Bitcoin OG Caitlin Long wrote in Bitcoin Magazine, translating AI’s impact on banking into a concrete unit: one basis point.
Her company, Custodia, holds a Wyoming SPDI charter that allows it to accept deposits but not make loans. It is currently suing the Federal Reserve over the rejection of its application for a master account. When the founder of a company like this talks about how banks make money from low-cost deposits, the market is willing to listen.
A Financial Times commentary put the potential impact in perspective: AI agents comparing rates and moving depositors’ money could cost the banking industry $500 billion. The three largest U.S. banks hold a combined $1.6 trillion in noninterest-bearing deposits, while the average rate on checking accounts is just 0.1%. One basis point may sound small, but applied to that sum, it adds up.
JPMorgan has already put the tools into its app. In 2026, it will launch “Smart Cash,” which automatically moves funds between checking accounts and higher-yielding brokerage products. U.S. megabanks’ third-quarter earnings calls on October 14 will deliver the first report card with AI numbers.
At this moment, $BTC is hovering around $83,000. The years banks have spent competing for idle cash are also the years Bitcoin has repeatedly been discussed as a store of value.
Her company, Custodia, holds a Wyoming SPDI charter that allows it to accept deposits but not make loans. It is currently suing the Federal Reserve over the rejection of its application for a master account. When the founder of a company like this talks about how banks make money from low-cost deposits, the market is willing to listen.
A Financial Times commentary put the potential impact in perspective: AI agents comparing rates and moving depositors’ money could cost the banking industry $500 billion. The three largest U.S. banks hold a combined $1.6 trillion in noninterest-bearing deposits, while the average rate on checking accounts is just 0.1%. One basis point may sound small, but applied to that sum, it adds up.
JPMorgan has already put the tools into its app. In 2026, it will launch “Smart Cash,” which automatically moves funds between checking accounts and higher-yielding brokerage products. U.S. megabanks’ third-quarter earnings calls on October 14 will deliver the first report card with AI numbers.
At this moment, $BTC is hovering around $83,000. The years banks have spent competing for idle cash are also the years Bitcoin has repeatedly been discussed as a store of value.