For years, the debate over Bitcoin and cryptoassets was framed as a confrontation between two incompatible worlds.
On one side, the traditional financial system: banks, stock exchanges, clearing houses, central banks, and regulators.
On the other, the so-called jurisdiction of the Internet: decentralized networks, digital assets, stablecoins, open protocols, and global markets operating without intermediaries.
The dominant narrative held that both systems were competing with one another.
That one would eventually replace the other.
However, the reality emerging in 2026 is very different.
Banking is not losing to crypto.
Banking is merging with crypto.
And that merger may structurally transform the functioning of the global financial system.
The Mistake of Interpreting Crypto as an External Enemy
When BlackRock launched its spot Bitcoin ETF, many interpreted the move as a simple institutional legitimization of Bitcoin.
But the phenomenon is much deeper.
It is not Bitcoin that has been absorbed by Wall Street.
It is Wall Street that has begun to integrate itself into the financial infrastructure of the jurisdiction of the Internet.
The approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States allowed large financial institutions to gain exposure to the asset without having to modify their internal systems.
But, at the same time, it forced the traditional financial system to recognize that digital assets are already part of the global asset architecture.
Bitcoin ceased to be a marginal asset.
It became a new structural category of store of value.
Stablecoins and the Tokenization of the Dollar
The real transformation, however, is not taking place only with Bitcoin.
It is occurring with stablecoins.
Tokens such as USDT, USDC, and new banking projects make it possible to move digitized dollars in real time, 24 hours a day, with near-instant settlement.
What previously required correspondent banks, limited business hours, and complex clearing systems can now be executed directly on blockchain networks.
Stablecoins do not replace the dollar.
They strengthen it.
They transform the U.S. currency into a programmable and global infrastructure.
This is why the United States is advancing the legal integration of stablecoins through initiatives such as the GENIUS Act.
The consequence is clear: the dollar no longer depends exclusively on the traditional banking system and begins to circulate natively on the Internet.
Banks Are Already Entering
Far from resisting, the major financial institutions are adapting their business models.
JPMorgan Chase is developing tokenized payment infrastructures.
Visa is settling transactions using stablecoins.
Stripe is promoting new Internet-native payment protocols.
Societe Generale is issuing regulated stablecoins.
PayPal has launched its own stablecoin.
Banking is not abandoning its role.
It is redefining it.
Banks are ceasing to be the exclusive custodians of money and are becoming nodes within a much more open and interoperable digital financial infrastructure.
Ethereum as the Executive Power of the Jurisdiction of the Internet
If Bitcoin represents a form of digital monetary law, Ethereum acts as the executive power of the jurisdiction of the Internet.
On Ethereum and other compatible networks, contracts are executed automatically.
Payments are settled without human intervention.
Collateral is managed through code.
Markets operate without borders.
This means that functions historically reserved to financial and administrative institutions can now be performed by distributed software.
Banking does not disappear.
But it ceases to be the only infrastructure capable of organizing and executing complex economic relationships.
From Intermediaries to Providers of Trust
In this new environment, the value of banks will no longer lie solely in controlling accounts and payments.
Their role will evolve toward high value-added functions:
- institutional custody;
- identity verification;
- regulatory compliance;
- financial structuring;
- risk analysis;
- financing;
- integration with real-world assets.
Trust will remain essential.
What changes is the way in which it is organized.
Instead of monopolizing the infrastructure, banks will compete within open and programmable networks.
The Real Change: Convergence of Two Legal Systems
The transformation is not only technological.
It is legal.
The traditional financial system is based on state law, administrative supervision, and judicial enforcement.
The jurisdiction of the Internet is based on code, cryptographic consensus, and self-executing contracts.
For years, both systems evolved separately.
They are now converging.
Digital assets are beginning to be integrated into bank balance sheets.
Banks are participating in blockchain networks.
Stablecoins are being connected to sovereign debt markets.
Smart contracts are being used as operational instruments of the financial system.
We are not witnessing a replacement.
We are witnessing a merger.
The Unresolved Problem: Justice
However, this convergence still presents a structural limitation.
Code executes.
But it does not judge.
When disputes, fraud, breaches, or controversial interpretations arise, the technical infrastructure cannot determine what is fair.
This is why the next major layer of the ecosystem will be legal.
Institutions such as BACS (Blockchain Arbitration and Commerce Society) seek to build that native dispute resolution infrastructure for the digital economy.
The evolution of the financial system will not depend solely on the speed of payments or the tokenization of assets.
It will also depend on the ability to integrate justice and execution within the same environment.
The Banking of the Future Will Be Hybrid
The question is no longer whether banking will survive crypto.
Banking will continue to exist.
But it will be different.
More programmable.
More global.
More automated.
More integrated with open protocols.
Banks that understand this transition may play a central role in the new economic architecture.
Those that cling exclusively to the traditional model risk losing relevance.
History does not point toward the disappearance of the banking system.
It points toward its transformation.
Banking is not losing to crypto.
Banking is merging with it.
