ING Enters Bitcoin Market via Bitwise Partnership
Global banking group ING announced on February 3, 2026, that it will structure its Bitcoin operations through products managed by digital asset specialist Bitwise. Under the terms of the partnership, Bitwise will oversee both the custody and trade execution for ING's Bitcoin offerings. This move marks a significant step by a major traditional financial institution to integrate cryptocurrency directly into its services, offloading the complex technical and custodial responsibilities to an established crypto-native firm.
Bitcoin Hyper L2 Tapped to Overcome Network Limits
The partnership's technical foundation relies on Bitcoin Hyper, a Layer 2 solution designed to address the scalability constraints of the Bitcoin mainnet (L1). By executing transactions on the high-throughput Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), the system can process a greater volume of activity at a lower cost. The final, consolidated state of these transactions is then settled on the Bitcoin L1, preserving its security and finality. This hybrid approach demonstrates a strategic choice to prioritize performance while retaining the core settlement guarantees of the Bitcoin network.
Deal Validates Institutional Trust in Crypto Infrastructure
ING's decision to partner with Bitwise and employ a Layer 2 solution serves as a major validation for the maturing crypto infrastructure. For investors, this signals that large, regulated financial entities are growing more confident in the technology underpinning the digital asset class. The move establishes a potential blueprint for other banks to follow, which could unlock substantial new capital flows into the market and intensify the focus on Layer 2 platforms as the primary path for scaling blockchain applications.
