A new report finds Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Japan’s SBI Group as the most active global banks backing blockchain startups.
According to the Ripple-CB Insights-University of Edinburgh Centre for Blockchain Technologies study, banks participated in 345 blockchain investments between 2020 and 2024, mainly in early-stage funding rounds.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs led with 18 deals each, followed by JPMorgan and Mitsubishi UFJ (15 investments).
The study highlights banks backing 33 mega-deals (“rounds exceeding $100 million”) in specialized areas like trading infrastructure, tokenization, custody, and payments, investing over $100 billion across more than 10,000 deals globally.
Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) Heavily Involved
G-SIBs, institutions whose failure could trigger global instability, spearheaded 106 deals (including 14 megadeals).
US and Japanese institutions led in volume, while Singapore, France, and the UK were significant investors.
A poll of over 1,800 global finance leaders cited by Ripple reveals 90% believe blockchain and digital assets will have a transformative (significant or massive) impact on finance within three years.
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and SBI Group were the most active traditional finance players backing blockchain startups, according to a new report.
Focus: Stablecoins and Tokenization
High demand for real-world blockchain applications underpins this trend. Stablecoins saw record monthly volumes ($650-$700 billion) in Q1 2025.
Banks like Citi are increasingly launching their own stablecoins to offer stable, programmable digital money.
Looking forward, tokenization is considered a defining trend. It’s projected to grow at a 53% CAGR, potentially reaching $18 trillion market cap by 2033.
