The shift is undeniable: traditional finance is making a decisive move into the digital asset space. As blockchain unlocks cheaper, faster, and more accessible services, and opens up doors to new finance use cases, institutional blockchain adoption and demand is quickly ramping up.
Stablecoin transaction volumes reached $700B per month in early 2025, and Boston Consulting Group projects nearly $19T in tokenized assets by 2033. Ripple’s own research found that 90% of global finance leaders expect blockchain to have a significant or massive impact on finance in the next three years.
Growing adoption is fueled by blockchain’s proven benefits: near-instant settlement, low-cost transactions, 24/7 availability, increased transparency. Banks and financial institutions are no longer deliberating on its impact but are instead integrating the technology as a foundational component of modern finance.
Ripple recently partnered with CB Insights and the UK Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UKCBT) to explore how traditional financial institutions are engaging with blockchain—from priority use cases and where investments are flowing, to the evolution of the broader ecosystem. The report, “Banking on Digital Assets: How Traditional Finance is Investing in Blockchain”, uncovers how, where, and why banks are investing in blockchain technology and digital asset applications.
Blockchain in Finance
At its core, blockchain is the foundational technology that powers digital assets like cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), enabling value to move as information moves today—securely, transparently and without a central authority.
Take cross-border payments, for example: By reducing intermediaries associated with traditional payment rails, blockchain can dramatically lower the time and costs associated with moving money across borders. Transactions can be processed in seconds, not days, and settled 24/7/365—unlocking new levels of liquidity and market access for institutions and enterprises alike.
With features like automated compliance, smart contracts, and built-in programmability, blockchain is creating a more efficient and inclusive financial future that meets the needs of emerging and established markets.
Financial institutions are also turning to blockchain to streamline complex operations, reduce exposure to legacy infrastructure risk and enable new digital asset use cases like fractional ownership of RWAs. And with recent innovations on the XRP Ledger—automated market makers (AMMs), a permissioned decentralized exchange (DEX)—alongside growing regulatory clarity, it has never been easier for financial institutions to engage with decentralized finance in a compliant, scalable way.
Blockchain Adoption in Banking
As the blockchain industry matures, banks are making strategic bets by investing in companies that are redefining digital asset custody, RWA tokenization, and broader digital asset infrastructure.
The report features a comprehensive analysis of investment and partnership activities from more than 8,000 blockchain companies and 1,800 banks over a five-year period, including direct investments, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.
CB Insights data included in the report found that banks participated in 33 blockchain-related mega-round funding deals ($100M+) between 2020-2024. Institutions such as JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and SBI Group were especially active investors, and participated in multiple funding rounds for firms developing blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
The top use cases included:
institutional infrastructure related to trading, staking, and tokenization;
blockchain in global payments;
and digital asset custody.
This helps paint a clearer picture of how banks are shaping their long-term digital asset strategies through targeted investments, and the inevitable impact this will have on the finance system writ large.
Regulation and the Road Ahead for Blockchain in Financial Services
Financial institutions are putting blockchain to work—diversifying portfolios, enabling crypto payments, offering custody services, tokenizing assets and more. Because digital assets are no longer optional, investing in infrastructure, forging fintech partnerships, and offering new financial services has become necessary to an institution’s longevity.
Banks that are moving from pilots to practice will bolster their competitive role in the global economy with support from cutting-edge technology.
Nonetheless, the financial infrastructure of the future will depend on robust security, regulatory clarity and shared standards—giving institutions a common language to integrate digital assets into existing systems and helping regulators monitor activity at scale.
Francesco Pierangeli, Deputy Director of UKCBT, explores these topics in more detail in the report, highlighting pivotal moments that have already shaped the blockchain ecosystem and what to expect in the future.
Ready to understand the full scope of this transformation? Download the complete report for an in-depth look at how the banking industry is securing its future in the digital economy.
