Fidelity leads banks in Bitcoin adoption index as Wall Street race tightens
Strategy's new index shows major US banks averaging just 32% on Bitcoin infrastructure, signaling early but accelerating institutional adoption despite a dominant lead by Fidelity.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has published its inaugural Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index, revealing a stark divide in Wall Street's crypto infrastructure. Fidelity dominates the rankings with a 71% score, a lead built entirely on its Fidelity Digital Assets custody unit launched in 2018.
The index evaluates 25 major banks on Bitcoin trading, custody, and product depth using public data through July 10. It assigns the broader banking sector an overall adoption score of just 32%, a figure that measures structural infrastructure rather than short-term price swings. Strategy's CEO Phong Le noted that behind Fidelity, Wall Street's largest banks are locked in a tight race for second place.
BNY holds the runner-up spot at 46%, but a cluster of traditional financial heavyweights sits directly behind. Goldman Sachs trails narrowly at 45%, while JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup each scored 43%. The two-point margin separating Goldman from its three rivals highlights how closely matched the legacy banks currently are in their crypto capabilities.
For market professionals, this structural adoption is already translating into tangible trading revenue. Recent record quarterly earnings from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs demonstrated that their trading desks are actively profiting from crypto-adjacent activity.
The current rankings could shift significantly before December. Le expects the sector to gain clarity as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citi are all developing crypto initiatives slated for release this year. These planned launches include new exchange-traded products, custody expansions, and tokenization tools.
However, the broader push into tokenization represents a notable caveat for the index. More than 15 banks are currently competing to move traditional assets on-chain, an effort that entirely sidesteps Bitcoin and could reshape future adoption metrics.
The gap at the bottom of the ranking underscores how early this institutional shift remains. Vanguard only recently began planning a crypto strategy, and smaller regional lenders have barely started. Strategy, which holds the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, has a direct stake in this accelerating bank participation. Executive chairman Michael Saylor published the index assessment on X on July 13.
