to see deeper integration over time: tokenized rewards, stablecoin payments, or even custody and collateral services via Coinbase infrastructure. The long-term convergence of bank money and blockchain is underway.

Our Takeaway

This deal is far more than an upgrade to a product offering. Coinbase confirms it is becoming the financial infrastructure layer of the digital age. As traditional banks modernize, they are not reinventing the wheel but partnering with the pioneers who already built it.

The Coinbase–JPMorgan alliance affirms that crypto is no longer a parallel system. It’s becoming the next system that can plug into legacy finance and eventually replace its key functions.

We maintain high conviction in Coinbase, a top position in Blockchain and Fintech portfolios. We also reiterate that blockchain-related equities represent a compelling long-term opportunity within global equity markets. As digital finance enters its mainstream phase, our portfolio is positioned to benefit from one of the most powerful transformation trends in capital markets.