Will banks become obsolete in the crypto future?

[hellocasinoio]

I’ve been thinking about how the financial world is changing.
Traditional banks still dominate global payments, but crypto keeps growing every year.

Some people believe banks will eventually become irrelevant as decentralized finance expands.
Others argue banks will adapt and become even stronger by integrating blockchain.

What do you think?

✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?

Curious to hear different perspectives from the community

[She shining]

The government needs the bank so unless the government falls Banks would remain. And crypto isn't challenging Bank especially with the birthing of scam coins by the day. Their major challenge is Bitcoin because it makes you a Bank and a banker bypassing the need for a traditional bank. Banks would loss some share of the market but they would have to adapt which can be seen now.

[_act_]

Banks are centralized system controlled by the central banks which are controlled by the governments. The governments make people think that fiat price is stable but manipulate it and decrease the price after a long period of time. But people like how fiat is like stable than other assets.

Bitcoin is decentralized, it is an asset with increasing value just like gold. People do not like the short term bitcoin price movements, that make them not to use it for something they can use fiat for like business.

Government also will make sure bitcoin is not a competitor of fiat but they like how it is just an alternative. But naturally bitcoin is just an alternative.

People see bitcoin and fiat to be different and serves different purposes.

The fiat will exist and that means banks will exist.

You can also see more banks now buying bitcoin. More countries will do the same also sooner or later.

[FirmWars]

The banks have been in a big advantage because of how people stacked their money in the bank as the only means to keep their money safe, but now that Bitcoin and some other coins have been adopted by most individuals, instead of stacking money in the bank as before, majority are now investing their money on Bitcoin since they stand to gain more profit on the long run than keep their money in the bank as before. Banks are not going to be obsolete because people have to spend fiat currencies in their country and since fiat is more stable than Bitcoin, the government will not allow bitcoin become legal tender world wide.

[d5000]

This was discussed close to 100 times here.

Short answer: No (at least if money itself or Capitalism don't become obsolete).

Long answer: Banks' main function in the Capitalist system is to manage risks. If you want a loan, they decide to offer it to you if you appear to have a good creditworthiness, and they decide the interest rate you've to pay. On the other hand, if you want to invest your money, they will provide options and advice for you according to your risk profile.

No matter what you call them in a Bitcoin-only (or "Bitcoin standard") world, these services will continue to exist, and the institutions that offer them can be called "banks". It is a misconception that banks depend on "fiat money", even if fiat makes their task easier.

[aoluain]

^
Yup - banks will continue because realistically "most" people wont feel compelled to
change to Bitcoin.

Banks provide private, business loans and finance, mortgages, process salary payments
etc.  so most people are comfortable with the way banks provide a seemingly customer
focussed, hassle free service. There are still a lot of people either dont fully understand
finance and inflation and are happy and trust banks and traditional financial services with
their money.

Just today this news appeared

Code:

European banks led by BNP, ING push ahead on euro stablecoin plan[/quote]

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/1203/1547021-european-banks-push-ahead-on-euro-stablecoin-plan/

Banks will just join the crypto movement but on their terms!

[Hispo]

...

What do you think?

✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?

Curious to hear different perspectives from the community

Banks won't lose their power with the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies around the world, their plans is to offer services related to Bitcoin and the most popular alternative currencies to their clients, so those people won't have to learn how to use a non-custodial wallet.

Banking industry are simply very big and well established in developed countries to fall to a decentralized project. Even if people started to practice self-custody and closed their bank accounts massively, then government of countries in the European Union and the United States would intervene in order to save banks from lack of liquidity.

[Rufsilf]

To be honest, the chances to become obsolete may not be applicable to banks, but it could be even more possible for bitcoin if the people cut the demand.  Bitcoin is still to early compared to banks, and majority are still creating bank transactions, which means that even if bitcoin will continue to gain bigger demand, banks will never be affected and won't give way to bitcoin and replace its position.

Let's just accept the reality that banks could stand the test of time, and will be here forever knowing the fact that the government has its strongest back up. But bitcoin on the other hand may serve as an alternative, that is if the government allow it, otherwise it will remain a good investment till the end.

[Itz-prisigold]

for me I don't think banks are just going to disappear . However, that being said, they are going to lose a lot of the control they’ve had over the years because of crypto.  In the past, banks are the only institutions where managing, sending,  or even saving money were possible.  But now, because of crypto,  people can now operate without a middleman,  without borders and lower fees, so of course that's going to shake things up.

But at the same time I don’t think DeFi will be replacing everything.  Even though people are starting to use digital finance more, for the people who have historically used the banks, they will feel official and familiar, so that is not going to change overnight. However,  what I think will happen is kind of mixed, banks that refuse to evolve will slowly lose relevance in the market,  while banks that are smart enough to see the potential of blockchain will have a positive outcome.

To summarize it for myself, I think:

•       Bank will not disappear, but their power will definitely be challenged.
•        Crypto will force them to be more efficient and honest.
•       The future is more of a blend, not that one will replace the other.

Overall,  people are looking for cost-efficient options,  and the people that deliver the fastest,  and the most reliable option will likely control the market.

[Cryptomultiplier]

I’ve been thinking about how the financial world is changing.
Traditional banks still dominate global payments, but crypto keeps growing every year.

Some people believe banks will eventually become irrelevant as decentralized finance expands.
Others argue banks will adapt and become even stronger by integrating blockchain.

What do you think?

✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?

Curious to hear different perspectives from the community

This post would fit well if composed to get members poll results but anyways I think banks are simply waiting for the government agencies to actually regulate and legally make crypto currency a legal tender or acceptable means for payments and transactions, before they would think to integrate crypto currency into traditional commercial fiat banking system.

Some countries already have separate crypto/Bitcoin banks as I could remember I read somewhere but this has got nothing to do with the traditional banking system of which the core banking functions would shrink immersurably due to rising more efficient technologies. Therefore rather than become obsolete, I believe they would evolve to meet the rising currency and technological demands.

[coupable]

What do you think?

✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?

They started already losing its powers gradually and they will lose more powers by the spread of cryptocurrency adoption every day. However, banks remain essential in global financial regime which can't cut with financial instituations. Banks are essential in the capitalism system because they are the great tool to control people.

Cryptocurrencies aren't supposed to replace fiat money. And as long as there is fiat money, banks will exist. Many banks started adotion of the blockchain technology to improve their perfermances.

[Apocollapse]

Despite having decentralized finance, do people care about it? nah.

Most people are using decentralized asset in centralized way, decentralization isn't important because they like to trust their money to a central authority. Banks high likely will keep exist even Bitcoin have been accepted in everywhere.

[Myleschetty]

I’ve been thinking about how the financial world is changing.
Traditional banks still dominate global payments, but crypto keeps growing every year.

Some people believe banks will eventually become irrelevant as decentralized finance expands.
Others argue banks will adapt and become even stronger by integrating blockchain.

What do you think?

I believe the chance of banks becoming obsolete is over.
1 Every fiat currency symbolizes the history and legacy of every nation, and Bitcoin was developed to coexist with fiat currency rather than to replace it. If fiat is still used for medium exchanges, banks won't be obsolete.
2 Some banks have already entered the cryptocurrency market, some are holding Bitcoin at the moment, and some already facilitate the delivery of cryptocurrency services.

Will banks slowly lose their power?

Because of their centralized model, banks may become less powerful, but they won't become obsolete,

[GreatArkansas]

(.....)
✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?

For me, no! As long as fiat still exists, banks will stay too. What I can see in the future is more payment methods, like we will have options what mode of payments we will use in terms of payments.
So for me, even Bitcoin will become sucessful in the future, banks will stay too, as you can see there are already some banks are Bitcoin friendly or started to support Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency to their platform.

[fuguebtc]

It is no coincidence that banks are considered the backbone of the economy. Their role is very important and the economy can be stable and run smoothly as it is today largely because of them. They are the largest financial institutions that regulate and promote economic growth by providing a wide range of financial services, not just payment confirmation and deposits. Therefore, they will never become obsolete and be replaced by cryptocurrencies or decentralized finance as many people are spreading.

Bitcoin is a groundbreaking technology, but it won't change anything. It does not come to wipe out or replace anything. It will simply become part of the expanding and evolving financial system.

[bitbollo]

Probably the concept of "banks" is somewhat old and outdated if you think the way your parents have used and the reason they used it.
Did you still need someone that saved/stored your money? Did you need someone that transact for you money? Did you need someone that confirms your holdings? The concept of "bank" can be already outdated but this is not a change that you will see so quickly...
For sure many online banking and similar service are already offering this...

[TheUltraElite]

Banks will never become obsolete. They have so many things they can sell, loans, cards, lockers to store valuables and other services related to the government.

Just money is not their source of money. They might even Integrate bitcoin in their system to allow some other services like loans against bitcoin.

All this is because or the spending mindset of people, if that changes, a lot of companies might actuallly shut down 

[KiaKia]

The government needs the bank so unless the government falls Banks would remain. And crypto isn't challenging Bank especially with the birthing of scam coins by the day. Their major challenge is Bitcoin because it makes you a Bank and a banker bypassing the need for a traditional bank. Banks would loss some share of the market but they would have to adapt which can be seen now.

If government falls it will only be in a country, a government falls doesn't mean all governments will fall, one country's problem isn't another country's problem.

Banks will always be here to stay, I have never seen where a bank exit scam on its customers, even if it has happened it is a rare case, unlike this crypto space where scams are been breed all the time.

This is why it takes this long for crypto to be permitted in some payment solutions and also thanks to the call for regulation, the likes of pump.fun and other platforms that let people to baked their shit coins should exist.

Things would have been different if the only existing coin is Bitcoin, but I understand why others need to exists as well but 99% of them are trashes anyway.

[Die_empty]

✔ Will banks slowly lose their power?
✔ Or will they evolve and stay essential in the future?
Curious to hear different perspectives from the community

The global economy depends heavily on fiat. Crypto is becoming popular and adoption is increasing, this cannot be seen as a sign of overpowering the fiat system. We cannot predict what the future holds; nevertheless, from my prediction, the crypto system will keep serving as an alternative to the fiat system.

Some banks have started offering crypto services to satisfy some customers. Banks are in business; they keep diversifying into different areas to gain more profit. So they will always evolve by tapping into new opportunities.

[michellee]

The bank with government backing will not lose its power. The government will do anything to ensure its banks remain in business.

But the chance for the bank to integrate blockchain will be there especially if their officers learn deeper about blockchain and find that the security is better than what they have.

Yes, the bank can evolve in the future. We have already seen what happened to the bank now and that is proof that banks evolve. We don't know what may happen to the banks as that depends on government regulations.