Washington has started the clock on bank-issued crypto dollars, and the timeline contains a 2026 Bitcoin surprise
New access to crypto via Vanguard and BofA advisors sets up Q1, while FDIC rulemaking signals bank-issued stablecoins by 2026.Summary
The article outlines two key timelines affecting Bitcoin: immediate distribution expansion and longer-term regulatory infrastructure for bank-issued stablecoins. In the near term (Q1), Vanguard has opened spot ETF access to 50 million clients, and Bank of America advisors can now recommend 1% to 4% crypto allocations starting in January, potentially leading to inflows from traditional savers, supported by historically positive seasonality in February and March.
Separately, the FDIC's December 16 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) under the GENIUS Act starts the clock for FDIC-supervised banks to issue stablecoins. This process involves a comment window and regulatory finalization, meaning federally supervised, bank-issued stablecoins—which could provide deep, programmatic dollar liquidity to public chains—are unlikely to launch before late 2026 or 2027. This structural shift is seen as the infrastructure underpinning the next major wave of on-chain dollar liquidity, contrasting with the immediate focus on retail and advisor distribution in early 2025.
(Source：CryptoSlate)