The news: Deutsche Bank plans to launch a digital asset custody service next year, which would allow clients to securely store cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets. It initially announced its custody plans in 2022. Our take: These two German banks’ announcements signal growing confidence among European financial institutions in embracing digital assets. We expect more of them to follow suit in the coming year.The trend could also pick up pace in the US amid a favorable environment: Several major US banks already offer crypto asset services, but recent developments like the withdrawal of previous cautionary guidance by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could spur more major US banks to jump in.

The Latin American consumer banking market is vast, yet over 40% of consumers are currently underbanked. Foreign banks looking to enter the market can tap this audience, but they should learn from and partner with local fintechs to do so.

Learn which mortgage lending market disruptors financial institutions should prepare for—and possibly leverage to attract more customers—in 2025.

Consumers are slowly making changes to how they pay at checkout. We look at the top seven payment methods and delve into what’s pushing forward and detracting from their growth.

It reminded consumers how volatile the industry can be, deepening distrust that will be a major hurdle to overcome

Adoption will spike by 82.1% from 2024 to 2026—but from a very low base. This translates to only 2.6% of the population using cryptocurrency payments in 2026, affirming its status as a nascent-stage payment option.

In today’s episode, we talk about what’s going on with Bitcoin since Trump won the election, how his policy moves could affect cryptocurrency, and the likelihood of America launching a digital dollar. Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development, Rob Rubin, and Analysts Grace Broadbent and Tyler Van Dyke.

Payment provider innovation and regulatory changes are setting a long-term growth runway for cryptocurrency payments. But providers will still need to overcome low merchant acceptance and a sense of mistrust before crypto can go mainstream.

Now that Trump is in office again, crypto regulations could boost crypto ownership and payments momentum—slowly

The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Big Show closed earlier this week, bringing together retailers, tech companies, and industry experts to discuss the future of retail. Key takeaways included Gen Z’s influence on shopping, which will last even if TikTok goes away, the accelerating trend cycle, hesitation to adopt new payment technologies, and the transformation of digital grocery. Here are four takeaways from the event.

The service could help make users feel more comfortable making payments with the digital asset

The milestone signals confidence in crypto’s future under Trump. Upcoming regulation could finally get crypto payments off the ground.

This hurdle will make it difficult for payment players’ recent crypto launches to gain traction

This high-value deal shows Stripe’s commitment to crypto payments. Bridge’s focus on cross-border payments could help stablecoins take off

B2B payments are fast becoming the biggest opportunity for stablecoins to gain traction—now PayPal has to convince everyone else.

Banks should plan to adjust their products to meet changing customer needs and sentiment, while considering changing financial regulation.

The family-led project was light on details, but the debut could signal friendlier crypto regulation if he’s elected

It has a much smaller market cap than the likes of USDT. The entire asset category is still far from mainstream

An aversion to risk and debt has narrowed down their choice of banking products and led them to adopt unconventional money-management tactics.