Bitcoin’s institutionalisation is moving along two parallel and partly contradictory tracks: on one side the banks drawing closer, on the other the rules that stay stalled. The week made this plain.

Coinbase and the six systemic banks

The strongest signal comes from Coinbase. Its chief business officer said the company is working with advisers to six global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) to increase exposure to Bitcoin. “We think of it as a way to grow the pie and offer people more paths to access Bitcoin,” he explained. The banks were not named and there is no defined product yet: it is an opening, not a capital commitment. But the fact that the topic is being discussed at the highest levels of the traditional banking system is significant.

ETFs: numbers and hasty readings

On the flows side, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded 134.4 million dollars of inflows in the first two sessions of October, according to Bitcoin Magazine. The figure follows a September of 2.65 billion in net inflows. It is worth reading carefully, though: the first session of October brought 102.7 million, after an outflow of 148.7 million the day before. Positive numbers, but in a still nervous context, which argues against over-reading a single week.

Stalled rules

The contrast is obvious on the regulatory front. The former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, argued that the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate for electoral politics more than for its content, and that it could still pass in the “lame duck” session after the midterm elections. In Europe, Circle asked for MiCA to be revised: only three of the thirty largest stablecoins — USDC, USDG and EURC — turn out to comply with the regulation. And in the United States the ICBA, the community bankers’ association, sued the OCC, accusing it of granting 21 national trust charters — at least 13 to crypto companies — beyond the limits set by Congress.

Conclusion

The paradox of this phase is that institutional capital moves faster than the rules meant to frame it. Banks explore, ETFs absorb, but the legislative picture stays fragmented and contested. As long as that holds, Bitcoin’s institutionalisation will advance through openings and adjustments, not through coherent design.

Verified sources: Bitcoin Magazine (via X) for Coinbase/G-SIB and ETF flows, 3 October 2026; CoinDesk — The Policy Protocol (interview with Patrick McHenry), 3 October 2026; Circle (official blog) and Bitcoin Foundation for the MiCA consultation, 1 October 2026; CoinDesk, Cointelegraph and CryptoSlate for the ICBA lawsuit against the OCC, 2-3 October 2026; CoinStats/SoSoValue for daily ETF flows, 1-2 October 2026.