Big bank profits broke records on July 14, with the five largest US banks posting a combined profit of $49 billion, led by JPMorgan Chase’s $21.2 billion, the best quarter in Goldman’s history.
The gains came from trading and deal-making rather than regular lending. These details are important because they reward companies that own the financial infrastructure, or the lines through which money moves.
Big banks’ profits hit records as trading desks turn over
JP Morgan I mentioned Earnings of $21.2 billion, or $7.70 per share, up 41% from the previous year. Equity trading revenue rose 86% to $6.03 billion, bringing total trading revenue to a record $12.1 billion.
The bank’s investment banking fees rose 30% to $3.3 billion, the strongest performance since 2021. These are fees that banks collect to help companies raise money and complete mergers. Meanwhile, Visa’s long-standing stake added $4.6 billion in gains to the quarter.
Goldman Sachs earned $20.98 per diluted share on net revenue of $20.34 billion, according to its data. Deposit. Net profit was $6.63 billion, record revenue and earnings per share and a return on equity of 23.5%.
Underwriting also boomed. The fees charged by Goldman Sachs to help companies sell new shares rose by 130%, while fees for arranging new debt rose by 75%. Total investment banking fees jumped 55% to $3.40 billion.
“Our record performance this quarter reflects the strength of our global franchise, the depth of our relationships, and our ability to harness the power of One Goldman Sachs,” Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon said in a company statement. He releases.
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The rest of the group won as well. Bank of America grew its profits by 27% to $9.1 billion per He releases. Wells Fargo earned $6.4 billion a report Show, Citigroup reported $5.8 billion, up from $4.0 billion the previous year, per results.
The force answered the question raised by BeInCrypto in Profits of large banks Preview 1 day ago. Investors wanted evidence of the economy’s resilience, and banks provided it.
Owning bars beats selling products
Think of financial bars as methods that charge money. Trading platforms, underwriting desks, payment networks, and custodial services charge a small fee every time value moves. This quarter, toll collectors captured almost all of the upside.
Regular lending, where banks benefit from the gap between loan interest and deposit costs, remained steady but added slight growth. The difference is important because fee income rises with activity, while lending profit depends on interest rates.
JPMorgan’s $4.6 billion gain from Visa makes that point trivial. Visa began in 1958 as a card program for Bank of America and became an independent network through an IPO in 2008. The banks that own these payment lines have collected revenue for decades since then.
IBM demonstrated the mirror image on the same day. The company said preliminary second-quarter revenue of approximately $17.2 billion missed estimates, and IBM shares fall 22% Before opening. Corporate budgets have moved toward chips, power and data capacity, the technology version of rails, and away from legacy software deals.
The lesson from both stories is simple:
- The companies that own the pipes collect fees whenever activity spikes, whichever way the markets move.
- In contrast, companies that sell products must win every contract over and over again.
Why are registered bank profits important for cryptocurrencies?
For cryptocurrency investors, the first signal is liquidity, which means the ease with which money moves across markets. Record trading revenues suggest deep markets and a healthy appetite for risk, conditions that have historically supported Bitcoin (BTC) and other risk assets.
Cryptocurrencies have accounted for an increasing share of such rallies since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the US in January 2024.
The idea of Rails is also directly related to blockchain finance. Stablecoins, digital tokens designed to hold a fixed dollar value, aim to become 24-hour payment paths. Its issuers receive income from the reserves while the tokens move in cheap value.
Washington paved the way last year. Genius representssigned in July 2025, gave payment stablecoins their first federal rulebook. Since then, regulators have granted conditional trust charters to issuers like Circle and Paxos Brookings.
The largest banks are already starting to get on the right track
Over 15 lenders The race to symbolize financing On private networks. JPMorgan’s Kinexys unit has processed more than $4 trillion since its launch and averages more than $7 billion per day, according to Bank. Its JPMD deposit token now resides on Base, a public Ethereum network.
Institutional signals point in the same direction. BlackRock and HSBC recently joined forces Pay coding in uk Which a government report says could add $44 billion to annual output by 2035.
Meanwhile, the new MicroStrategy indicator Bitcoin banking adoption 32% among major lenders.
Wall Street has just shown how much money is flowing to whoever owns the plumbing beneath the markets. The open question is whether banks, stablecoin issuers, or public blockchains are building the next generation of these rails.
Tech company earnings later this week may reveal where liquidity goes next.
Note:Latest research from BeInCryptoIt found that over 56% of the tokenization market had no on-chain activity.
this post 5 Big Banks Earned $49 Billion in One Quarter by Owning What Cryptocurrencies Want to Replace appeared first on BeInCrypto.
