Circle and BitGo Want to Be Banks — and That Changes Everything

🏦 From Crypto Bros to Banking Bosses

Circle and BitGo — two of the most influential names in crypto — are making their next big move: becoming banks. According to The Wall Street Journal, both firms have quietly filed applications for U.S. banking licenses, in what may be the boldest push yet to embed crypto within the heart of traditional finance.

Why now? Because the old rails are collapsing — and crypto’s done asking for permission.

🔌 The Real Reason: Access, Control, and Survival

After the implosion of Silvergate and Signature, crypto firms were left scrambling for basic banking services. The message from TradFi was clear:

“You’re on your own.”

So Circle and BitGo are flipping the script. Instead of begging for fiat rails, they want to own the infrastructure.

• Circle, the issuer of USDC, would gain direct access to Fed payment systems, ditching third-party intermediaries.
• BitGo, a titan in institutional custody, could offer regulated custodial accounts and settle transactions like any traditional bank.

No more middlemen. Just crypto-native players rewiring the financial stack from the inside out.

🧠 Meanwhile in the Innovation Arena...

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. The whole innovation stack is shifting — fast.

• Palantir wants high school grads to skip college and come build.
• Microsoft AI says AI is capital, not just code.
• Researchers are training AI to lie — on purpose — to study risk boundaries in autonomous agents.

This is more than finance. It’s infrastructure warfare, and crypto wants in on every front.

🌐 Stablecoins > Visa. Regulators Take Notes.

Circle’s not just chasing a charter for kicks. Stablecoins have now surpassed Visa in annual volume — yeah, that Visa.

According to BIS, DeFi and stablecoins have reached "critical mass", officially posing systemic risk to the traditional financial system. That’s both a warning and an invitation:

Get compliant. Get licensed. Get real.

🎮 Trump’s Monopoly, Blockchain Edition

In a weird but telling crossover, the Trump family is launching a blockchain game inspired by Monopoly. Virtual real estate, on-chain mechanics, and political branding — welcome to Web3 entertainment as influence engine.

Meanwhile, Convergent Research just dropped a "map of unsolved scientific problems" to help funders direct talent to real challenges. This is the new brain capital market — and crypto culture is right in the mix.

🧠 TL;DR

• Circle and BitGo are going full TradFi with U.S. banking license applications
• It’s about control, compliance, and cutting out middlemen
• The collapse of crypto-friendly banks forced this next-level pivot
• Stablecoins have overtaken Visa in volume — and now pose systemic risk
• From AI deception research to blockchain board games, crypto is now cultural, institutional, and infrastructural

This isn’t just crypto “growing up.” It’s crypto taking over the plumbing of finance — one charter, one protocol, one regulation at a time.

The banks didn’t want crypto.
So crypto is becoming the banks.