SAN FRANCISCO, CA (PinionNewswire) — Uphold, the infrastructure provider for on-chain finance, today released research showing that 75% of American banks have blockchain finance programs underway. Of that total, 22% have projects that are live or scaling, while an additional 53% are piloting or assessing specific use cases.

The findings also signal that the buying phase for digital asset infrastructure has begun: two-thirds of banks have allocated funds for it, and more than half have issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for digital asset vendors and partners. Key use cases center on digital asset wallets, custody, and buy/sell/hold capabilities for wealth management, while the leading obstacles to adoption are cybersecurity, risk management concerns, and regulatory uncertainty and compliance.

Procurement Underway at Large and Regional Banks Alike

The study leaves no doubt that the majority of American banks — both large and regional — have kicked off processes for buying digital asset services. Some 54% have issued RFPs for digital asset vendors and partners, while two-thirds have allocated funds for infrastructure. Budget allocations and RFPs are the tangible mechanics of procurement, sitting one step ahead of deployment: the 22% of institutions with projects live or scaling represent the leading edge of that progression, with the 53% still piloting or assessing specific use cases forming the pipeline behind them.

Other markers point to a broader blockchain-focused transformation. The survey found that 72% of institutions have appointed an executive accountable for digital asset and blockchain strategy, while 68% confirmed possessing the necessary in-house regulatory and compliance capabilities. That figure also gives scale to the compliance challenge: with regulatory uncertainty and compliance requirements among the top three barriers to progress, roughly one in three respondents did not confirm having such capabilities in-house.

"Blockchain powers cheaper, faster and better financial services. The kind the next generation of bank customers expect as digital natives who've grown up with instant, borderless, always-on messaging services," said Simon McLoughlin, Uphold's CEO.

"Our survey shows that promise is already moving from theory to practice, as financial institutions commit capital and talent to blockchain-based infrastructure. The failure of the Clarity Act has delayed a comprehensive legal framework for the US market, but it has not stopped progress. It's been gratifying to see the SEC and CFTC move swiftly to fill the regulatory gap, smooth the path for blockchain adoption and give firms a clear way forward. Regulation is no substitute for durable legislation, but the direction seems clear and irreversible: finance is moving on-chain."

Survey Scope and Priority Use Cases

Uphold commissioned American Banker to poll U.S. banks of all sizes on their progress integrating blockchain-powered services, priority use cases, and expected benefits. The survey spanned multinationals, regional banks, and credit unions, and more than half of respondents (53%) report more than $50 billion of assets under management.

When asked which blockchain services were most important, respondents ranked:

• Digital wallets and/or custody solutions (72%)
• Digital asset buy/sell/hold for wealth management (70%)
• Digital wallet-led international expansion (65%)
• Stablecoin rails for institutional settlement (64%)
• Prime brokerage and institutional-grade clearing (64%n

Banks Building for Every Customer Segment

Two in three respondents (66%) see a shared upside in blockchain-powered services, believing that both banks and their customers will benefit. Institutions are also building for all customer segments: of those with initiatives live, in pilot or in evaluation, two-thirds (65%) are designing services for commercial customers, with 52% building for retail customers and 47% for wealth management.

Adoption Barriers Remain

Amid this momentum, the industry recognizes a number of challenges in advancing digital asset and blockchain strategies. The top three barriers to progress were cybersecurity concerns (cited by 47%), risk management and operational risk concerns (47%), and regulatory uncertainty and compliance requirements (46%).

McLoughlin continued: "The world's biggest economy and largest capital market is now at the forefront of blockchain-powered transformation. Thankfully, our report shows strong momentum among banks across a wide range of areas, and particularly in digital wallets, wealth management, custody and stablecoins. Irrespective of recent news from Washington, the financial industry will continue innovating, customer demands will keep evolving, and the legal framework will take shape via diverse regulatory forces — some international, some domestic. The coming blockchain economy will unlock significant pools of capital and has the potential to accelerate global growth."

About the Research

American Banker conducted the research online from July 27 to August 14, 2026, among 114 qualified respondents. Qualified respondents work at a bank, credit union, or neobank and are a primary decision maker, significant influencer, or directly involved in their institution's digital asset and blockchain strategy. Respondents span community, regional, super-regional, and national/global banks, as well as credit unions. The effort was a blind data collection: Uphold was not identified as the sponsor of the research.

About Uphold

Uphold is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking, and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services, and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes financial services easy and trustworthy for millions of customers in more than 140 countries.

The company integrates with more than 30 trading venues, including centralized and decentralized exchanges, to deliver superior liquidity, resilience, and optimal execution. Uphold never loans out customer assets, except at customer request, and is always 100% reserved. It pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website ().

Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCEN and state regulators, is registered in the UK with the FCA, and in Europe with the Bank of Portugal. Securities products and services are offered by Uphold Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC.