Banks Ready to Lend Against Bitcoin Without Congressional Approval
Michael Saylor, chairman of MicroStrategy, believes banks can start lending against Bitcoin without waiting for Congress to pass new legislation. According to him, the necessary regulatory framework already exists under existing law.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a series of interpretive letters since March 2025 confirming that national banks may custody crypto assets and execute trades at customer direction, all under authority the agency already had.
Several large U.S. banks have launched programs accepting Bitcoin as loan collateral, and New York's adoption of updated Uniform Commercial Code rules in June gave lenders a clearer legal path to perfect a security interest in digital-asset collateral.
Deutsche Bank is positioning itself to offer Bitcoin-backed lending once it secures the necessary internal and regulatory sign-offs. The bank plans to launch regulated custody for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and select stablecoins by the end of 2026, pending approval from BaFin, Germany's financial regulator.