Standard Chartered, Coinbase Expand Institutional Crypto Partnership

David Schwartz confirmed he sold 40,000 ETH at about $1.05 and liquidated nearly all his Bitcoin before it rose past $7,500, answering a long-running community question. He characterized the moves as personal, early-stage decisions rather than market timing plays.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange is withdrawing its backing for a major U.S. market-structure crypto bill and mounted a media tour, reportedly clashing with JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon at Davos. The public disagreement underscores growing tensions between crypto platforms and traditional banks as U.S. policy debates heat up.

A leading Brazilian digital bank has received conditional approval from the OCC to offer deposit accounts, credit cards, lending and digital asset custody in the United States. The step signals a notable push by a Latin American fintech into U.S. regulated crypto services.

Standard Chartered says stablecoin-driven digital asset adoption is creating a $500 billion headwind for U.S. banks and could trigger bank-run‑like deposit outflows if the trend continues. The analyst flagged faster liquidity migration off bank balance sheets as a key risk.

Coinbase said it will join the Trump Accounts program and will match up to $1,000 in employee child contributions with Bitcoin for eligible dependents. The move expands crypto-based employee benefits while linking a major exchange to a politically charged initiative.