BNY, a 240-year-old institution that has safeguarded assets through every financial crisis from the Panic of 1792 to the 2008 collapse, has made stablecoin infrastructure a core part of its custody offering – a sign of how completely digital assets have entered the institutional mainstream.
Wall Street's Oldest Custody Bank Makes Stablecoins Core Business
29 June 2026 - 18:47 CEST
By Stu Clelland
The bank announced on 29 Jun that USD Coin (USDC), the world's second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, will be the first digital token supported on its Digital Asset Custody platform. BNY clients can now hold, transfer, mint and burn USDC without ever leaving the bank's existing infrastructure – ending the need for institutions to route stablecoin activity through intermediaries such as Coinbase Custody, BitGo or Anchorage. Circle, which issues USDC, retains responsibility for the mint-and-burn process, while BNY provides the institutional wrapper around it.
That last point is the one that matters. Until now, even the most sophisticated institutional investors had to step outside their traditional custody arrangements the moment they needed to issue or redeem a stablecoin. BNY is closing this gap by offering the full life cycle of stablecoin activity – reserve custody, issuance and redemption – within a single framework alongside conventional cash management.
"As digital assets become increasingly integrated into financial markets, institutions need infrastructure that seamlessly works across traditional and blockchain-based systems," said Carolyn Weinberg, BNY's chief product and innovation officer.
Deeper relationship with Circle
This is not a standing start. BNY has served as primary custodian of USDC reserves for several years, giving it direct oversight of assets underpinning Circle's token. Circle, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2025, has been building its institutional franchise as regulatory frameworks in the US and Europe take shape. The announcement is the next chapter in that relationship.
One more scene in a fast-moving film
Zoom out and the picture is clear. JPMorgan has expanded its JPM Coin payments network. BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has gathered significant assets. State Street is building digital asset custody capacity. One by one, the institutions that form the backbone of global finance are adding digital asset capabilities not as experiments, but as core infrastructure. BNY's move is another scene in that film.
BNY oversees $59.4tn in assets under custody and administration as of 31 Mar, serving 94% of Fortune 100 companies and 96% of the world's top 100 banks.
