The news: PNC unveiled direct Bitcoin trading for private bank clients—high net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high net-worth (UHNW) individuals.

PNC clients will be able to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin through PNC using Coinbase’s crypto as a service product. PNC said that it’s the first major bank to make such a service available.

Trendspotting: PNC is a step ahead of brokerage firms Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab, which both plan to offer direct crypto trading to customers in 2026. Fidelity has offered crypto trading to retail customers since 2022. Bank of America recently announced that some crypto ETFs would become available to brokerage customers. But starting with the private bank for native digital crypto services is new.

With Bitcoin trading for private bank clients, PNC makes a play for crypto-curious, wealthy Gen Zers and millennials. It now also has an edge with traditional private banks focused on mainstream securities and alternative assets, and it anticipates novel services for UHNW consumers like the one that crypto exchange Kraken recently unveiled. (But for now, PNC is taking baby steps: Kraken blends high-touch crypto custody and trading with wealth management features clients would expect from a private banking or a family office.)

Our take: Amid the Great Wealth Transfer, banks and brokerage firms can’t ignore crypto, and they shouldn’t satisfy themselves with retail offerings. Gen Zers and millennials will be nearly 35% of the global UHNW population by 2040, according to Altrata. And trading apps like Robinhood and SoFi Invest have changed expectations for ease of access and the digital experience for trading.

With integrated crypto trading and custody, PNC fixes a crucial competitive gap with crypto firms and forward-thinking brokerages, augmenting wealth services to attract consumers who expect to invest in crypto. Peers will follow.