A good crypto-friendly bank will allow you to access all the fiat currency and crypto services you need under one roof. In this article, we’ll show you the 8 best crypto-friendly banks available to users in 2023. We’ll be highlighting banks that provide their services to the everyday customer, but also banks that primarily cater to institutional investors and businesses.
In order to help out the broadest range of users, we made sure to feature both crypto-friendly banks in Europe, as well as crypto-friendly banks in the USA.
The best crypto-friendly banks in 2023
Traditional financial institutions typically don’t directly offer cryptocurrency investments, but some of them can still be considered crypto-friendly if they allow users to deposit and withdraw funds from cryptocurrency exchanges, or offer access to cryptocurrency investment vehicles such as ETFs and trusts.
If you’re looking for a banking solution that directly supports cryptocurrency buying and selling, you’ll most likely have to choose a neobank / fintech company such as Revolut or N26. While these options usually don’t offer as many crypto features as the best cryptocurrency exchanges, they can still be a good option for less demanding users.
Without further ado, let’s get started with our list of the 8 best crypto-friendly banks in 2023:
- Ally – Fully-featured bank that provides access to crypto investment products
- N26 – A neobank with an impressive user experience and crypto investment features
- SEBA Bank – Switzerland-based bank that’s focused on crypto clients
- Revolut – A major fintech with a range of crypto-friendly features
- Xapo Bank – A private bank with a Bitcoin account option and support for stablecoins
- BankProv – US-based bank that caters to crypto and blockchain companies
- Goldman Sachs – Investment banking giant that provides crypto investment products to its wealthy clients
- Quontic – Digital bank with Bitcoin rewards option
1. Ally – Fully-featured bank that provides access to crypto investment products
Ally is a United States-based bank holding company that provides a range of banking services such as spending accounts, savings accounts and investment products. The company also provides vehicle insurance services, mortgage loans and additional services. Ally was originally founded as GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation) in 1919, but was rebranded in 2009 to Ally Bank.
Ally doesn’t offer its customers the option to directly invest in cryptocurrency through the bank. However, we’re still including Ally in our list of the best crypto-friendly banks because the bank’s customers can invest in several products that provide exposure to cryptocurrencies. Through Ally, customers can invest in crypto funds such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, as well as crypto futures funds like the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
So, if you’re an Ally customer, you’ll have to transfer some funds over to an exchange like Coinbase to buy and sell cryptocurrency on spot markets. However, you’ll also be able to use the bank’s services to get exposure to the cryptocurrency markets through various investment products.
2. N26 – A neobank with an impressive user experience and crypto investment features
N26 is a Germany-based neobank founded in 2013. Customers use the bank through a mobile app, and receive a virtual or physical card to make purchases easily. The platform offers useful features such as sub-accounts, which make it easy for users to save their money towards specific financial goals.
N26’s Standard offering comes with no monthly subscription, but the company also offers paid plans that range from €4.90 to €16.90 per month.
Thanks to an integration with cryptocurrency platform Bitpanda, N26’s customers in supported countries (Austria, Germany Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal and Ireland at the time of writing) can buy and sell more than 200 cryptocurrencies directly through the N26 app.
The N26 Crypto feature makes N26 one of the most crypto-friendly banks out there, although N26 is only available in the European market. If you’re a crypto enthusiast that lives in one of the supported countries, however, N26 is definitely a banking option worth considering.
3. SEBA Bank – Switzerland-based bank that’s focused on crypto clients
SEBA Bank is a Switzerland-based bank that’s specifically designed to be friendly to cryptocurrency investors. SEBA Bank customers get access to fiat currency accounts, but also to crypto wallet accounts for around 15 different cryptocurrencies.
For example, the bank provides cryptocurrency custody services, securely storing clients’ cryptocurrency with a combination of cutting-edge security technologies. SEBA also provides all-in-one staking solutions for cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Polkadot and Tezos.
We felt it was important to feature SEBA Bank in this article since it’s one of the few banks that are actually catering to crypto investors, but you should keep in mind that the bank’s services are not tailored for the average customer. According to SEBA Bank, its services are designed for professional investors, family offices, banks, asset managers and blockchain companies operating in Switzerland.
4. Revolut – A major fintech with a range of crypto-friendly features
Revolut is a neobank and fintech company headquartered in London and licensed by the Bank of Lithuania. Revolut provides a mobile app that offers a range of money management, payments and investments services.
One of the main investment options offered by Revolut is cryptocurrency. Revolut users can buy and sell more than 100 different crypto assets, and even earn some crypto by learning about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Revolut’s crypto platform also offers crypto “collections”, which are essentially bundles of different tokens in different sectors such as DeFi or blockchain gaming.
In addition, Revolut Card holders can choose to spend cryptocurrency balances when they’re making everyday purchases. Practically, this means that Revolut doubles as a crypto card, which is a very popular type of product among cryptocurrency investors. All in all, we can say that Revolut is one of the best crypto-friendly banks in Europe.
5. Xapo Bank – A private bank with a Bitcoin account option and support for stablecoins
Xapo Bank is a crypto-friendly private bank regulated in Gibraltar. It offers a Bitcoin account and a US dollar account. Clients also benefit from a dedicated account manager to help them make the most out of the bank’s services. As a private-bank, Xapo Bank mostly caters to high-net-worth individuals.
Xapo Bank is an especially interesting option for Bitcoiners, as it offers yield on BTC deposits and also supports the Lightning Network for ultra fast and efficient Bitcoin payments.
The platform also has a strong integration with the USDC stablecoin, as Xapo customers can use their US dollar accounts to seamlessly send and receive USDC. Customers can also earn interest on their holdings, which is paid out in Bitcoin.
Xapo also has a VASP (virtual asset service provider) arm, which offers world-class Bitcoin custody services. Xapo’s services are quite focused on a specific type of customer, but if you meet the market they’re targeting, it’s certainly a strong option that’s worth considering.
6. BankProv – US-based bank that caters to crypto and blockchain companies
BankProv is a United States-based bank that caters to cryptocurrency businesses. BankProv is bridging the traditional markets with crypto markets, as it’s one of the relatively few banks to openly embrace customers from the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
The bank provides considerable security, as all USD deposits it holds are insured by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and DIF (Depositors Insurance Fund).
BankProv has partnered with several companies in the crypto industry, including Etana Custody, Fortress and Treasury Prime. The bank is mostly targeting businesses and not individual customers, but we still believe that BankProv is worth highlighting as one of the best crypto-friendly banks in the USA.
7. Goldman Sachs – Investment banking giant that provides crypto investment products to its wealthy clients
Goldman Sachs is an investment banking giant with over $2 trillion in assets under management. While you might not expect such a large financial institution to deal with cryptocurrency, you would be surprised.
The bank provides its clients with access to cryptocurrency investment products that provide exposure to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, Goldman Sachs only offers crypto investments to wealthier clients, as the products have high investment minimums.
Goldman Sachs has a crypto trading desk, which trades cryptocurrency-based derivatives such as options and futures contracts. In addition, the bank has invested in 11 businesses that operate in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
8. Quontic – Digital bank with Bitcoin rewards option
Quontic is a digital bank based in the United States that provides savings, checking and CD accounts.
The reason why we’re featuring Quontic as a crypto friendly bank is their Bitcoin rewards checking product, which provides 1.50% in Bitcoin rewards on eligible purchases made with a debit card. However, Quontic customers cannot buy additional Bitcoin through the bank and converting the Bitcoin rewards to fiat currency comes with a 2% fee. This product is offered through an integration with Bitcoin firm NYDIG.
As an interesting aside, we should highlight the fact that in 2021, Quontic became the first bank to launch a virtual location in the metaverse. Quontic created its virtual location in the Decentraland metaverse.
The bottom line – which crypto-friendly bank to choose?
If you’re an everyday crypto investor living in Europe, the best crypto-friendly banks for you are likely N26 and Revolut.
Interestingly enough, crypto-friendly banks operating in the European market offer much stronger cryptocurrency features than their United States counterparts. If you’re in the United States, your options for a crypto-friendly bank are banks like Ally and Quontic, which only offer very limited crypto-related services.
Of course, the choice of which crypto-friendly bank to use will also depend on what kind of investor you are. If you are a high-net-worth individual, you’ll have more options available to you than someone with a smaller amount of capital.
If you’re interested in more ways to invest in cryptocurrency, make sure to take a look at our ultimate guide to investing in crypto.
Source: https://coincodex.com/article/29182/crypto-friendly-banks/