St. Cloud Financial CU's Chase Larson on the Lessons Learned Bringing Digital Assets to Members At Money20/20
By Tylor Tourville
As digital assets and tokenized financial products are moving past the experimentation phase, credit unions face growing questions about how to introduce these products and capabilities to their members while maintaining the trust and personal service that define their institutions.
At Money20/20 USA, a panel titled “It Stopped Being an Experiment: Tokenizing Finance with Crypto Tech,” explored some of the challenges and opportunities facing financial institutions as they bring these technologies to the market.
Among the panelists was Chase Larson, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at St. Cloud Financial Credit Union ( a 2026 Finopotamus Tekkie award winner). Larson brought firsthand experience to the discussion. St. Cloud ($456 million, 29,000 members) launched its CU-Digital Asset Vault in March 2026, offering members a way to hold and manage digital assets within their existing credit union relationship.
Following the panel, Finopotamus sat down with Larson to discuss some of the lessons learned along the way, including an unexpected realization about the education and training needed to bring digital asset products to market.
Throughout the panel discussion, Larson emphasized that while the technology continues to evolve, credit unions must remain focused on providing the personal service and trusted relationships that members have come to expect.
"Our members are still yearning for that relationship…but we still need to have the technology to meet them where they're at," he said during the panel.
Credit Union Employees Don’t Need To Become Experts
When St. Cloud first began exploring digital asset services, Larson anticipated that one of the biggest challenges would be getting employees up to speed on an unfamiliar and technically complex area of financial services.
I remember scratching my head in [20]22, thinking, 'How am I going to get 75 staff to think like I do?’ That's scary to begin with,” he said.
As the credit union progressed toward implementation, however, he discovered that the learning curve was more manageable than he initially expected.
"The surprising part to me was number one, I thought initially we were going to have to turn our staff into crypto experts…We need to make sure the compliance and the compliance and accounting folks have a really deep understanding, of course, our operations area, but your frontline staff, they need to understand strategy and have general knowledge, no different than any other product,” said Larson.
Once the education and training is in place, Larson observes that those barriers tend to come down quickly.
"When it's operationalized, I mean, they still have to be knowledgeable. But when you break it down and it's operationalized inside of your core, it's like any other product," he said
Larson hopes that his example will show other credit unions that it doesn’t need to be as daunting.
The Education Challenge Extends Well Beyond the Credit Union
While educating employees proved less challenging than anticipated, Larson encountered a different learning curve outside the credit union.
He recalled working with external stakeholders who he initially expected to have a stronger understanding of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. In some cases, it took years of conversations to establish a common understanding of how the technology worked and how it interacted with traditional banking infrastructure.
One example is the confusion surrounding how blockchain-based digital assets interact with a credit union's core banking system.
"There's not Bitcoin living inside of our core. The Bitcoin doesn't leave the blockchain," said Larson.
The takeaway for credit unions evaluating tokenization and cryptocurrency is that there may be a need for significant investment in building a shared understanding of the technology among their internal teams, external partners and other stakeholders.
Finding The Right Partners and Looking Beyond the Crypto Headlines
For credit unions interested in following a similar path, finding technology partners that can provide both the necessary infrastructure and expertise is another important consideration.
St. Cloud's experience began with education long before it introduced a product to members. Larson described how the credit union started working with DaLand CUSO in 2021, initially bringing the organization in to educate its board and executive leadership on the emerging digital asset landscape.
"Our partnership with Deland began in [20]21, where we had them come in and educate our board and our executive team…In [20]22, we then kicked off to be their first credit union to take their Coin2Core product to market, which includes vaulting, on balance sheet or deposit treatment, transact, buy, sell, and lend," said Larson.
The partnership eventually grew beyond implementing the technology. In 2024, St. Cloud became a principal owner of DaLand, and Larson now serves in a shared role that includes working with other credit unions exploring digital asset capabilities.
Those conversations have highlighted the importance of looking beyond the headlines surrounding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to better understand the long-term implications of digital assets for the industry.
A final warning Larson offered is that credit unions should evaluate the long-term implications for their institutions rather than simply reacting to the latest cryptocurrency headlines. He pointed to the attention generated by the GENIUS Act as an example of how increased awareness doesn't necessarily translate into a deeper understanding of the technology.
"The more positive impact of GENIUS is it got people to start actually paying attention, but they're not digging deep enough and they're confused."
For credit unions considering whether digital assets have a place in their future, St. Cloud's experience suggests that preparation may be as important as the technology itself. Understanding how these products work, educating the right people and finding the right partners can help institutions evaluate the opportunities while remaining focused on the needs of their members.
